How to Paint a Chippy, Heavily Distressed Finish

Photo by Jacqueline Marque

 One of my favorite pieces of furniture is my sewing table in my guest room.  I discussed my inspiration for the color and the geust room here,  but never discussed the process.

The desk was the ideal candidate for painting;  it was perfect for my purpose, very sturdy and well made, and with a regrettable finish.  The legs were standard 90s fruitwood, and the top was in a contrasting, slightly damaged, mustard crackle finish.  All this added up to a piece I had no qualms about painting. 


Here's the desk before.  I sanded it lightly and wiped it with mineral spirits.  Because I was going for a heavily distressed look, I didn't bother to putty the small imperfections in the top.

 

Because I was planning to expose the stained finish through layers of paint, I did have to co-ordinate the top to the legs.  I covered the top with a standard faux bois finish (tutorial here), immulating a fruitwood finish with paint, layers of wood stain, and a graining tool.



 

 

 

It's now, after the initial prep is finished and before beginning the actual painting begins when you need to plan for your finished look.   With a real painted antique there are several aspects that give the finish that valued patina.  There is breakdown and fading of the paint, there's the build up of furniture polish, dirt, oil, candle smoke, etc.  There is crazing and cracking of the finish.  There is wear on edges and corners.  There can be physical damage--dings, worm wood holes, gouges, etc.   When you are making a "fauxtique,"   you need to decide which of these things you want to immolate.  I wanted actual chips in the finish (not just sanded edges), and a dark, stained patina suggesting years of wax and grime. 

 

I started with taping off sections of the stained finish.  I made sure they were irregular like chips in paint and on the places you would expect wear and trauma---at edges, at corners of drawers, around the handle.  You can also use wax, wood glue, putty, etc.  to shield these areas.  The idea is just to create a chip like barrier between the bare wood and the top coats of paint.

I then covered the table in a tinted adhesive primer.  It may look white in the picture, but in reality it was a pale, bluish gray.  I like to use tinted primer, because it serves as the primer and a base layer to contrast with the top coat, saving a step

 

I then sanded the stable with steel wool.  I like using steel wool, because the metal often reacts with paint finishes to great a burnished, streaky effect.

 

 

It was now ready for the greeen.  One thing that can happen to paint over time is an uneven breakdown of pigments, sometimes causing a streaky effect.  I like to make my materials work for me, so to help create this illusion of unstable color, I actually used a mixture of several different paints in the same pan that I purposedly did not mix.



After a couple of streaky coats: 

 

The nest step is yet more sanding, then time for the real fun.  First, the tape is removed, revealing your "chips."  I lightly sanded around each one to reveal more of the undercoat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I was happy with the chippiness, it was time to add my layers of grime.  I used a light stain for overall color, and added a darker one in crevices and for depth.

 

 

 

Before the stain dried, I used mineral spirits to create water damage and splatters of stain for interest:  

 

And the finished product, in all it's chippy, dirty, distressed glory!!!



a dream desk

 

*Correction:  Apparently, while Windsor Smith DID manage the overall Veranda show house, this room was designed by Peter Dunham.*

 If you're a decor junkie (and if you're not, you wouldn't be reading this blog), you see lots of images.  Most are pretty, a lot are inspiring.  But through all that visual noise comes the occasional image that knocks you're socks off.  That image that inspires lust, burning lust.  This shot of a green desk in front of a leopardlike wallpaper comes from a Veranda showhouse designed by Windsor Smith.  And I love everything about it, but what really gets me is that shot of  kelly green  in front of that tobacco brown.

But I think that fact that's it's a desk is what seals the deal for me.  I've always liked to write, to day dream on paper, and it was the sorrow of my childhood that my bedroom was too small for me to have a writing desk.  Since then, I've dreamed of writing desks.

 I have one in my office, but it's a place for work (and reading blogs IS work, dammit!) and internet surfing.  I like that desk a lot (it was one of the first REAL pieces of furniture I bought), but the space itself is a public one, a utilitarian one.

The curtains have migrated to another room, but everything else is the same.

Lately, I've been dreaming again, specifically about writing fiction, something I haven't done with any regularity since childhood.  And like a good decor junkie, I plan to start my feathering a creative writing nest.  While I like my office, it's too close to the center of action in the house--too close to distraction.  Plus, it's a dark space.  I need someone airy, open, more secluded.

The perfect space:  the guest room.  While we do frequently have overnight guests, it is free most of the time, and it's flooded with light from large windows on free walls.  And most importantly, as it is off the main track of the house, it is usually free of clutter and visual distraction.  I do have a sewing table set up there, but I usually end up hauling the sewing machine downstairs to the dining table for more space to spread out anyway.  The sewing table itself is just white melamine and will continue to make itself useful downstairs in my studio.

The current sewing table in guest room.

Luckily, I had a  client give me a fantastic writing desk left over from a commercial remodel.  While not the same shape as Smith's desk, it has a great silhouette and will look terrific in kelly green.  I originally tried to turn the wall behind the desk into a magnetic board with magnetic primer...an experiment that failed miserably;  I plan to resort to good ol' cork squares.  Finally, a dream desk.  I can hardly wait.

Waiting for green paint.

Finally...A Finished Guest room

detail of finished guest room.

Well, it's taken me about 4 months to finish one small (12'x14') room that required nothing more than painting and re-arranging existing elements, but it's finished.  In fact, it was finished (except for adding linings to the matchstick shades) just in time for my first guest, my sister who was staying with us for Christmas.

 Here's how it began:

it's actually pretty and calming and on trend with its pale grey/blue walls and cream bedding, but i was in the mood for a change.

I gathered my inspiration:

Jamie Drake's guest room

architectural digest

And, then in the  middle of painting, I started having doubts:

But I pressed on, and came across other inspiration:

I don't have a good place in another room for an inspiration board, but it seemed natural to have one in the guest room, which also serves as my sewing room, over the sewing table.

Anyway, the paint job was finished, and I loved the color, but it was missing something, something the room had missed in its first incarnation as well....pizzazz.  Then, Valorie of Visual Vamp who has enough pizzazz for two, turned me on to just the design element I needed for that visual excitement at the blog La Maison Boheme:

Pic of Jamie Meare's store Furbish by Honey & Fritz

I am a long time fan of Jamie Meare's and her blog I Suwannee, and have followed the creation of her brick and mortar store Furbish, and its subsequent move to a much larger space.  Luckily, blogger Dina of Honey & Fritz was there for the opening and took a ton of photos.  Of them, I  especially liked and noticed this bold black and white graphic backdrop, filing it away for later use.  But I thought it was way too bold for a bedroom.  Then Valorie suggested I look at the application used by Sarah of La Maison Boheme, where she translated the pattern into a more tone on tone look in her entry:



Shazaam!  I now had my pizzazz.  Then work, two trips to North Louisiana, a 40th birthday, and a trip to NYC popped up, and it took months to complete the circles and put it all back together, but now it's finally finished.  These are unpropped, unstaged photos, but i know myself well enough if I wait to take "real" pics until everything is perfect, that might never happen:

 All the bedding is pre-existing, expect the striped sham in the front--I made that with fabric left over from a project.  I still need to find a lamp for the right nightstand, but for now fresh foliage stands in.

 Here you can see a hint of circle and a vintage lamp from my partner's mother.  The circles are not overwhelming because there is actually little wall space:  most of the room is windows, a built in bureau, and a large closet draped in the same sheer linen-colored curtains.

Finally, an inspiration board, though magnetic primer is less than awesome.

Anyway, getting that room finished and ready for use has taken a load off.  Hopefully, I'll prop it and get better photos later.  At any rate, one unfinished project down and 1,222,348 to go!

Inspiration: The start of a new project

Bedroom by Jamie Drake...one of my favorite rooms of all-time.

Hi, my name is Mitchell.  I'm a decoraholic.  I have an insatiable desire to repaint rooms, reupholster furniture, and rearrange accessories.  It is an illness, and I'm powerless before it.

That's only a semi-joke.  Like a lot of people who read shelter magazines and decor blog, I love to redecorate.  I hate nothing more than a home I have perfected...for me anyway, the real fun is in the decorating, not the finished project.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy coming home to a pretty house, but it's not the same sort of visceral thrill that it is to track down the right rug, lamp, etc. I do, however, sometimes feel a little guilty at redoing rooms that aren't really broken, but that I'm just tired off.  But, I have a project at my own home about to begin that I can feel completely okay about---the room really does need to be redone.  Woo to the Hoo.

Here's a pic of the room from about three years ago.

Since then, my partner's twin brother has been living there getting back on his feet after an ugly divorce (note to self, from now on, date only children---I kid, I kid).  He's about to move into his own place, and I'm getting ready to freshen things up.  The bed has been banged up in a couple of moves and by pets, and, in addition to our boarder,  a couple of hard-partying guests (it's part of the price you pay for living in a desirable to visit city) have left the room needing some love.  I've also moved the desk that used to live there to another room where it fits much better, and I plan on making some other minor changes. 

Stanley in Slate from Calico Corners.  I'm planning to use it to reupholster headboard. 

The paint chip is much more bronze green in real life.

I'll go into detail with the programming later, but I'm excited by having a home decorating project, so I wanted to go ahead and share the overall plan.  I'm basing the feeling on this Jamie Drake bedroom;  I won't be trying to copy it---I just want a similar look.

I'm planning to reupholster the bed in this navy/tan zebra from Calico Corners with nailhead trim (i'm not certain yet if i'll use brass or nickel nails).  I'm also going to freshen up the bed frame with buff colored paint (For all you wood fans---the finish is okay, but nothing special, and while it may not be apparent in photos, it's badly scratched).  As of now, I'm planning to keep the tortoiseshell bamboo blinds and cream sheers, but that may change.  The walls will be a bronzey brown/green, (pier from Sherwin-Williams). I'm planning on plan off-white bedding.   It will be delicious, I promise you.  I'll keep you posted on the progress.

I love this other view with the clothes thrown all over the bed---somehow I think this is closer to what my version will look like.

Would you sleep in your own guest room?

Billy Baldwin, the famous decorator, used to advise his clients to occasionally spend the night in their guests rooms to judge for themselves how comfortable they were and to determine if and where improvements could be made.  I recently completed a guest room with my colleague, Donna Russell of ProVisions Interiors.  Our goal was to create a room that was not only the serene, feminine retreat our client asked for, but also a physically comfortable and convenient place for guests.  We started with a creamy, neutral wall color, accented with the soothing spa blues that our client loves.  We pulled these tones from the client's existing rug used to anchor the seating area.

An assortment of pillows and layered bedding allow the guest to customize their sleeping arrangement, selecting the number of pillows and weight of covers they prefer.

Similarly layered window treatment, roman shade, sheers, and interlined draperies, allow the guest to adjust the level of natural light entering the room.

A small writing desk and stool provide a place to write, use a laptop, or apply makeup with the portable makeup mirror from the adjoining bath.

A seating area provides a place for guests to relax or read in private.

For interest, we used a hanging light from New Orleans designer Paul Gruer instead of a floor lamp.   The cream fabric on the chair only looks like linen--it's actually an upholstery weight polyester for ease of cleaning.  By using an inexpensive fabric on the chair and making our own welting from robin's egg blue linen, we were able to splurge on the beautiful embroidered fabric for the pillows.

To keep the color scheme for being too vanilla, both literally and figuratively, we painted the adjoining bath in the client's favorite blue.  Since we didn't have the budget for real Venetian plaster, I mimicked the look with regular latex paint.

For interest, we mixed abstract art, including my tarp creation above, with tradtional art and furnishings.