Shabby Chic'ing Furniture

For my daughters wedding we are working on the theme of Shabby Chic which has been our style even before it was so popular. :) (or so we would "like" to think) I love the old/new look and so we wanted to make a few things for her.

I found this table at a thrift store for $10
Before:

I found some wood appliques at a local home store, glued them on, sanded the table and spray painted it turquoise:

After the second coat of paint I let dry for a day, went back out and sanded the edges to rough them up, tried to make them look like normal wear and tear-I even added some scuff marks to the top for added character. Then I added a colored glaze. This is the tricky part. Ralph Lauren used to make an aging glaze (they probably still do) but the home store no longer sells that line so I picked their normal glaze and added a dark brown to it but I think this one had too much purple hue- but it turned out alright since that works well with her colors of her wedding.

When you apply the glaze, do it with a nice paint brush to one area, then with a painters cloth you wipe of the excess till you get the desired amount and look your after. This is a trial and error process so don't be afraid of it, just have fun!

Let dry for 24 hours at least and then spray on a Polyurethane coating everywhere. Let dry 2 hours then spray again. This will protect your project.

Note: After the glaze is on your are going to want "no one" to touch it, no little fingers or paws! Trust me, otherwise you will be redoing some of it. The polyurethane will seal it all in, this is a very important step!

Here is the after effects of your hard work

After:

The wood appliques now stand out more, and gave this table more character than it ever had, simple but worth it.

Now we have a fun Cake Table for her wedding! Hope this inspired you to create your own fun furniture project.

Items you will need:

• Table-  yard sale and thrift stores are wonderful!
• Sander-  I just used a simple block sander not an electric one
• Glue-   wood glue that is paintable is best
• Wood Appliques-  find them at your local home improvement stores
• Spray paint-   you could used regular pain but spray paint is easier for me
• Paint Brush-   for glaze
• Painters cloth-  tear it up in smaller pieces works great for this
• Glaze with added tint-   brown works well for making things "age"

Have fun!