Hey, I’m back with another project for you. This blueberry beauty was a chest of drawers a friend was throwing away. She actually commissioned it after it was stripped back, how amazing is that! I mean if that isn’t a testament to bringing furniture back to life I don’t know what is.
This piece started off as a more minimalist abstract idea and morphed into a splendid maximalist retro funky piece. I really love how this turned out and I hope you will too.
Plenty of techniques are used in this budget-friendly DIY. So, let’s get into it!
Firstly I prepared the piece by completely sanding it back to raw wood to reveal a beautiful woodgrain. I then used WOCA white worktop and furniture oil to get rid of the yellow tones in the wood. (Check out the videos at the end of this blog to get more details about all the preparation.) The WOCA oil was super beautiful but make sure to follow the instructions carefully because I read some accounts online of some difficulties people had. Once this was done it was on to the fun parts.
I prepped the areas I wanted to paint by sanding, dusting and priming them using an oil based primer. I used an oil-based primer because I was unsure how the WOCA oil was going to react to the paint. I figured oil on oil what could go wrong? And thank God I was right because everything else went wrong with this piece, so I’m glad I started with a win. If you're unsure where to start when it comes to preparing furniture to paint, check out my free tutorial here on the topic. It covers everything from how to clean your piece to what type of sandpaper and primer to use. Trust me, if you're just starting out -start there.
Painting Techniques
Circles
I used a homemade compass to make a large circle. Here is the link to the video I used to make said compass. I draw with watercolour pencils on my furniture because lines can be wiped away with a damp cloth. I find rubbing out regular pencil marks can be difficult on wood.
Grids
I used two techniques; First I drew a circle then for the thinner lined grid I used a Posca marker to mark out the grid using a set square this is super quick and easy. For the thicker lined grid I used the Posca pen to mark it out then used masking tape to tape the lines a bit thicker as I felt it wasn’t making enough of a statement against the wood. I used a stain blocking primer and satin paint for this.
Brushstrokes
For the brushstrokes effect on the front- I thought this would be super simple but it's always the easiest sounding things that are the most difficult. Basically, I painted out a shape in the way I want the strokes to go in one colour. Then I water down the background colour and apply this over the brush stroke shape to make it seem transparent. This took a couple of layers to get it right and a hairdryer is a must to ensure the watery paint doesn’t drip.
Squiggles
Whenever I do this type of design I mark it out roughly first then I neaten it up afterwards. This helps me get an even thickness as I drag my brush around. Make sure your brush is always flat in the same way as you go around bends otherwise the squiggle will be varying thickness levels throughout. Once this was done I neatly applied metal Size. Once this has become tacky (definitely follow instructions here I learnt this the hard way) you can apply your silver leaf. I made the mistake of applying it to damp paint and it stuck in a bunch of places I didn’t want it to. But do not despair you can wipe the excess away with a baby wipe OR you can actually paint over it. The more you know aye !! Anyways after that just varnish wherever you put the metal leaf to stop it from tarnishing.
There you have it there are all the techniques I did in this piece. Can you tell it took me forever? I didn’t even go into detail about all the prep I did for the piece but I will link the two videos below so let me know what you think. I really hope this helps !!