Clearly, A Beauty!

What do you do when you acquire a breakfront with potential but don't want to break the bank to update it? You pop open a quart of Vintage White (it's like looking at melted vanilla ice cream in there!) by CeCe Caldwell, lay a drop cloth on the living room carpet (it's TOO COLD to paint outside today!) and get to it!

Can you stand the curvy legs on this piece? There's a lot of surface area to paint but at least it won't be smelly when you use this kind of paint indoors!

Start on the inside by removing the wood shelves, and using a stiff brush into all the inside corners, then you can roll on the flat surfaces if you prefer. Starting on the outside; remove the door handle, and DO NOT WORRY about getting this paint on the glass. (Painter's tape? We don't need no stinkin' painter's tape!). When your project is dry, you can use a damp, lint-free cloth wrapped around your finger, to rub off any paint that might have gotten on the glass. If you have unusually large fingers, use a pop cycle stick!

Painted by Pam Lawrence

All in a day's work! This took about an hour and a half to paint and when it was dry, a pretty small amount of distressing on the detailed carvings was done. It was followed by a CeCe Caldwell's Clear Wax massage (oh la la!) to seal and protect for a long, long time!

It's A Frame Up!

I can't wait to show you this project sent in to me by a customer, Nina Phillips, at Paris Flea Market Livermore, CA. She took one of the monthly CeCe Caldwell Paint classes offered at the store. She learned the basics on using the paint, waxes and satin finish, plus applications on how to layer and distress!

Here's what Nina tackled at home after buying some Omaha Ocher paint from the Paris Flea Market:

It's a Sirocco type framed mirror--you know the sort of gaudy gold, plastic/resin material that most often has very gorgeous and intricate details? If only there were a way, somehow, to make it a bit more, palatable for it to fit in with a French romantic styled home?? Hmm??? DUH (hit's self on forehead!) there is, of course, and Nina (a self-proclaimed novice painter) happily figured out how easy it was!

 

She started by brushing and dabbing the Omaha Ochre into the swirly details and let it dry. Then she returned once again with Virginia Chestnut and a light touch to achieve a perfectly lightly distressed finish.

Pretty cool huh? It was so easy, Nina says, that she's already got plans for her next project: a bombe chest! She does leave us with one caveat on a slight problem she has with CeCe Caldwell's Paints: choosing which of the 36 colors to use! 

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A Modern Day Fairytale

We have the nicest, most fabulous customers at both Paris Flea Market and Room With A Past.  And when you combine one of those fabulous customers with one can of fabulous paint, you have a real story to tell! Let's all open our books to page "Can this dresser be saved?" and follow along.

Once upon a time there was a woman named Dana Dudley. She inherited a beautiful dresser that her mother bought in San Francisco in the 1960's. Over the next 40 years it was used by her sister and then finally her brother, who basically destroyed it! When Dana recently helped her brother move, she rescued it and stored it in her garage, where it sat for over a year.

Before

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.....The drawer that is missing in the before picture still

had the front so her husband, who likes to do carpentry work, made a new drawer

and used the old front.   

Dana used CeCe' Caldwell's Simply White and finished with the Clear Wax. New white

glass knobs gave it the more modern look she desired. She is giving her re-loved 

dresser a place of honor in the room that her 7 year-old granddaughter uses when

she comes for visits. 

The Happily Ever AFTER!

This was Dana's very first try at painting a piece of furniture and it was very easy.  She
likes that the paint has no odor and went on so well.  She plans to use CeCe's paint again for some other pieces she has, and will try some of the other colors next time.  

Thus ends the story of Dana and The Dresser, but the tale of happily-ever-afters will always continue as long as there is a quart of CeCe Caldwell's Paint on the shelf!

Follow these links for more happy endings!

Are You Being Served?

Have you ever stood next to a piece of furniture and felt like it was a big strong handsome man?? OK, maybe that's just my odd love of inanimate objects talking, but you know what I mean, right? There's just something about furniture that's bigger than I am! And again, versatility in furniture is always a big plus. Look at this hunk of gorgeous wood:

Hey sailor!

It's like a sampler of what can be decoratively accomplished! It's got fantastic turned legs, a lower cut-work pediment, applied rope trim and carved notch borders. What's missing is some knobs and pulls, plus the desire to bring it home to meet the parents! If I were to guess at its personality, I'd have to say it's a bit boorish and stuffy! BUT, let's hook it up with some CeCe Caldwell's Vintage White paint and see what happens:

My new beau!

What a change! And speaking of change, can you imagine this in a baby's room as a changing table? Last month at Paris Flea Market, a customer bought one of the huge buffets to do just that!I think it would be great as a media center or as a credenza in a home office too. One piece of furniture that serves many a purpose! Love it!