Thursday, April 28, 2016

Spraying my French Day Bed Fiasco, Getting Old and more


Before we get to my fiasco this week, I did have a triumph to share.
 Here is a little consignment project I took on this month. 
I don't do much painting of furniture anymore since my shop closed, but
a friend from my tennis days asked me if I would...so I agreed.  What I love about this is
that you can see how a perfectly fine piece of furniture (not antique) can look a bit dated in a room.
After painting it with Annie Sloan's Paris Grey and giving it a hand rubbed clear wax finish, 
the icing on the cake was giving the server (and the china cabinet, not shown) new hardware.
 A trick for any of you who want to change to a knob instead of pulls, is to use a backplate.
That can cover the old holes of the pulls, and then you simply drill one hole in the center and 
push the knob stem through the hole of the backplate.  We picked this hardware out from Myknobs.com and we were careful to not select acrylic knobs (they don't look that great).  Glass is ok, but crystal is BEST!  We loved the difference it made in the room.  
And while I was there putting on the hardware, I noticed that my friend had left a photo on the server.  I didn't even look at it for the first fifteen minutes...then I realized it was a photo of us and all the other tennis pals from twelve years ago!! 
Wow, I really feel old now.  I am on the right in the lilac top.  Smokin' hot, right? Haahah!!  It was the year I met my husband to be, and so it was the year that my life changed forever.  No wonder he wanted to date me. And why do we, as women, get so critical about ourselves only to figure out as time passes that we had no reason to be.  Anyway, I stopped playing tennis a few years later, and I miss all the fun we had together.  The gal right next to me is the one that gave me the piano that I painted white.  She moved away to Florida.  Life has a way of carrying on, doesn't it?  Anyway I have to say my forties were so much fun, and now that I am almost through the next decade, I am having an adjustment with the things age is doing to me.  Ugh, right?  Enjoy where we are, because I suppose when I blog in ten more years, I will be saying how fabulous my fifties were and what was I thinking??  
Mr. Maison Decor and I went to dinner at a french restaurant that we love to celebrate nine years of marriage.  Twelve all together, as we started dating in April, and we married three years later in April too.  Happy years and a happy union, its been the best thing that has ever happened to both of us, and how I know this, is that he wrote me a letter and told me so.  How sweet is that?  
 Soon I will be writing a blog post on how I am suffering from ADD, because I have so many projects going on at once.  And this project is the French Day Bed project.  The bed is a rusty mess, and anything I put on it gets rust marks.  I am making a Sunbrella cover for the mattress I bought for it (another project with Matthew Mead) and so I wanted to preserve the rusty look by coating it....so I went to Lowes and talked to some guy in the paint department, looking for an Exterior grade clear coverage thing.  
 I went home with this...when I applied it, it was so noxious, that all the doors and windows had to be flung open...the house still stunk. I finally dragged it outside myself after barracading the dog in the kitchen behind a bench.  He is afraid to go around stuff, so I take advantage of that, haha. 
 He is so funny. He was whining his heart out to let me in...you can see his toys and stuff all over the floor, and my basil plant waiting to go outside as well sitting on my Matthew Mead french settee, which doubles as a dining room barrier.
So the bed went outside...after awhile I checked to see if all the rust was now encapsulated.
NOPE. Turns out this inhibitor spray is an oil!! And now I had rusty oil all over the bed.  GRRR. So I washed it all down with a bucket and scruffy sponge and some Mrs. Meyers.  I was over the fumes and now mad that it was going to take another step to get my bed ready for the cushion I was sewing.
My supplies in the cellar yielded a can of this spray...so I gave it a try.  After that dried, I wiped it with a paper towel and rust was still coming off.  A facebook friend said she had to do two coats, so I just applied another coat today. If that doesn't work, I am going to have hubs take it to the autobody guy and ask him to spray it for me.  I won't have a rust finish if I do that, but at this point I am OVER trying to figure out how to preserve this rusted look.  Hahha.  Ok, that is the latest from here....I will be stitching up the sunbrella cushions and pillows and hoping the weather turns warmer so I can get some outdoor living started! 
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14 comments:

  1. I think trying to preserve a rust finish sounds like a good idea until the rust makes it's way back through to your newly sewn cushions and pillows. I would have your autobody guy do it. What a hassle with the oil!!
    ~Marcy

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  2. I found this....maybe this will help😊https://www.everbritecoatings.com/rusted_metal.htm

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  3. I didn't know that about knobs! What a great trick... and what a total %$!?#$ pain with the daybed. Who knew it could be so hard to preserve that pretty rusty finish. That is totally funny about Dillon. I have known big ole dogs that if you just prop up a piece of fence, they think it's impenetrable. He's adorable... and i love that he loves toys...

    Cindy

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  4. Amazing Amy strikes again! LOVE that vanity..and congrats on 9 years. I am with you on the ADD I have so many balls in air, I must be a little crazy:) Look forward to seeing what happens with the bed!

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  5. Hi! Go to an art supply store and buy some burnt sienna acrylic paint. Dab on with the sponge and et voila rust! :)

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  6. I've been thinking about the auto body route myself. I have 3 Iron patio sets that I am thinking of painting. They are from the same era 60's one is a sofa and chair and then 2 are tables with 4 chairs. The price to powder coat is not in the cards for me. Hoping to get this done before Summer. I certainly know how you feel about too many projects. I have so many things going right now and a list of future projects. My biggest stumbling block is moving them in and out according to the weather! Happy Anniversary! Enjoy that day bed. It is beautiful.

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  7. Donna at Funky Junk Interiors and Miss Mustard Seed have some excellent posts on how to keep the rust without the mess...

    http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2014/11/conditioning-rusty-metal.html

    Good luck, such a great day bed!

    And you're just as beautiful today as always!

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  8. Oh Amy you child...heee heee! I'm way past your age and don't feel old. So hang in there :-)

    LOVE LOVE LOVE the vanity you painted. It makes the room look so much lighter and brighter. I truly love it. Love the knobs too.

    As for the rusty day bed....Well, ya know sometimes ya do have to give up the 'crusty rusty' look and spray paint it for its own sake. I mean, rust does have a tendency to actually over time rust away metal to where there are holes and breaks and eventually nothing is left....it falls apart. Clean it up, get off the overt rust, paint it the color of your choice and then distress with it a little with a 'faux rust' look, if you choose. It's all good ;-)

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  9. Here is an idea that I used and has worked for me. I sanded an old rusted iron bench and after all the loose rust was removed, I gave the bench several coats of wax. It has kept the rust from bleeding through. I have no idea if this will help you, but thought I'd just pass the idea on!

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  10. Amy, love how the vanity turned out. I also love the wall treatment. Is it wallpaper or a stencil. If a stencil, source available? Thanks, and Happy Anniversary to you both!

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  11. The auto body guy should be able to put a clear coat on it that will preserve the rust as it is now, assuming of course that you've scrubbed all the loose flakes off. Clear coating to preserve rust and worn, "authentic" finishes, while keeping them from rusting further, is common for some types of auto building. There are people who appreciate patina in any circle! As the daughter of a "car guy" and "junker" and an amateur frech country style aficionado, I'm loving this little bit of overlap! Good luck!

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  12. Ugh, what a pain Amy! It's so awful when DIY projects don't go smoothly! (and noxious smells are especially bad!) It is soo cute though, I know it will look fabulous when you are done!

    As for YOUR cute self, the first thing I thought when I saw that photo? "Wow, she looks exactly the same!" You were beautiful then and you definitely still are! And congrats on your anniversary! How wonderful that you two found eachother:)

    Sheila
    xo

    www.maisondecinq.blogspot.com

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  13. Happy Anniversary! So funny that you made the same comment about an older photo that I said this week to my sister. Women go through life so critical of themselves and where we are at right now that when we look back we are often surprised by how great week looked, how smart we were and more.

    Love the bed project, cannot wait to see it finished.

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  14. Happy Anniversary Amy!.....First of all that piece looks amazing...love the new color and the new hardware...fantastic transformation....and the bed....well, hope you can keep the rusty look, but then again if you cannot, then a great new coat of paint will be great too!...Enjoy each moment, each day, each year of your life...it only gets better!

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