How I do my shabby chic look

Hi All
Wow when did that happen, 200 followers, when I started this blog I never thought I would get one let alone 200, it makes me feel very good to know so many of you think my blog is interesting enough to have a browse and look at my work, many of you have given me a lot of encouragement and praise, I thank you all.

A little while ago someone asked me how I did my shabby chic look, so here it is,

Step 1

I first choose a piece of furniture that I want to change

 

 

This is the piece I chose, you need to remove all the fixtures, the handles usually come of quite easy, sometimes if it is a bigger piece with doors, I microwave, yes I did say microwave for a few seconds at a time, until the glue melts a bit and then it is easier to take apart, be careful with this, do not microwave any metal or glass objects, I only do a few seconds at a time, I find if I can take a bit to bits it helps with the painting, do remember how it goes together.

 

Step 2.

 

you now need to sand the piece all over, this helps to provide a key for your paint to stick do.

 

Step 3.

 

Choose your base colour, this is the colour you want to show through when finished. sometimes I will do a base colour of white if the piece is a dark colour, now paint it

 

step 4.

 

When dry I painted it white, you can choose any combination of colour,

 

 

Step 5.

 

When dry, take some sand paper and rub the piece, it should look more worn in areas which have the most use or where it could be knocked against, IE, legs, edges, tops,

 

If I am doing a bigger piece I put on a tiny bit of Vaseline on the areas where I want to show the worn look, this stops the paint sticking to that area,

you can decide what way you wish to do it, I suggest you experiment on smaller pieces or a scrap of wood first,

 

after sand papering/

 

Step 6,

put back the fittings, or change them to something else, and decorate

complete set

 

Mine I made ready for Christmas


Now thats how I make my shabby chic minis