Little Wax Painted Chair

little wax painted chair in our foyer

I found this little child’s folding chair in the trash.  I couldn’t believe my luck.  Presently I’m using it in our foyer to hang my keys on.  Then it will go to Elisa’s room, she is almost 10!  When and if she cleans her room, she would rather clean the house than clean her room.

luminous

First I painted it off-white.

here is the before shot

Then I heated clear wax and tinted it with universal tints.  I put the mixture on the stove in an old clean tomato can.  It heats up in a second, watch out for hot wax, it can burn.

troppo Americana a me!

I painted on the deep blue wax with an old brush.  For me it came out too dark.

tomato cans can be used for everything

So then I went for the kiwi green and some yellow (separate can).  I painted that on and I liked it more.

I covered the deep blue with pearl acrylic paint to tone it down, mess it up, to add texture.

covering up the deep blue wax

here's with the green wax and pearl paint

What do you think?  Could it look good sanded on the edges a bit too?  I love the idea of a chair as a side table or to stack books on, hold the keys.

hot wax on chair

Cheers!!

With affection

Natalie

I'm linking up to the link party at:

Miss Mustard Seed
Between Naps on the Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Romantic Home

Painted Shoe Boxes - 7th Day of Spring

gray painted shoe boxes

Happy 7^th Day of Spring

I was too crazy painting a retail store last week to post a celebration.  The 7^th Day of Spring because this is Sette Design, 7 because there are 7 colors in the rainbow and because 7 is way cool.  Later I’ll show you the store because it came out quite modern and rich.

Elisa's little hand full of spring

All of you who do not want to do any Spring cleaning, (that's me!).  Here is a fun idea.  Paint shoe boxes instead and organize something in your life.  It is that simple to feel that you are reaching a little closer to spring.

Here is the before photo.

all the different colors make the boxes look cluttered

To me it didn’t matter what size they were I just wanted the shoe boxes all the same color, so that they would look more like a group. I picked gray because I like it as a neutral, it makes color pop.  I painted a basket the same color too.

One had a gold lid that I liked so I let the gold show a bit.

uniformity makes good design

i let the brushstroke show

Color or pattern can look good peaking through, if you paint the boxes lightly or patchy in some areas. I use one coat in some spots, 2 in others.   A clear coat of polyurethane and they will last longer under use.

and happy Easter too!

Happy 7^th Day of Spring chile beans!

Natalie

I'm linking to these link parties:

French Country Cottage

Romantic Home
Creations By Kara
The Shabby Creek Cottage

Silver Leaf Doors

Italian school house doors

Note to Design Freakers: Anyone interested in a fabulous Online Painting Techniques Course for Interiors, Art and Furniture.  Check out the link/Image below.

I have this dream that I would one day have a loft and then put old Italian exteriors doors in the interior of the space.  I would silver or gold leaf them and they would be brilliant, and of course hip beyond belief.

here's a detail shot, you can see a little of the brown antiquing 

This summer while working painting a villa I got my doors, because the clients had to change the front door while putting in an alarm system.  They are just gorgeous I wish I could put my finger on the photos.  The  doors are huge, with panels carved in, heavy and wood and they even have the letter slot that says "lettere" on it.  They are now in storage.  The day I got them, I went to my favorite cafe where a girlfriend works and I told her my dream and I joked I don't have the loft but I have the doors.

I love what an improvement painting hardware can be

Then autumn rolled around and I started working on another villa, that was once a school house up in the hills of Assisi.  These clients were very cool, Italian - Canadians who work in film, and the school house already had a loft built into it, plus the exterior doors inside, man isn't life weird that way.  So instead of becoming very jealous I just decided that I would get them to do the Silver Leaf Doors.  We ended up doing the inner front doors, which is not the pretty set of doors that goes to the loft room, yet they are a focal point for the house and entrance.

the before shot

Here is a before shot.

I liked the animal scratches it gives it a past

For this process, first I painted it gray so if it wears off in time it will just look aged.  Then I silver leafed the door.  Then I put a dry brush of raw umber (dark brown) oil paint over the whole thing to tone it down and antique it.  I left all the imperfections and even animal scratching in the wood because I liked the texture.  I painted all the hardware with metal paint in an industrial silver.

What do you think?  I just love it.  The clients love it too, they actually in the spring want me to change the panels to copper leaf to go more with the brick floor.  Maybe I should even do the oil paint dry brush effect in a brick-red color over the copper.  I always have the main goal to make the clients happy, and sometimes I get to test some of my dreams in the meantime.

so pretty

Natalie

Check out these parties I'm linking to:

Between Naps On The Porch
Mod Vintage Life
French Country Cottage
Redoux Interiors
Savvy Southern Style

Easter Bird Branch Craft Project

Easter

For years I have wanted to do this project.  I wanted to decorate a branch with eggs and birds.  Every year we like to blow eggs and paint and dye them, so we have a nice collection that usually sit in a bowl at Easter time.  Some of these are painted with acrylics and some even have clear nail polish over the top to make them glow.

Easter FUN

First I found a nice branch on the river and painted it light blue with a high light of moss green.

gold and red

For the eggs the girls and I used the hot glue gun (a must buy for you craft freakers) to attach some white thread to the top of the egg.  While the glue was still warm we pressed the thread in (careful not to burn our fingers).  We placed them on cookie cutters while they dried, to keep them upright. They didn’t come out straight and some hung awkardly.  I told the girls I wanted them straight.  They chimed in “You say imperfection is beautiful."  Oh my own words come back to get me.   Thank you my darlings for reminding me, imperfection lets the soul in.  Honestly who wants to be around someone perfect?

lucia gunning it up

string attached with hot glue

I put the branch in my grandmothers wedding teapot which was designed by Paul Revere (yes the famous Paul of the “The British are coming,” he called to warn his fellow Americans of the revolutionary war arriving, while traveling the Eastern sea board by horse.  He was also a blacksmith and in my belief a damn good designer.  I had to put a bunch of river stones in the teapot so the whole contraption wouldn’t fall over.  I suggest to my readers that you find a symmetrical branch.

cool that egg  looks like it's suspended in space

can't wait to see what color the tulips are

egg with clear nail polish finish

HAPPY EASTER

This project looks even prettier in real life.  It truly makes our hearts filled with joy.

Natalie

I'm Linking up with:

 Romantic Home

French Country Cottage

River Wild Flowers

colored bottles and glasses

I love a plan, a big plan or a tiny plan any kind of plan is good to me.  The girls and I had a plan (truly it was my plan, slightly forced upon them).  The plan was that we would run down the river to our “beach” (stones in an outlet on the river), then we would throw a few chosen stones in the river and make some wishes, then we would walk back along the river and on our way home pick some Spring flowers.

wild flowers from the river

We left amidst sunshine and returned under raindrops and hoods, each with a fist full of river flowers.

Later we gloried in our reaped success over a hot cup of tea.

hand stitched italian lace

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act.  There is no other route to success.

-Paolo Picasso, artist

Anyone got a plan out there?

Natalie

I'm linking To:
SouleMama

Shabby Chic Ideas

some shabby chi ideas 

Happy International Woman’s Day

Here in Italy the men bring a spruce of Mimosa to the woman that are important to them.  It is a symbol that they respect and love us and acknowledge that there should be more justice and equality for woman all over the world.  I concur.

cappuccino anyone?

I’ll try to keep this post short today because I’m rushing off to work on someone’s window displays.

I put together this scene to reflect some Shabby Chic ideas that I have.  If you follow this blog at all you might know that I like things easy and fun.

A old wicker chair with a beautiful Italian lace thrown over it, cushions underneath.

An old inner window shutter plastered with Venetian Stucco and gold leaf with some pearl paint, white paint and gold leaf.

I like the little bit of ochre that there was

A chair that was crying for a Shabby Chic look because it already had a good patina on it.  All I did here was add some cream-white paint a bit of pearl (yes I’m obsessed with pearl).  Then I sanded the edges, put a piece of fleece as stuffing and hot glue gunned on a piece of moss green velvet.  Isn’t it pretty I love a quick transformation.

shabby chic in process

see how I left the patina

shabby chic chair detail

A candle holder painted pale green and wired with old lamp crystals.

old lamp crystals love the greens together

A table made from a big bucket of paint a piece of wood on top and a pale taupe piece of linen.

finally one of my tulips is blooming

I like the parallel of pattern on the chair and shutter

Cheers everyone

Buona Festa della Donna

Natalie

I'm Linking up to:
Between Naps On The Porch

French Country Cottage

Romantic Home

Miss Mustard Seed

Redoux Interiors

Creativity John Cleese

Here is a gem.  I find John Cleese just brilliant.  If you don't have time to watch this now come back later.  It is about 14 minutes it is part of a larger talk on creativity that you can find on YouTube. I believe this is sound advise for anyone no matter what you are hoping to do with your life. 

His delivery is fantastic.

Cheers,

Natalie