Gypsy: November 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Sheepdogs

The Sheepdogs - Who

This is the band that I listened to while working on my night table. They are a Canadian rock band (I'm French Canadian!) with a folk vibe. I love them! They beat fifteen other bands in Rolling Stone's 'Choose your Cover' competition to be featured on the Rolling Stone's August 18, 2011 magazine cover, the first unsigned act to do so. I discovered them while watching (avidly) one of Project Runway's episodes.

Stage 1

Well I almost completed my first piece this weekend. I'm not sure if I'm in love with the color but it's a nice color nonetheless. Let me know what you think! The picture below is with two coats of paint. Prior to painting I did a light sanding with 80 grit sandpaper, did some minor cleaning, and then began the painting process. It's been sort of difficult getting an efficient painting technique down. After the first coat I got some paint runs on the piece so I have to be really careful to make sure there isnt too much paint on the brush - which is really tricky! You are supposed to paint in the direction of the wood grain but in my case the piece was already painted so it was hard to know which direction that was! So I made sure my paint strokes were always in one direction. The most difficult part of the piece to paint were the legs, because they are round and curved. I'm comtemplating whether I should risk weathering my first piece because it takes some techniques with chain and hardware that I've never done beore. I dont want to ruin the piece but at some point I'm going to have to try to make the pieces look distressed. Hhhhmmmm....I guess you'll have to follow me find out!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Lesson #1

It's Friday! And I've already learned my first lesson on what NOT to do when refinishing furniture. My stepdad bought me a cute little bucket full of paint stripping products but some helpful professionals, already in the business, told me to -

NEVER EVER USE PAINT STRIPPER!!!

Now I will have to go out tomorrow and buy some sanding products. Sigh! I can use the paint brushes but everything else in my little silver bucket has been deemed useless. I appreciate my stepdads support though =)

Thursday, November 3, 2011

My first find!

I'm creating this blog to log my ventures in furniture refinishing. I've always loved vintage, antique, or shabby chic pieces so I thought why not try to create my own?
In addition, I'm going through a beginner's life crisis, seeing as I'm only 22 (haha) - where I feel that I need to pick up a hobby to distract myself from the sickening routine of work. I thought working since I was fourteen years old would have taught me a lot more about the "working world" than what I've been experiencing since graduating college. The real world is truly upon my doorstep, not in an entirely negative way but sometimes it is quite overwhelming.
Therefore, I feel the need to focus some of my free time on pursuing something I love...and I love design! I love interior design, and I figured the closest way to explore that interest is through refinishing small pieces of furniture.
Maybe I'll become famous from furniture refinishing and never have to work another day of my life!! I'm just joking...kind of. I actually really love my job right now but I'm just getting use to the fact that I will have to pretty much work every day for the rest of my life! Wouldnt that make anyone depressed? Well to get our minds off of that topic let me introduce my first find!