Thursday 31 January 2013

Edwardian dressing table in milk paint...update...

Wow! Sorry about the delay there folks. Life has well and truly gotten in the way! I have been otherwise engaged with teaching Year 2 to sew, being a single parent while the husband works abroad, surviving a week with THREE seven year olds birthday parties and creating a plumbing crisis.

I thought it would be a nice surprise for the husband if I could change the bathroom taps and we might actually be able to use the hot tap. How hard can it be to change a tap? Answer: very hard if your pipes are not modern sizes. Anyway he was a little bit cross at the thought of coming home to a house with no water so I put it all back together and miraculously the old tap is now fixed (?) but leaks because I don't have the correct tighteny uppy thing. And that'll have to wait...

And I have a COLD! I don't ever get colds, I thought myself virtually superhuman, but after about 4 years cold-free I have succumbed to the lurgy. I'm very disappointed to be a mere mortal. Pah!

And there you all were, probably thinking the dressing table had all gone horribly wrong and I didn't want to show you. Well, that's a matter of opinion!  I like it. But I can see that it's not going to be to everyones taste! It's furniture marmite!

You might not believe this but I don't actually paint EVERYTHING white or cream. I do love the 'pale and interesting' look, it's true but in the past I have flirted with colour. The huge bookcase in the living room is green. See? I can be wild!

Okay, you're unlikely to see me painting furniture in strong colours often. But I love green, grey, blue and beige in interior decor. 

This Edwardian dressing table made me want to do a stronger colour. I wanted to go a little bit masculine with it. So I chose taupe. I only have two colours of milk paint, cream and taupe! Playing it safe!


The taupe turned out to be not very taupey at all and for a while there it just looked cream. I had some problems with it too. I did about 3 coats with very poor coverage and no hint of cracking whatsoever. It dawned on me that the paint was too watery. (Milk paint comes in powder form.) So I mixed it up a bit thicker and we hey!


Perhaps a bit too much?

Sometimes you've just got to hope it'll look alright in the end... don't be scared! (Okay you can be a bit scared!) If this was my first time with milk paint I would have wept!

The big reveal is not quite ready yet. Sorry. I thought I'd have it done by now. But here's a sneaky peak at the bits I have finished, to whet your appetites. Or not.




It's very grungey. 
I need a little more painting time, a lot of waxing and a dry day so we can drag it outside for it's photo shoot.
And I need a lot of hot ribena. Every cloud has a silver lining.

15 comments:

  1. it's looking good.I used a thing for getting jam jar lids loose (with a tea towel protecting) to tighten a nut the other day. Taps etc are a pig. Our plumbing goes back to 1960 and recently we had a flood - and the stop cock of all things had broken and water was flowing out of it. New pipe wouldn't join on to old pipe.. arghh. Took hubs two days to chop a load of pipe out and replace the stop cock. Floor has never been so clean!

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    1. Thanks Chalky! The confines of space under the sink mean only one tool will do. I will track one down eventually!

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  2. Can't wait to see it finished.

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  3. so sorry to hear your not feeling well hope you feel better real soon. Blimey your clever taking the taps off i wouldn't have a clue. Looking forward to seeing the finished result on your unit. take care, dee x

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    1. Not that clever because I don't have a clue either. I just THINK I can do everything! x

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  4. That dressing table looks brilliant, distressed and fabulous, I love it!
    Well done on sorting the taps out, plumbing's never been my strong point although I used to have a go at anything when I lived alone.
    Get well soon! x

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  5. Looking really good! I'm in awe of your skills - I've just painted a v small bedside table that took ages and didn't quite turn out the way I thought it would!

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    1. That often happens but don't let it stop you! The more you do it, the more you learn!

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  6. Ugh, a cold and looking after the kids on your own (including parties!) sounds like hard work! And plumbing too... I remember trying to fix a leaky tap years ago, and finding it very tricky, the tools I had didn't fit, and I got a bit hysterical (laughing, not crying) with my friend as we struggled and had no idea what we were doing!
    The dressing table is looking good, can't wait to see the finished article. xxx

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  7. That's all it comes down to! If we had the right tools we could do it. i have read a page of the DIY manual so I'm now virtually a qualified plumber and I'm off in search of a ''cranked spanner!'' xx

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  8. Gill said: ''ooh, looking good, not sure I'd be brave enough to go quite so "chippy" but I do love that look. Hope your cold has gone, I've had two since Christmas and I don't do colds either so fed up with it! ''

    I lost the comment. Sorry Gill, this is copied from the email.
    I guess you can be braver with free furniture! x

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  9. So tantalising! Can't wait for the big reveal....

    Bummer about you having a cold, we've all had them too. So. Little. Fun. Hope you feel better soon :)

    Kate
    Just Pirouette and Carry On...

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    1. Thanks Kate! Ok, I can take a hint. I'm going to get off my butt now and finish it! x

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