Corners of my home ~

This is a hutch that I painted several years back and it holds my set of antique Limoges china that my husband gave me for Christmas one year. This china is so very thin that you can see through it so easily! The hutch is two separate pieces I found in a used furniture store, the top is a new piece found in the back of the store and it had a hole punched in the back and the bottom is an old piece found in the front, but by painting them the same, they marry!!

I have a collection of white/ivory pottery on top with accents of birds nests and dried hydrangea blooms ~ don't you just love the colors in the dried blooms?

Martha has asked me how I go about getting this finish. It's really quite simple, just a little time consuming.

• First: Make sure your surface is not shiny or glossy at all. It must be sanded and primed if it is. If it has a dull finish I would still prime it as it won't take as many coats of your base color to cover up dark wood.

• Second: Coat entire piece with good ol' flat latex paint. Believe it or not, Wal-mart's Colorplace is excellent paint. I used a cream color. Just make sure it's coated well.

• Third: I bought a small bottle of acrylic paint in the shade of soft green I loved and bought a small bottle of glaze also. I mixed them together to the transparency that I liked and painted lightly on the raised areas of my piece. Sometimes I even used my finger! I didn't want it to look too perfect.

• Fourth: I sanded here and there where it would be worn naturally over time. I use an electric hand sander like the mouse, also small pieces of sandpaper too. Sometimes I will get something from my "junk" drawer that is metal and drop it on it to make small areas of distress. The key is restraint. A little of this goes a long way and of course over time, your piece will naturally get nicked and it will just look like part of the plan!

• Fifth: I mix up a solution of water and antiquing paint (little bottle of dk brown at Michaels) I make it pretty thin and have a damp rag nearby. I just brush on a small area and dab and wipe it away so the brown is in the cracks and shows the detail. You have to be brave to do this but believe me if you mess up, you can paint the base right back over and try again . . .

• Sixth: After this dries, I roll on with a small sponge roller (which is what I use for this whole process except for the details and antiquing) a top coat of matte or satin water-based clear sealer. You can usually find it at Lowes in their specialty effects paint section. It's non-yellowing unlike polyurethane and other poly products.

Honestly though, you could use a satin base paint and use a wood stain over top to antique the whole piece and save several steps. I would test on a small piece of would to see if it's the look you want.

Well, that's my painted furniture tutorial, I hope you haven't fallen asleep! xxoo, Dawn