Shabby Patina

I love shabby patina, how many times have you heard me say that. Probably a million times. Well I guess it depends on how long you’ve been following me. If you just started then maybe you’ve only heard it a few times. Believe me, I say this a lot.

If I am out treasure hunting and I spy a perfectly chippy piece, my heart skips a beat. Yeah it totally does, I’m not just saying that.  My family thinks I am crazy at times, because it doesn’t have to be a piece of furniture with chippy piece. We can be out for a walk and if I spot a piece of chippy paint, I sort of lose it a little. I grab my phone, start taking photos, so I can keep that photo and drool over it. I really do, I’m not kidding. I love the beauty of age except when it’s on my face.

So when I am painting a piece of furniture to look old, I sometimes need to make it really chippy. Just rubbing a little of the paint off doesn’t always do it for me. It really depends on the piece, and what room the piece is in. Each piece is unique. Today I worked on one of those pieces. Here is my armoire from my master bedroom. This really bad photo was taken awhile ago, before I knew about editing and lighting.

I painted this armoire several years ago with milk paint.But I decided to add a little color in my room. Now that may be a shocker for you or not depending on how long you’ve been following me. I was painting just about everything in my house white. Then I started to slowly add a little color. My inspiration came from this Rachel Ashwell pillow that I have on my bed.

I wasn’t trying to get an exact match, but I wanted a color that would work perfectly with this pillow. Posh Pink would have been my first choice, as there is a touch of pink in this pillow. But I was trying not to go there. I love my pink, but I don’t think my husband want’s to live in a pink palace. I am a pink girl living in a pink world, but my husband doesn’t want to be a part of that world. And I get it.  So, I need to use pink sparingly in our home. My husband is very supportive in my decorating ideas, but I don’t want to over do those feminine touches. As I wouldn’t want to live in a home with sport memorabilia in my home. That would look great, a fathead right above our bed. Hmmm, don’t think so.

I decided to use my signature paint color Vintage Green and White Lace. Vintage Green is not a match for this pillow, but I decided to use it along with White Lace and a touch of  yellow craft paint that I had. You can see that the green on this pillow has a little yellow in it.

Now it’s time to paint. After I applied a coat I stood back and thought, hmmmm, I don’t likey. So I added a little more yellow. The color on the left is Vintage Green, next Vintage Green, White Lace and a little craft paint yellow. Can you see the difference? I like the side that I added a touch more of the yellow.

Okay now I’m really ready to start painting. I applied two coats of this fabulous color. And as it was drying I was starting to think of how I wanted to distress and age this piece. Because you all know I can’t leave any piece without adding patina.

I decided to paint a light coat of white all around the trim. This would add a little aging by adding a little paint. It gives a piece a layered paint look without actually adding layers of paint. It’s how I cheat at painting. Yeah, I’m a cheater cheater pumpkin eater. Well, not a pumpkin eater. I actually cannot stand pumpkin, yuck!

Oh where was I? Oh so this look just wasn’t doing it for me. So I decided to use the old Elmer’s glue trick. If you don’t know what the Elmer’s  glue trick is you need to go and read all about it HERE.

When I was done painting, well it just wasn’t enough, so I started using my razor to chip away at the paint. This is where I have to insert a BIG warning.

** Please do not use this technique if you are clumsy in anyway. Using a straight razor to distress can be dangerous.I was very careful, and was wearing protective glasses.**

**Please read disclosure policy**

Okay did you read that warning above? Well, read it again, because you are at your own risk if you use a razor. Not trying to be miss bossy pants. But using a razor could result in an injury. I’m one of those crazy artist and nothing is off limits as far as tools. If you don’t want to use a razor, try using a tool your more comfortable using that’s safer to use.

 

After I was finished distressing, it still was not aged enough. I really wanted a heavily chippy and aged piece. So I decided to add Muddy Pond wax, along with a little Clear wax on top. I wiped on Muddy Pond with a white t-shirt, then blended it in with the clear wax. I didn’t want it too dark, and I also wanted an uneven look.

Yes, that’s the look I wanted. An old chippy piece, that some people would say looks crappy. So I guess I like crappy furniture. Sorry for the potty talk, but I do love me some chippy paint.

And as I went along, I distressed it a little more with my razor. I wanted this piece to look as though it had been around for many years, moved all over the place, dropped out of a building, kicked around, left out in the middle of nowhere, yeah that wonderful chippy goodness. You can see the side by side comparison. I have many authentic pieces of furniture, and they all have uneven, chippy patina. What I mean is that you can see lighter bits of patina and darker bits of patina.

See how this piece has dark patchy spots, and chippy patina. It’s very uneven, and not proportioned at all. Because this happened naturally. That’s what I wanted with my piece. I didn’t want it to look as though I aged it. If you look closely at this piece, you will also see a few different paints. This  furniture piece is one of my favorites! Here is my finished piece below. The knobs are from our bathroom, I need a better set than what I had on this piece. I hope they still have these or something similar, because I think these work perfectly with this armoire. I seriously could have kept adding the chippy patina, but I had to stop.

 

 

Here is that pillow again, it’s not a match. And that’s good because I didn’t want a match. I’m not a matchy match kind of gal.

This armoire was purchased many years ago. It holds our television, yes we have a television in our bedroom. My favorite channel is Turner Classics. I usually turn that channel on before I go to bed, and in the morning I usually turn on the news while I get dressed. It also holds my husbands clothes, it has two big drawers inside and two smaller drawers. It’s quite heavy and I am not sure it will come with us when we move. So I will enjoy it for the next several years.