Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Distress Stress

Nothing we do is simple.  We always have a project going on.  A simple visit to the home improvement store for nails turned into a decision to order granite counter tops and redo the kitchen.  Mind you we were in the midst of building a pergola outside.  So not only do we always have a project going on, usally we have two or three!

Me and the slab!

So counter tops ordered, I try to convince my husband to let me paint our cabinets.  I love the look of black distressed furniture, see previous post, the Rolling Stones sing about painting it black, so I worked on getting him on my side. 
I have mentioned it on and off for three years.  So when he started to bend I took advantage of the situation and started to paint.  It was when the first cabinet was started that I stopped and looked at just how many cabinets I had and just how much of a project this would be.

The Before


Everything had to be cleaned and primed


Two coats of flat black paint


Then comes the distressing, why did I get the project half way finished before I remembered, I had the right tools for the job!  I started with a piece of sand paper and elbow grease, then I saw the mouse!  Much easier!  Just distress or sand the edges that would wear naturally.


After the sanding you can leave as is, or add a layer of poly to protect.  Here is the secret, adding something with a little color will really enhance the look and add to the distressed area. My secret recipe is a poly/stain mix that makes it a one stop process.  For just the right color we chose Red Mahogony.  It was the perfect choice!

You're going to get dirty and actually that is the the fun of it, here is a self portrait to show, you got to wear some grubbies.  I chose to "keep it rural"
So the process continues and pictures really don't do it justice, but I will keep you posted when the job is totally done.  As I looked at it tonight thinking it will be nice to have a project done, I was secretly thinking what we could do next!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I absolutely LOVE this! How gorgeous!

ann said...

Black cabinets are in. In an antique store there are 2 ladies who paint everything in booth and it sells right away Your doing a good job.

Unknown said...

Great job! And I know how busy you are at the "Home Office" getting everything ready for State Convention. Can't wait to see your big reveal of the whole room!

BigD said...

You are SO BRAVE for trying this!
Did you see the episode of This Old House when they used a meat tenderizer and an old chain to help with the distressing? (they did an undercoat of deep red to add more effect)
The cabinets look great!
I know I can't justify new cabinets, but you've got me thinking about an alternative...

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