This past week I was on a furniture painting rampage!! I spent so much  needed time in my shop. You see the month of April was insanely busy for me. The first week I opened the doors to my coaching group that I only open 2x a year, Confidently Creative. You can get on the wait list here for the fall. Then my oldest daughter got MARRIED in Pittsburgh where she lives 450 miles away from us. Then we had my youngest daughters 11th birthday which was the first big party at our new house. Now, I’m the kind of person that uses a party as an excuse to get everything done and perfect in the house. Not that I’m concerned my guests will care if the ceilings are painted or not, but nothing gets my husband and I in sync to get projects done like the deadline of a party. Here’s a picture of my family at the wedding. It was such a wonderful occasion.

I’ve found that some of my best work comes from working fast. When I don’t have too much time to think about it. I usually try to get at least 6 pieces of furniture painted per month to keep my inventory on track and keep up to date with content. After all this is my job! I finished 4 just this week and I think it’s some of my best work.

*This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any more from ordering from these links but I earn a small commission so I can continue to bring you more fun projects! They also allow me to show you exactly what I use so you know what I’m referring to! * 

Material List:

• White Lighting
• Slick Stick
• Conch Silk Mineral Paint
• Salt Water
• Anchor
• Greek Key Stencil
• Foam Roller
• Big Mamas Butta

This particular week I wanted to use some of the new products Dixie Belle is releasing this week. I’ve had this Greek Key stencil for some time and I’ve had this dresser idea floating in my head for 2 months now. I was excited to get it out. I saw something similar on Anthropologie so I wanted to create it soooo bad. Here’s the before. I actually saw this piece at a thrift shop, left it, drove down the street and turned back around. I couldn’t get it off my mind! I’m so happy I did.

I started my prep on my piece as normal. If you’re new to furniture painting you can learn how to prep furniture here. This is a mid century modern piece which are known to have slick surfaces. I used one coat of slick stick to begin. I used a foam roller to apply it and used a foam roller for most of my application on this piece.

Next I pulled the drawers out and numbered them. You can see from the before picture there is some gaps in the drawers. I rearranged them until they matched up. I painted the entire shell in Silk mineral paint in Conch. Conch is my favorite color right now! I painted the drawers in Salt Water. Easy so far!!

Next it was time to stencil. I’ve only ever done a stencil as a raised stencil, with gilding wax, or as a distressed look. I’ve never went for a clean look with paint. Boy was I in for a surprise!

I used 100 light spray adhesive on the back of my stencil to get it to adhere on. Then I used very little paint (in Anchor) and a foam roller to roll the paint over my Greek Key stencil. I’m going to be very honest with you all. I struggled with this! I could not seem to get crisp clean lines with the paint. I repainted my drawers with Salt Water and tried again. I even read a few blogs to ensure my process was correct and it was. I still had a little bleeding with the paint. So I reached out to some of my friends in the painting community and they all said the same thing. It’s not easy to get crisp lines with paint on stencils and that is why most of them use gilding wax, mousse, or do faded and distressed looks with them!! I felt so good that I wasn’t alone with this struggle so I wanted to pass along my experience to you. I should also note that I’m really good at painting abstract art and straight lines aren’t easy for me either. All the black and white stripes you see in my work are done by my husband Curtis who has way more patience than me!

So what is the solution for not having the ability to get clean stencil lines? Distressing!!! Anytime I have a struggle like this there is always a solution and I usually end up liking it better! I sanded my drawers out with low 220 grit paper. I focused on the areas that the stencil bled on. This created a varied look on the fronts of the drawers. I honestly LOVE the way it looks and think that crisp lines would have looked too harsh.

I added these super awesome bar handles. Well, Curt did. Anything that involves and tape measure or straight lines he graciously steps in. Since I did this piece in Silk Mineral paint there was no need to seal it!

I also pulled this little table out of my daughter Reagan’s room this week too. She uses it as a vanity. I wanted to use the new silk screens in Delicate Lace and Butterflies on it. She’s also been asking me to paint it for awhile with the Boho Soul transfer. I absolutely LOVE how this table turned out. I completed it within 24 hours. I find the quicker I do things sometimes the better they turn out. I mean look at this!

When she saw these 2 pieces together in my shop she wanted them BOTH in her room. We are getting new floors this month so I’m thinking it maybe a good time to let her redo her room and keep both of them. Even though I just painted her new furniture last spring! But she is 11 and that was in the last house. What can I say she’s just like her mom and likes to change decor often! Luckily with Dixie Belle Paint and the new transfers, silk screens, and stencils it makes it really easy for us to change things up!

What do you think? Do I let her keep both and sell what she has??