Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Help The Noobs!

 noob is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in any profession or activity.

When speaking about furniture restoration and redo's this would be me. So I'm begging asking you all for some help. We'll start with the easy questions.




This is a child size swan fainting couch. I bought it a couple of years ago on ebay. I liked it but hardly ever used it in my portrait photography, why? Well in photo speak it crossed keys and that drove me nuts. If I use it on a light background with a child in light colored clothing the dark wood draws the eye, on a dark background the light fabric was the problem. So I'm fixing the problem. I painted it a light creamy white, the actual name is "butter white" then distressed it a little, but now I think it needs a little stain or glaze to bring out the carving detail and darken it up just a touch. My noob problem is I have no idea what color to use. I see a lot of people use ebony stain on white, but this is creamy - would it still work???

Next - don't laugh this ones bad.
I know it sounds crazy but I want to keep the blue upholstery for now. I photograph a lot of baby boys and I have been wanting a blue velvet chair, but I want to paint the wood white. I was going to use an oil based spray paint primer. Do I need to remove the upholstery before painting, can it even be removed without ruining the fabric? Maybe I can just tape it off?? Stop laughing, I really have no idea!!!

Ok and finally we are at the "I may have bit off more then I can chew" section of the questions. What the heck do I do with this?!?!? :)

It has so many issues I don't know what to do with, but I love the bow pulls and decals. (is that what those things are called?) However both pulls on the middle drawer are broken, as well as both wheels on the right side.

Can I get reproduction pulls to match the existing ones? Do I swap out those pulls for something like glass handles? Maybe I put glass handles on the top drawers and use two of the pulls to put on the middle drawer? Do I get new wheels or just remove all of them?

And the very, very worst of it:

I'm going to paint this, but I don't know what to do with this pealing veneer. Do I repair what is there or take it off and sand and paint what's underneath? Or maybe I need to put a new veneer top on? Oh what should a poor noob do?

3 comments:

  1. Well, Hello there - Comment section took me away from post so I'll do my best to remember - I am by no means an expert - I am an enthusaistic amateur. If you'd like I'd suggest Mrs. Mustard Seed - she's fantastic.
    1. fainting couch - perhaps you can try Briwax stain - it is a wax that can add color to the cracks and you can apply - creating a hard finish
    2. Blue chair - I'd take the cushions off as carefully as possible - if you can - no going back when paint gets on fabric - but, if you can't perhaps you can tape ALOT and cover fabric with heavy trashbags - taped on.
    3. dresser - inject glue under veneer that has buckled and apply pressure - lots of heavy stuff - let dry - I just created a Robins Egg Blue paint inspired by another blogger - this would look fantastic blue. Would go great with the chair - I'd play with the hardware to keep it somehow - perhaps trying to find pulls or another wide large pull for the center -
    Miss Mustard Seed
    missmustardseed.blogspot.com - check her out
    here's a link to my Robins Egg Blue:
    http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/2011/04/robins-egg-blue.html

    Good Luck!
    Kathy

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  2. Kathy, thank you so much for your advice! I LOVE Mis M, she helped me learn to party! LOL I was thinking blue also for the dresser, great minds think a like. I'm off to check out that post!

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  3. Thanks Deanna for the kind note on my blog! I love your fainting couch. I'd go with the Minwax Dark Walnut stain. It's an MMS oldie and I've loved using it. And I agree with Kathy, try to keep some of the pulls on the dresser but mix it up! I like the idea of using the top ones on the middle drawer.

    Good luck with your projects! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

    Emily

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