Leslieville Flea Guest Blogger - Heather of Best of Her

Our Guest Blogger today is Heather of 
Best of Her | www.bestofher.com

Last winter I worked in England for a small furniture business. My boss went off to auctions and teardowns and came back to the warehouse every week with these amazing antiques and vintage treasures. My job was to give these pieces a fresh, updated look by painting them. It really is pretty amazing what a coat or two of paint can do.

When I came home in the spring I decided to make use of my father’s woodshop and started out by working on pieces I found around our family farm. I then began to scour garage sales and even the ends of peoples drive ways on big garbage days… Seriously, you can find some awesome stuff.

I’ve turned upcycling furniture into my business and it’s so much fun.

My project this last week was for a client who just repainted her front hallway. She had this old pine cupboard that was just a little bit too country for the new look.

Removing the back decorative detail immediately streamlined the piece, and then I got to work with my palm sander, some paint and some nice dark brown stain.

I sanded the old finish off the top and applied a new coat of dark espresso stain. I painted the rest of the piece using Benjamin Moore’s “Overcoat” (after mixing it into chalk paint, check out this article for how to do this yourself! http://howtodistressfurniture.net/definitive-guide-homemade-chalk-paint-recipes)

Finally to finish, I distressed the edges and corners of the piece to let a little bit of the old wood show through, sealed it all with a coat of water-based Varathane in a satin finish and switched out the old white porcelain knobs for something a little more modern.

She was thrilled with the result! Upcycling is a great way to give an old, quality piece of furniture a brand new look.

Be sure to come check out my furniture as well as a variety of handmade hardwood cutting boards, hand painted kitchen utensils and vintage housewares at the next Leslieville Flea this Sunday November 17^t from 10am-4pm.  It's moved indoors to the Jimmy Simpson Recreation Center (870 Queen Street East).