Back in Black: 2 DIY Finishes

Happy Halloween. This is my Broken Doll costume I wore to work today. I am sad because my house looks haunted and my ceiling is still not done!

In fact, today I finished staining and waxing the last of (all 300+) ceiling planks! Since I am crabby and more then sick from eating all the candy we have at the front of studio I am posting these DIY's projects pretty quickly.

Let's start with a high-low coat of Faux Effects' Midnight Stuco Lux over Black Setcoat. Do not trowel this too heavy or you will get spider cracks when it dries.  A gallon of Stuco Lux covers about 200-250 square feet.

Next mix 1 part FE Aquawax to 1 part FE Old Bronze Metal Glow. Also mix 1 part Aquawax to 1 part Wheat Metal Glow. A gallon of Aquawax applied in a tight skim should cover 400 square feet.  This mix will look cloudy when wet but will dry true to the metallic colors.

Mix 2 parts FX Thinner + 1/2 part Ebony Stain & Seal + 1/2 part Van Dyke Stain & Seal. Brush this over the surface and soften with a cloth or terry towel.  I like stain over wax or palette deco because it bites in a little bit better over the slick surface. Any tinted glaze will bead up over wax or palette deco which makes glazing these two surfaces easy. Don't worry, the glaze layer will stick when it is dry.

What an easy finish! You could also use Palette Deco Black or Venetian Gem Black Onyx as your base.

And speaking of Palette Deco Black....

Let's roll a coat over Black Setcoat.  While this is wet, take a piece of cheesecloth that you have opened up and stick it into the wet plaster.

Tight trowel more Palette Deco Black over the cheesecloth. You want to see the weave underneath.

Pull the cheesecloth and roll you next section lapping areas slightly.  I will reuse my cheesecloth a few times and then toss it in a bucket of water to wash later.  Don't worry about lap lines-we will deal with those later.

When the first layer is dry, I pop in some Faux Effect's Aquasize in random connected areas using my trowel. 

The size will fog and then go shiny clear.

Place more cheesecloth over the shiny size and tight trowel more Palette Deco Black. I alternate between spotting in more "skin" and just spotting in Palette Deco-easy way to hide lap lines!

Mix 1 part FX thinner + 1 part Metallic Gold Stain & Seal. Mix 1 part FX Thinner + 1 part Metallic Bronze Stain & Seal. Brush these two colors on at the same time and use a damp cloth to rub into your pattern. Use a dry cloth to pad over the top to soften the lap lines.

Another super easy finish!

Hope you guys have a safe Halloween with lots of candy-seriously-come to Surfaces and eat this stuff before I do!

Our costumes for a Halloween Party last weekend. All Remodel and No Play Make Mr. & Ms. Surface's Nuts! I hope Bruce wears this when our project is over-Mr.Clean indeed.

DIY-"Keep Calm and Carry On" Headboards

My chance to combine three favorite things: A Queen Betty reference, a silhouette and sparkle!

The past two years I have been searching for twin bed frames to repaint for our 3rd guestroom.  I have my regular junk, consignment, and donation spots that I hit up every few weeks in search of pieces with good bones and bad finishes.  So I was thrilled when I found these.....

The wood finish is faded and the color dated but the shape of the foot board and headboard are very interesting and all the pieces are structurally sound. Sold...$30 a set. A great deal.  First, I cleaned the surface with Paso to loosen the topcoat and remove oils. Then I lightly sanded with the grain using 220 grit sandpaper followed by a swipe with a clean damp cloth.  Before applying my decorative finish I sprayed the pieces with water-thinned Aquaseal (Clear Setcoat) as my basecoat. This will allow some of the natural wood tone to show through in the finish and will help my next layers adhere better to the surface. The Aquaseal may also be brushed and rolled with a black foam roller.

This finish is a variation of our Weathered Willow sample from Cabinetry I and uses Fauxstone Pull-Off which is a Faux Effects Gold Label product. If you've taken a cabinetry class at a FE school you are familiar with this product.  If you haven't... get to a school soon to learn about all the cool cabinetry stuff available. But in the meantime you can try this finish using Silver Label products which will still give you a great look-just without the low texture.

Since I had nice inserts in both the headboard and foot board, I wanted to highlight these areas by sponging in some Wundasize.  This tacked up in an hour before I applied a shiny silver foil.

It will look spotty but that is OK because this layer doesn't show much so it shouldn't take much of your time.  Next I mixed my Fauxstone Pull-off using 1 TBSP Turquoise Stain & Seal + 1/4 Tsp Earth Brown Faux Creme Color to 1 quart of Fauxstone Pull-off.  If you don't know how to use Faux Stone Pull-Off you may mix 1 pint FX Thinner + 1 cup Pickling White Stain & Seal + 1/2 TBSP Turquoise Stain & Seal + 1/4 Tsp Earth Brown Faux Creme Color. You want a pale Robin's Egg Blue Color.

Here I am brushing my pale blue over the surface and popping it with a paper towel to create a low texture.  Think a paint that has worn and chipped in places.  Fauxstone pops and pulls nicely. The tinted stain will work better if you sponge it on to create your low texture.

I want about 20% of the wood to show through and 30% of my foil to show. This layer dries within an hour and may be sanded with 220 paper to smooth the textured tips. I decided to apply some more Wundasize and foil in my panels to create more depth before applying my blending layer of Fauxstone Plaster.

My second layer of the pale blue Fauxstone Pull-Off is brushed more solidly over the first textured layer.  I use a cloth to wipe larger reveal areas in spots.

I use soft brushes and work the material back and forth-this reduces brush strokes.  You may also use a damp cloth to gently wipe the Fauxstone or blue stain as you go. 

I repeated this step over the foil inserts so only 10%-5% of the foil shines 100% thru the finish while in other areas the foil is lightly reflected under the blue color.

I like my furniture to have depth and feel like hand-rubbed antiques. This means adding different glaze layers. Here I mixed 1 cup Fx Thinner + 1/3 Cup Pickling White Stain & Seal + 1/3 Cup Silver Stain & Seal + 1 Tsp Earth Brown Faux Creme Color for a pretty faux lime wash which I brushed 100% over the surface and softened with cheesecloth. This layer also adds a lovely polished effect.



Before I added my antiquing stain, I wanted to take advantage of the nice insert on the headboard.  I had just ordered the Queen Crown from Royal Design Studio and knew this would be the perfect place to use it.

I mixed Softex with Cero Silver Glass Glitter and Clear Glass Glitter since who wants a crown that doesn't sparkle?  I selected Softex because I wanted the stencil to look flocked and the glitter to be more subtle.

The Softex is troweled with a Japan Blade over the taped down stencil. Gently remove the stencil when the pattern is covered 100%.

When the pattern dried, I applied an Antiquing glaze made from 1 cup FX Thinner + 1/3 cup American Walnut Stain & Seal and a 1/2 Tsp Van Dyke Stain & Seal.  I brushed this over the entire surface 100% and wiped back with cheesecloth.

When I applied this mix over the crown, I spritzed the surface with water and blotted with a dry cloth since I didn't want the Softex to get too dark.  I used lightly thinned American Walnut to flick for fly specks and to shade edges and architecture. 

I like my stain layers to dry over night and the next day I top coated with 2 coats of Aquaguard Satin.

Sweet bed frames perfect for visiting Faux Finishing royalty (or Murray McLuvin who loves that room).  Now I just have to tackle the walls and the ceiling.

                                                

Maybe Betty would spare me some of her help?  And where can I get my dogs those crowns?