The Easiest Furniture Antiquing Method EVER (And how YOU can get FREE paint!)

Happy Monday Friends!

And Happy 2016!

Last night our team gathered together to celebrate and reflect on what an amazing year 2015 was. We look forward to another year of personal and team growth, packed with "Ladies on the Loose" events, another anniversary celebration and two Junk Bonanzas. Bring it 2016!

Let's dive into the topics at hand: i.e. the EASIEST furniture antiquing method EVER and a free paint just for YOU!

If you've been to Ramshackled Treasures or are familiar with our brand you've probably seen lots of distressed and antiqued items. Antiqued furniture has been in vogue for years and it's not going out of style anytime soon. There are many ways to antique furniture: sandpaper, wet sanding, dry brushing and tinted wax but today we are going to talk about Country Chic Glaze.

Glaze. Even the word itself sounds nummy & edible like that melty frosting on a donut. Yum.

But what is glaze? And how do you use it?

Overview: 

*Glaze is meant to give any piece an antique look.
*When applied to a piece that is ornate or has a lot of texture it soaks into all the crevices and brings out the detail of the piece.
* It changes the color of the overall piece and give it an aged patina look.
* It is pretty much odorless
* Safe to paint indoors.
*It's fast to apply, just paint on and wipe away!

Sounds like a win, win.

You will need a...

Brush
Cup of water
Lint free cloth
Glaze color of your choice

WATCH THIS TUTORIAL TO LEARN THE BEST WAYS TO APPLY THE GLAZE

Did you get all that? See, it's extremely easy. 

Country Chic glazes come in three different colors, but you can mix your own custom color if you buy the clear glaze and mix it 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint.

We are a retailer for Country Chic products and sell all the glaze colors. If you have any questions feel free to drop in or call us at Ramshackled Treasures or leave a comment below. 

***For those who are interested in tackling your own painting projects, we offer a Painting 101 classes and a Cabinet Painting classes. Click here to learn more about class details and registration!

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Thought we forgot about your free paint? ;)

We didn't!

Start 2016 out right by trying our paint FOR FREE!

Tired of your outdated or second-hand furniture? For a limited time only we would like to offer you the opportunity to start upgrading your home for FREE!

From now until January 31st, 2016 you can pick up one free 4 oz jar of Country Chic Paint at any of our participating retailers!

You can easily do a small project, such as a chair or a side table with this 4 oz jar of our eco-friendly and easy-to-use furniture paint. We want you to experience Country Chic Paint for yourself because we know that you'll fall in love with it!

Sign up at http://www.countrychicpaint.com/free-samples to receive a unique code so you can get yours today!

Disclaimers: Limited to one (1) voucher per household. No cash value. Only valid in-store at participating Country Chic Paint retail locations. Printed voucher needs to be presented to Retailer. Expires February 1st, 2016. Subject to availability.

Happily Better After: Episode 1

Once upon a time there was a table. She had once been lovingly made by the village carpenter, but over the span of her life she had become marred with watermarks and scratches. Little children had etched messages in her oak top and thus, she was no longer beautiful. The family who owned her decided to sell her for a song to a traveling tinker. The tinker saw that underneath her many scars, a beautiful table still remained. He got to work, sanding and cleaning, staining and sealing. Until the table was a beautiful once again.

The story is made up, but it illustrates the journey that our pieces at Ramshackled Treasures travel before they make their way into new and loving homes. In commemoration of this fact, every month we will showcase some of our "Before and After" makeovers on the blog. You will be stunned at how we (metaphorically speaking) turn frogs into handsome princes...

BEFORE

AFTER

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And as the stories go, they lived happily better after.

Step into Our Vendors' Homes: Meet Aimee (aka MacGyver)

As part of a new monthly series we will be entering the homes of our talented Ramshackled Treasures vendors. They will show us their recent DIYs, room remodels and favorite furniture refinishes. Prepare yourself to learn, share and be inspired!

Aimee (#32) has been nicknamed "MacGyver" by our small tribe at the shop. She is petite, gentle and full of joy--yet she also enjoys using her power tools and busting out walls. We shake our heads in amazement when she brings a piece of furniture into the shop that she built from scratch. 

Aimee and her family moved into their current split-entry home in Zimmerman, MN last June. They have already tackled some stunning remodels in this short time. MacGyver describes her personal style as "eclectic, but classic" and was happy to share about the panty and the buffet that she created in her kitchen out of repurposed furniture and salvage pieces. 

KITCHEN PANTRY

Construction photo--in progress

Their new home didn't have very much storage--especially in the kitchen so Aimee decided to build a pantry cabinet, creating the main body of the piece out of a bookshelf. Believe it or not, there used to be a door where this cabinet is now nestled, Aimee and her husband sealed up that door, created a wall and then installed a new french door to the right of it, thus creating a more harmonizing layout in the space. 

Aimee created custom doors for the pantry out of plywood and constructed the top section from a separate piece. The custom cabinet looks seamless--as though it's always been in the house. 

BUFFET BUILT IN

"I hate sheetrock," Aimee admits. "I think it's gross." So, when she and her family moved into their new home she had plans for the wall between the kitchen and the living room. You see, years ago, a realtor friend had contacted her:

"We are trying to close on a house, but the buyer wont take it unless these two buffets go away," they said. Aimee was all over it and brought home the two, heavy antique buffet builtins. She sold one at the shop and kept one for herself, planning to put it in her own home one day. 

Builtin installation in progress!

After knocking down the wall, the built in had to be taken up in three pieces and reassembled. They also had to create a platform for it to sit on for the air vent underneath.

Aimee also created a textured back (no more sheetrock!) out of wood wall paneling. She preferred the rough texture of the backside of the paneling as apposed to the finished side and so, she mounted it with the backside facing out. Brilliant!

"Its always a scavenger hunt when I go out in the garage to find the perfect pieces for my projects," she says. "Sometimes its just adding trim and new profiles to a piece that takes it from 'there's more than one,' to 'there's only one of its kind' and that's what makes it desirable. Its the bumps and changes in depth that make painting so fun, because then when you distress it, they'll stand out." Aimee also adds, "I don't think anything should be thrown away."

MacGyver, indeed. 

Whitewashing with Country Chic Paint

Have you ever wondered how to get that whitewashed look like you see in old houses and barns? Whitewashing is so easy and just involves thinning your paint with water. Ask anyone at our shop and we will tell you that Country Chic paint is our very favorite for whitewashing and just regular painting.

Why?

"First of all, Country Chic Paint is eco-friendly and pretty much odorless! This is a huge plus when you consider your health, your family and the environment. Secondly, the paint is super easy to use - there is little to no prep work and it dries really quickly! Thirdly, we love how easy it is to create a distressed look without using sanding tools…all you need is a wet cloth!" ~Country Chic

Country Chic paint comes in many appealing colors to accent the furniture in your home. We sell these colors in sample, pint and quart sizes at Ramshackled Treasures. 

A few colors recommended for whitewashing are...

Simplicity

Vanilla Frosting

Elegance 

If you plan to whitewash a piece of furniture make sure that it is either:

-Sanded so the wood is free of old varnish

-It is a raw/virgin wood

-Old dry wood with little varnish remaining

*This old antique cabinet we did didn't need to be sanded because it was very old and dry and it soaked up the whitewash like a sponge! 

Watch this 3 minute video from Country Chic to learn how to whitewash your furniture and crafts.

DIY of the Month: How to Reupholster Accent Chairs (for only $46)!

We love wandering into a fabric store and feeling all the different textures and allowing our eyes to feast on the colors and patterns. There is something so rich about textile and it adds a custom look to ones home.

Usually, a pair of accent chairs purchased new from a box store runs about $300-$600. Today, we are reupholstering a pair of accent chairs for just $46!

Supplies you will need: 

Staple Gun
Staples
Tape Measure
Flathead Screwdriver
5 boxes of Upholstery Tacks ($1.99 each)
Small Hammer
Pliers
Scissors
Screwdriver
4 yards of fabric - ($26)
Two Ugly Chairs - ($5 each)

Note: Depending on the condition of your chairs, you may need to buy new cushions. These will usually add another $15 in cost per chair.

Time: 5 hours

The patients prepping for surgery. See how they are nervously holding hands? 

But speaking of surgery, don't these chairs look like they belong in a dentist office? We chose them because they are VERY solid, believe us, they were some of the hardest chairs we've ever had to de-construct. And we liked the real oak detail and clean lines. We thought they'd be just the right style for the mid century modern home they were going in--and hey, for $10, we practically stole them. And dentist office or not, we knew when we were finished with them they were going to be fabulous!

Deconstructing your Chair

As you look at your chairs, think of places where you will need to tuck and staple the fabric. You don't want your fabric staple points to be seen so you'll need to create openings to hid the fabric ends and staples. This opening is usually at the back of the chair. We pulled the fabric off the back of the chair, rolled up the foam and found the tiny crack between the back of the chair and the seat. 

The Seat 

We usually upholster the chair seat first. Measure the seat and then make sure you add several inches to each side so you have enough room to pull and and staple the fabric under the seat. 

If your fabric has a specific direction, like the arrow motif fabric that we chose, make sure you consider which direction you want it to lay before stapling it into the chair. 

NOTE: Fold fabric over at least once before stapling, this will keep it from ripping away from the staples over time. 

Arms 

The arms came off of these chairs which made it easy. But with a chair like a wingback, they won't be removable. In this case, you'll need to wrap the chair arm in fabric and look for the best places to staple where it won't be seen. 

Backrest 

This is when it all starts coming together! Drape your cut fabric over your chair. Tuck the bottom in the same crack as your seat fabric, fold and staple. In the back you have a few options...

Two seams with decorative upholstery tacks...

 
This is achieved by cutting the first piece that and stapling it the the top, then using a second back piece to cover the staples and secure it with decorative tacks.


Cording...

Cording can be handmade (if you're a sewer) or you can often find pretty, ready made, cording at craft stores. And all you have to do is hot glue that puppy in there to hide the staples and seams.

We chose to do one continuous piece of fabric for my chairs and tack them with silver upholstery tacks. And that's all there is to it! It's quite simple once you see the process, right? 

Bippity boppity boo!

We hope you find this DIY helpful, and if you decide to tackle a reupholstery project let us know how it goes! 

We also sell one of a kind, re-upholstered items at our store, Ramshackled Treasures, in Zimmerman MN! So stop by one day and browse around. 

*STAY TUNED THIS WEEK FOR A BONUS BLOG WITH DETAILS ABOUT ANOTHER LADIES ON THE LOOSE EVENT NOV 7TH! (Hint hint CHristmas is in the air!)

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