Taking a Stab at Faux Finishes
This ugly old set of saloon doors was sitting out in a pile of free wood in front of a house in my neighborhood! Normally I wouldn’t have time to rehab old furniture, but since I left my job in August to pursue being a full time artist it has allowed me to seek out new creative endeavors. I scooped up two sets of doors which were covered–COVERED in crickets. It nearly scared the shit out of me to be honest.
They sat in my garage for a couple of weeks with no plans of action in mind and then PERFECT TIMING –I became a participating artist for the Habitat for Humanity Door Jam auction (which will be taking place in November this year). I decided I would upcycle these to be a more feminine and antique styled decoration. They can be used as actual doors or as wall decor.
I have always been a huge fan of Katie Clemente’s work (see the interview I did with here here) so I took a whirl at a brightly colored distressed look. Since this was my first time trying to make furniture look distressed like this, I tried to choose colors that would naturally look good together (two different shades of green and a gray color).
There are a million different faux finish techniques for antique weathered looking furniture, but I mainly just used a combination of painting with a putty knife and a dry brushing technique to achieve this look. I used regular latex paint that was donated by Habitat for Humanity, however after doing some research I see that most DIYers prefer chalk paint for these types of projects.
The ornate details were sketched on with a pencil and freehanded. I used my Iridescent Dr. Ph. Martin Acrylics for the gold. Overall, I’m thrilled with how these came out on my first attempt and I’m happy to re-purpose these with my colorful flair. It’s fun painting on things other than canvas!
