Bamboo Sofa Table

I just finished up work on a sofa table that a customer fell in love with. Here's the before picture:

 

Solid wood, and originally done in a sort of dirty wash.  I stripped it, sanded it, and removed all the hardware.  I really wanted to test out minwax's color stains, and let me tell you, it was love at first...  stain? Haha. This stain was great, easy, and water based. I put two coats on this table and it was perfect!  This is Minwax's Green Tea.

Take a look:

After the stain set, I hand cut two sets of stencils.  The bamboo poles, and the bamboo leaves that would layer on after.  Here's a tip if you ever stencil: I sprayed the back of the stencil with spray adhesive, then let it dry. This makes a tacky, almost sticky note surface so the stencil adheres perfectly.  This worked like a dream... I did it for the leaves and not the poles though, however, I like how the poles came out foggy here and there:

There you have it! The customer really likes it, I really like it, we are happy.  This was a really fun project to do, it was seamless from start to finish.  I love it when everything seems to just go well, with no surprises!  Hand cutting that stencil was really fun too, I can definitely recreate this look any time.  Have a great day!

Spotlight: Double Wide Dresser

I saw this post come through the Better After feed, and I fell in love. Not just with the project, but with gradients in general.  I've always LOVED the look of paint chips, and it's so neat to see all the art people make with them.  It seems the paint companies themselves have hopped on the bandwagon and had people make things for their ads too.  Well take a look at this double wide dresser from Frou-FruGal:

Boom! Isn't that great? The stencils were actually reversed too, so she blocked the letters and numbers to keep the wood grain showing through. I love that. See how it gradually gets darker as it goes down? She started with the color on the bottom drawers, and for each level up added a teaspoon and a half of white.  Brilliant! It gives a great effect.  And those drawer pulls are macrame monkey paws! I've NEVER made those but I'm totally inspired.  Check out her step by step tutorial, here.

On the topic of paint chips, I saw the front of a Martha Stewart Magazine a ways back with some really neat wall art on it using paint chips.  And they didn't even alter them at all! Take a look:

This just follows along the same line of my love of color organizing.  It can totally change the look of a collection.

As far as my own projects, coming up I have the Sofa Table that I'm doing in a colored stain, which I have never done before.  I'm using Minwax's Line of colored stain, "Green Tea".  More on that later...

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!