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A simple Welcome Sign

Looking for an easy-to-make “Welcome” sign? I made one today and thought I’d share the simple steps.

First, find an old kitchen cabinet door. You can get them a few places. Try searching Craig’s List – a lot of people give them away for free when they are redecorating. Or search your local Habitat for Humanity restore. (find a list of stores here)

Then paint it to your heart’s desire. I used Annie Sloan’s chalk paint. Here’s a video of Annie on The Hallmark Channel doing a tutorial.

The next thing I did was apply a Simply Said vinyl “welcome” design. And here’s a video showing you how easy they are to apply. This is so much easier than the way I used to apply designs or enhancements to my painted furniture, which comprised of time-consuming transfers or stencils.
Here’s my Simply Said website, where you can order a welcome design. I think this would be a great idea for personalizing with your family last name and the date you moved into your home, i.e. “Peterson Est. 2010.”  Or even a sign for a wedding, with a design that says something like, “Matt and Nikki, April 21, 2014.”  You get the idea – the possibilities are wide open!

My last step was to drill two holes through the wood with a standard drill bit, and run a ribbon through for hanging. Voila! A simple, fast way to spruce up a front door, entrance, or anyplace in and around your home.

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Applying a Simply Said vinyl design to chalk painted furniture

When I was painting a lot of furniture, I loved putting designs on them. Chevron was very popular. So was anything french, Paris or script-inspired. It still is. The problem for me, was that I was relying on stencils to achieve the look. With stencils, I always had a little paint bleed-through and could never achieve the crips, clean edges I desired. Transfers were another option (using tracing paper to imprint a design onto a painted surface), but they took forever to fill-in with paint. And again, my hand wasn’t steady enough to get the crisp edges I wanted.

BUT NOW – there’s a solution to the edge issue. And a big time-saver. It’s vinyl designs. I just applied my first Simply Said design to a little side table and I LOVE it! It took a whole 3 minutes to apply!

Here’s the easy steps to applying the design:

1) I applied it over a piece that was painted with Annie Sloan’s chalk paint in Old White, with clear wax.

BEFORE

 I ordered the design in a grey color that looks a lot like Annie Sloan’s Paris Grey. Look how pretty it is!

Next, I laid it grid-side facing up and ran the application tool across the entire surface to rid it of air bubbles.

 Then I began in the top corner and slowly pulled the grid paper back and down to remove it.

Next, I laid it over my table.

Then I used the application tool again by running it over the whole surface to remove air bubbles and flatten it to the table.

I started at the top left corner and pulled the paper back and down to remove it slowly.

And there she is! Pretty!

It really looks like its painted on! I couldn’t be happier with it!

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A Nelson Matter Dresser Makeover

I picked up this dresser and mirror several months ago at an auction.

As you can see, it was a mess. The lovely crackled finish would have been nice to leave as is, excerpt there were places on the top, front and sides that had huge areas of damage. The top had cup rings, the front looked like a tire tread over the paint, and the side had business cards stuck to the surface!

After inspecting the inside when I got it home, I discovered this medallion in a drawer.

It belongs to The Nelson Matter Furniture Company, which had been established in 1844 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After a little research online, I discovered this company went out of business in about 1910. So, you can see that this is an old piece of furniture! And that would explain its sold wood, dovetailed construction, as well as the state of the mirror, which is quite cloudy. However, it certainly doesn’t deter from the beauty of the piece, but gives it more character in my opinion. I loved the bail pulls, even though it was missing one. I loved the keyholes, the swiveling mirror and gorgeous legs. I loved it at first sight, and waited through 4 hours of bidding to get it!

After giving it a quick clean-up with mineral spirits, I decided to paint this with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I used Graphite with dark wax, as well as Paris Grey with clear wax (the two-tone look is so hot right now). And while I had hoped to find a drawer pull to match the existing ones, my search came up empty-handed. So, I ordered 6 new solid brass rosette bail pulls, that were a close match.

And here she is…

I love painting dressers – especially old ones. They always please me to no end with their dramatic transformations! I hope this beauty finds a well-deserved new home!

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