May 9, 2016
The Shabby Duck
The Shabby Duck Studio is a special place to visit. We are always excited and proud to showcase dealers and friends who do special work with our Efex bendable moldings. Today’s dealer project comes all the way from Monique of The Shabby Duck in Busselton, Australia.
Monique took this cute little side table and made it into a delightful night stand. It would work well in any room, from a bedroom to living room to mud room, adults and children would love to have this unique piece of furniture.
She started with Voodoo Molly Vintage Paints then applied Efex scrolls SC17 on each drawer using contact cement.
To add character she aged them with a burnishing paint, added dark wax to antique the piece, and distressed to give it that well-loved look. Finally, she sealed with carnauba wax and added a touch of silver leaf to enhance the details.
Adding scrolls to doors and drawers is a fantastic way to quickly add a bit of pizzaz to a plain piece of furniture. Whether they sit of either side of a knob, or in the middle of a long drawer, they add an architectural elegance to an otherwise lackluster front.
You can see all the scrolls in our catalog of bendable moldings here, or download our newest catalog to see what other pieces might suit your own style!
What do you think of Monique’s drab to fab makeover? Would you use this same scroll on your drawer fronts, or try something different?
Mar 24, 2016
Shabby to Chic Table
At Maine Country Home we love playing around in the studio. It gets this creative, buzzing energy flowing around the store that’s infectious. We’ll get the person who has a similar piece of furniture or accessory in their home and can finally see how to recreate it. We had a stunning transformation during our open studio time about a week ago that we just had to share.
Maggi brought in a plain, unimpressive end table to open studio time and decided to try her hand at Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. She had always wanted to try it but needed some guidance on the process
Boring, brown, damaged, wood in need of love. We opted for a 50/50 mix of Luckett’s Green and Kitchen Scale. They’re both beautiful colors, but together they just look amazing! Luckett’s Green is a nice spring green, and mixing in the Kitchen Scale made it a bit bluer while still keeping the green vibe.
You can’t see it, but the table had a faux drawer pull on the front. Why someone thought this was a good idea is beyond us. Just put a drawer in people! Don’t be faking us out with all this hardware that doesn’t do anything! So we decided to completely remove the offending handle. Then we were left with two holes…hmm…
Rosette R108 by Efex
You know us, easy fix! Six of our R108 Efex squares not only covered up those horrid holes, but it also made the table look super cool and customized.
Milk Paint does this crazy thing where if it doesn’t have a surface to absorb into it will start to flake and chip off as it dries. It was exactly the look we were going for, so we were super excited when we saw the chipping beginning! It, however, kept chipping, and chipping, and chipping…We gritted our teeth and waited it out. It had to stop chipping eventually!
Maggi finished the table with some Antiquing Wax to bring out the details, especially on the Efex.
We absolutely love the complete transformation of this end table. The amount of chipping was perfect, the color was to die for, and the Efex embellishments are so darn cute. What do you think?
Jan 19, 2016
Elegant New Molding from Efex
She’s sexy, bold, and very French. She’s our newest Efex bendable moulding, and she has a past. A lady with history!
M is an original bronze with a sophisticated look about her. Like every lady of a certain age with a little buffing she shines.
We first met M on a laughable day of shopping at the St. Ouen flea markets in Paris. Stacey from Faux Studio Designs and I had driven from Normandy to Paris to see the sights and visit the fleas.
Note – they have a great rail system in France but we had rented a car to tour the country so why not drive to Paris? My children and husband were in the USA so there was no one around to tell Stacey why I should NEVER be allowed to rent a car and drive around in Europe.
We found Paris in the dark with the help of our iPhones – mon dieu. The phone died two blocks from our hotel so we were sans map. 3 hours and 5 laps around the Arc de Triomphe (I kept getting stuck in the inside track) and the Effiel Tower we found the hotel. Phew…time for wine.
Phew…time for wine.
The next morning it’s pouring buckets of rain, but we’re Americans in Paris who love antiques, so we’re off to the fleas anyway! And yes, I drove. After a few more laps around the Arc de Triumph (nowhere near the fleas) we found the markets – kind of. We ended up parking two arrondissements away and walking. Ouch.. several hours and shopping has not yet begun.
It didn’t take us long to find the mother load. Sitting in a tiny stall right next to 2 dozen of the greatest trumeau mirrors we have ever seen was a man selling old bronze and ormolu embellishments. I think our hearts skipped a few beats before we went crazy.
But at this point we’re almost out of cash. I sprint down the street in the rain for the ATM, did I mention it was almost closing time? I took out max cash and sprint back.
When I arrived Stacey was proudly holding M. She had been dug out of the bottom of a crate, but still had all of her chic Parisian style. We finished the day with a lot of bronze, many of which are soon to be Efex, But M was the star of the day.
A large wreath with two crossed federal flames and a small bow – she measures 10″ x 10″ and is totally French. The retail price is $39.00. Now M1 is a bendable version available for you to get the perfect French look.
Like all of our 160+ designs she’s bendable and ready to decorate anything you can think of. It is easy to gild with gilding wax, metallic paint, or foils. We layered different colors of gilding wax to achieve the great patina above.
M would look equally elegant on a bed or large armoire. This signature piece is ready to ship, and all of our dealers can order one for you today.
Soon, we will show you how we finished the trumeau mirror below.
