Best Friend

 

A best friend....

I really love my paint brush. This guy has been with me since I started my painting furniture venture.. His bristles are broken in and his handle is covered in paint. He is a few years old but I looked at him sitting on my kitchen counter and had to relay the message about how a great brush can do such great work. To me it makes all the difference in the world. We have been through a lot together, but he has always made me happy.

A good brush can last a lifetime if you take care of it.. I just wash mine out with water but you can use mineral spirits or just soap and water too.

My brush is a Wooster

2" angled

 

Shabby Love also sells paint brushes by Annie Sloan in the retail store and they are quite amazing!

So stop Buying Cheap brushes and go out and make a small investment, It's So worth it and you can see the great results every time!

 

Happy Painting

 



Where I Get My Stuff

I just got back from Tennessee(My Home State) on a great pick! So many ask where I get my furniture/finds.. I call it Picking,Thrifting,or Junkin'! I travel a lot, sometimes with my kids in tow. I live out of my truck. I'm embarrassed to tell you this but my truck is a disaster and so gross inside. I used to try so hard to keep it clean but I threw in the towel and gave up. It's impossible for me. I clean it out and the next week its trashed all over again. I wish I could be one of those people who's car is impeccable all the time. I don't even care anymore if someone gets in with me. I just tell them excuse the mess.  Back to Picking. There are amazing finds all over the place. Just open your eyes, take your time, touch things to make sure they work/open and really think about what it could become. This is more difficult for me when I have the kids but when something catches my eye I know I want it. Seeing what something can become is the hardest part of the process for some people. You will get better at it with time and experience. Go to some of these little Antique Malls that you never even thought of going into before. You can find some great things for amazing prices. Here are some photos of a place in Tennessee I hit up. Nice and cluttered with Junk! Roll up those sleeves and do not be afraid to get dirty!Happy Picking!

How to Paint those really slick shiny pieces of furniture!

How do I get the paint to stick to those really smooth or shiny pieces?

This is one of the most common questions that i get.

There are all different kinds of finishes on furniture..  The really glossy shiny stuff and there is the french providential style that is almost like a laminate counter top.. I am going to go through these steps with you today, and post photos of the process. Stay tuned for the transformation!

This is that french Provencal laminate like finish.

I am a big fan of chalk paint for these pieces. Chalk paint sticks to almost all services.. You can buy it at special retail stores(Annie Sloan Chalk).Very smooth and consistent!

• Always clean your piece. I use mostly soap and water
• With chalk paint there is no prepping (sanding, priming, exc) you just brush or spray right on

• I do one coat and then touch up where i missed when the piece is dry. If your going with a darker paint color more coats may be needed.

Then there are the high gloss wood pieces

I love de-glossing!

de-glosser is available in any Lowe's, home depot, or hardware store

I just slop this stuff on with steel wool

I use a circular motion and just really rub it in. It's like a liquid sandpaper.

After you rub it all over you take an old tee or cloth and just wipe it off.

I let it dry completely then i take a fine grit sandpaper and sand all over to make sure my primer sinks in! You are going to paint it anyway so rough it up as much as you would like. Make sure you use the fine grit paper, not the course stuff. It will make swirls in the wood and show through your paint.

Wipe down sand excess then prime.

Primer is a big deal for me. Its that base coat that makes your paint stick. If you skip this step your paint may peel off and chip very easily. I always, always prime on those raw wood pieces(unless i dry brush which i will post later).

I love this primer and recommend it in my workshops!

It's an oil base primer that really soaks into your wood! I love it because it dries so fast too! Painting furniture is so exciting and no one wants to wait for the paint to dry. This stuff is amazing. After it dries i hit the piece of furniture lightly with my fine grit sand block to smooth out.

Now your ready to paint with the color of your choice. You can use any kind of paint you would like. I use Olympic only because it seems to spray out of my paint sprayer the best. I use eggshell or satin sheen, but use your personal preference!

The French Provencal dresser is almost completed! It will post tomorrow so make sure you check back to see how it turned out!

Excited

so excited!

welcome to shabby love's blog site. i am estatic to start blogging. it has been in the works for a while now and im just jumping in the blogging world. my main goal for this blog is to inspire all of you just as i have been inspired by others. so jump in this adventure with me. here we go..

my name is hanna kappes and i started shabby love on accident. i have always been a strong willed person, even as a kid. very adventurous, and hands on.. i have traveled all over and tried many differnt things to try to find myself! (guitar, ukulele, surfing, living in ireland, and first mate on a boat in key west, just to name a few)  then came love, marriage, and children.

still trying to find myself i tried many stay at home occupations but nothing fit. my husband i bought our first home and completley re-did it. I fell in love with the process of flipping our home and still to this day could do it over, and over, and over! i re-painted our cabinets, doors, trim, walls, and then when it was completed, i started on my furniture.

here is a before and after photo of our first home

before

after

needless to say right as we finished it we moved to virginia.

once we got setteled in VA i was really inspired by everything old around me. the history that virginia has to offer is amazing. i started going to auctions to find things for our new home. most if the things i would bring home needed help but i saw the potiential in them that most people do not. friends would see my new creations and ask me to do their things, and well the rest is history. i started the web page posting things I had completed, word of mouth spread about what i was doing and now i have a store, and the blog was my next goal! thanks to all of you that follow the website, and the store.

needless to say i found something that i love and im truly passionate about. to see something that was once so ugly be recycled into something beautiful makes me happy. so yes, i can now say i have found myself.