Console Table Makeover

Happy Monday, everyone!

How was your Fourth of July celebration? Did you come through the other side, retaining all your fingers and toes? I hope so! Mark and I kept it simple this year. We stayed in Frederick to enjoy a cookout with friends and fireworks in the Baker Park. Which, by the way, if you're a local Marylander, you should definitely make the trip to Frederick for our Fourth celebration. This little town can put on a lightshow. Complete with a rousing soundtrack of patriotic songs, the firework show dazzles you with light and color before concluding with the national anthem played on the park's belltower. I shared a few images on my Instagram which you can find here.

Of course, holiday weekends always end, and Monday inevitably returns. Today at the Frederick shop, I've been working on a console table makeover. This piece is not vintage, but even newer pieces can benefit from an Annie Sloan chalkpaint makeover.

Originally, the piece was a butternut yellow color. Not bad-- but again, not great. Slightly one-dimensional. Here's a look at what the piece looked like beforehand.

To give the piece a more French Country feel, we decided to paint it in Annie Sloan Chalkpaint Graphite, the closest shade to black that Annie Sloan carries. Graphite is a really lovely color: a dusky chalkboard black. However, painting and waxing with Graphite can be a little more difficult than with other Annie Sloan colors, solely because the dark shade sometimes betrays any lint or dust that becomes trapped in the wax topcoat. Recently, I found myself in a vicious circle of painting, sanding, waxing, buffing on a custom Graphite bedroom set. The seemingly unending task would definitely be my version of Dante's hell. The problem turned out to be the buffing rags: somehow this ragbag had unreasonable amounts of lint that kept ruining the wax topcoat. Ugh!

Anyway, the console table project turned out to be much easier. No lint escapade anyway!

Materials used:
-Annie Sloan Chalkpaint in Graphite
-Annie Sloan Soft Clear Wax
-brushes
-rags (waxing and buffing)
-paper towels


As with any Annie Sloan project, this was ridiculously simple. We simply painted a few coats of Graphite onto the console table, distressed, and then added a topcoat of Soft Clear Wax. After buffing the topcoat to a nice sheen, we were done!

The end result is a piece that certainly is no longer one-dimensional. The charcoal grey color gives the table a more dramatic flair, while the original pale wood stain still peeks through. It would work well as an entryway table or console table behind a sofa.

If you have any chalkpaint or furniture DIY questions,

please don't hesitate to ask in the comments below!

Repurposed & Refined

217 W Patrick Street

Frederick, MD 

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored, nor did I received any compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are truly my own. I just really love Annie Sloan chalkpaint and think you should try it out too! 

Shabby Table Gets Chalkpaint Refinish

For several months, this little black pedestal endtable sat unused in our Frederick shop. It wasn't particularly ugly. It just wasn't particularly pretty. Tired of seeing its dull black visage every day, I decided last Friday to provide the table with an Annie Sloan chalkpaint makeover.

Here's the "before" picture, along with a glimpse into our back workshop at the Frederick store.

As you can see, the table was quite shabby and boring. It wasn't horrible. It just didn't showcase the full ability of what we do at Repurposed and Refined. So, I threw on a painting smock and got to work. In the South, we love color. So I was immediately drawn to a jar of Antibes Green that hadn't been used in awhile. My sales sense always tells me that white pieces tend to sell more quickly. However, sometimes you just have to get creative.

Materials Used:
-Annie Sloan Chalkpaint Antibes Green
-Annie Sloan Chalkpaint Louis Blue
-Annie Sloan Soft Clear Wax
-Annie Sloan Soft Dark Wax
-chalkpaint brushes
-rags
-paper towels

Refinishing the table to have this distressed French-country appearance was much easier than it seemed. To be surprise, the whole project took less than an hour. I simply began by quickly brushing a thick coat of Antibes Green over the entire table. Once that had mostly dried, I applied a second coat of Louis Blue using an dry-brush technique. (If you've never attempted dry-brushing before, check out this video tutorial. But don't worry, it's not hard.)

Once the paint had dried, I applied the Anine Sloan Soft Clear Wax, using a clean rag. Because the workshop stays warm in the summertime, I was able to immediately go back and buff the table. The warm temperatures caused everything to dry very quickly, which helped speed up the entire project. Finally, I applied a second coat of wax using Annie Sloan Soft Dark Wax. The dark wax gave the table it's old world patina.

Here's a little hint: if you apply clear wax before dark wax, you can more easily control the stain and spread of the dark.

I was so pleased with the way this little table turned out. Rather than looking sad and dull, it now has a unique French-Country flair. The dark wax patina is what really sets it off. It will easily suit a French-country, eclectic, or Southern decor style. By accident, it perfectly matches these pale blue armchairs in the shop. I can't wait to see who this little table goes home with!

If you have any questions about furniture refinishing or chalkpaint, please don't hesitate to contact me or to ask in the comments below.

Around Town // Repurposed & Refined Boutique Tour

Hi friends! Today I thought it would be fun to share a shop tour of my workplace: the downtown Frederick boutique of the vintage furniture company Repurposed & Refined. I know you've seen snippets of the warehouse and some of the furniture projects I've worked on, but I thought "Hmm.. I've never shared a tour of the actual shop before." This week, I began writing content for R&R's blog and, after compiling a shop tour for their readers, I decided to share the space here as well. After all, as part of the Frederick shopping scene, it fits well into our Around Town series here at Patina & Purl.

The old building that houses the boutique has seen many purposes over the years, including thrift store and, at one point, auto repair shop. So often, older customers stop by and share a story about the location in one of its original functions. With its beautiful stamped tin ceilings, however, it's hard for me to imagine it with leaky old Chevrolets and Fords sitting around. 

The storefront's tin ceiling and the workshop's original hardwood floors preserve the historic charm of the building, while the huge original windows allow natural sunlight to stream in. Although, I will admit, that the old windows require some serious muscle to open. Such is the nature of old buildings--a lesson our own 116 year old house has taught us!--with the charm comes some quirks. You just have to acknowledge and work around them. If you were over a hundred years old, you might have some leaks and creaks too!

The Frederick boutique consists of two components: the storefront and the workshop. The front displays all the finished pieces and home decor accessories. The back workshop is the space where the company owners, myself, and the other painters work to render salvaged junk into beautiful pieces of furniture. We do offer monthly workshops for people hoping to learn about Annie Sloan chalkpaint and how to undertake their own DIY project. 

In addition to furniture and home decor, the Frederick store carries a variety of paint products including Annie Sloan chalkpaint, Miss Mustard Seed milkpaint, and Artisan Enhancement products. As you can probably assume from my recent posts, I've loved working with the Annie Sloan paint. It's a great product for up-cycling vintage furniture and is so easy to use. 

Annie Sloan also makes brushes, wax, stencils, candles, and even fabric. And the store carries it all. If you're in the Frederick area and are into DIY and crafting, you should definitely check out our products. 

So why buy upcycled vintage when you could go to HomeGoods, Pier One, or Ethan Allen?

It's simple. Vintage items typically have better construction and, often, are even handmade. Our repair and paint jobs are all done by skilled artisans and add a one-of-a-kind flair to the items. Don't get me wrong-- my house has a few bigbox purchases. But, when you do buy vintage, you're buying a piece with history, with a story, a unique item that you are not likely to find in someone else's home. So does this original and vintage design come with a hefty price tag? Not at this store. The shop-owners aim to keep their prices affordable, taking into consideration the salvaged nature of the pieces and keeping our inventory accessible to the average buyer.  If you stop in, you may be pleasantly surprised at the dollar signs on the price tags.

Thanks so much for taking this little tour of the boutique! I love working here. It's a great feeling to take cast-off and outdated furniture and render it into something beautiful that will find a place in someone's home. 

If you're interested in stopping by, I've provided our address and store hours below. Maybe you'll find a vintage treasure of your own!

Repurposed & Refined

217 W Patrick Street

Frederick MD

11am-5pm Monday Wednseday & Friday

11am-5pm Saturday

12pm-4pm Sunday

All opinions in this post are entirely my own. While I am employed at Repurposed & Refined, I am receiving no compensation for this tour post or any opinions expressed in this article.