French Country kitchen cabinets painting part deux

 So....I'm not happy with the finish on the chalk painted test cabinets. I went back to my work using milk paint and think that finish will much better suit the scale and delicacy of these M&R cabinets. 

I had done some spray painting this fall on a cheap dresser, and decided to apply some milk paint I had from some years ago. I was amazed at how the finish looked just after one coat...had a smooth feel. I am using a different color than I will for cabinets but here's the effect.

Here's a secretary I did years ago with milk paint, and the color is linen. It is very close to my pot board and I did my first coat of it on my test cabinets today. (the double cabinet was stained first and does have a rougher finish than the drawer cabinet - lesson learned - I won't stain my M&R cabinets first, just go right to paint.)

This shows the comparison between the more yellow chalk paint on the island with the more off white linen color of the milk paint.

French Country kitchen cabinets

 I am back to working on what to do with the finish and placement of the kitchen cabinets. I've played around with base stains, and if I do that, it will be General Finishes Warm Cherry. I have vacillated between a base stain and then paint over with a creamy paint, like the Welsh Pot Board. 

To get a sense of what that might look like in practice, I've stained some Houseworks cabinets and am now painting them on the exterior. I also painted 2 cabinets simply from unfinished wood. The challenge I have is that the cabinets I have are M&R and are delicate and intricate and without taking the doors off, I'm trying to figure out how to finish them. I have stained these before, for my B&B and that worked out very well. I've also painted them for my Thornhill and this is where I ran into challenges. 

So I'm thinking that maybe I stain the insides, and paint the exteriors, kind of the best of both worlds. Staining the interiors will  be easy, easier than painting them, with the shelves and cut doors. At that rate, I will probably just stain exterior also to start. 

Here's one stained and with first coat of chalk paint Folk Art Bavarian:

Here's the painted only ones in Folk Art Bavarian Chalk (they also have antique wax on them):

Here's what they look like next to the Pot Board:

Here's a shot with them before I applied Antiquing Wax:

The placement of cabinets is also up for debate. I took several shots and I wont post them. It also made me struggle with the huge refrigerator, and if that should be painted to match. I think I've settled on this for now (obviously the uppers will be higher on the wall):

I'm also considering possibly attaching the double cabinet with glass doors to the corner cabinet and having it look like its suspended, can't show that so I've just placed it on top of the cabinet for now.
 

More playing with chalk paint

I am obsessed with chalk paint! I've been staring at the work I did some months ago. I've been researching techniques and looking at others work.

None of these are done but I wanted to get it posted so I can remember what I did, and be able to consider how to finish them.

The bed and dresser which were Maui Sand, got 2 layers of Cascade. They were still kinda dark, so I added Sheepskin to it in a mix, and gave them a coat of that.

As I was doing it, I noticed it would also be a good candidate for a color wash so I paused to get a picture of that.

Now I'm wondering if I go with a slightly darker glaze...more to come. 

The sleigh bed got a coat of Castle, a sort of taupe color. Not sure yet what is next for it.

I pulled out more inexpensive stuff I have in boxes, and did 2 coats of Sheepskin. The nightstand looks really good so far!

This is an unfinished Bespaq table I have had for a few years, just waiting for the right inspiration.

And an old Sonia Messer table I've never placed in any house.

Finally, this bed is a kit I had put together, not sure yet what the plan is for it, but it can certainly benefit from a coat of chalk paint. I have been imagining this with upholstered insets. This will go into my Chateau house, which is still a shell.

Furniture Painting

Back in the spring, I played with painting some furniture - using chalk paint. I have been wanting to do this for over a year and just hadn't gotten to it. With the majority of my French Country done, I was contemplating this. I bought several colors of Chalk paint from Joann's and pulled out some of the inexpensive furniture I have had for years.

Still in the works, I was experimenting with base colors and sanding, and top colors...I have also purchased some small wood and metal embellishments and have some ideas on adding them and then painting over them. I haven't done that yet....