Upcycling Fun Fun Fun!

During the Summer school break, my granddaughter Evie and I were walking my dogs around Churchdown on bin day when we came across a dressing table and stool by the roadside. Evie fell in love with it….broken mirror and hinge too and her comment “Granddad can fix it” meant we had to have it!

Trev sorted the mirror and hinge and we repaired the chips, but I just couldn’t give it to her as it was…I wanted to play!! Knowing how much I love to paint daisies…especially big ones lol…I knew I needed a strong enough colour for the daisies to stand out on. Her room is lilac so a shade of purple it was!

There has been so much talk about Chalk Paints recently as they can be painted onto almost any surface without any need for sanding/preparation. I had used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on one of my dining room chairs and I must admit I didn’t fall in love with it…I struggled a bit with the consistency.

I had heard that the new paint mixed by B & Q…’Valspar’… had great coverage and was good to work with so I gave it a go…I LOVED IT! The coverage WAS good and it adhered to the melamine surface of the dressing table really well. I did two coats before painting my daisies with acrylic paint and then sealed it all with two coats of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. This gave the dressing table a finish without altering the matt look of the Valspar paint.

I would definitely recommend having a go at upcycling something. It gives you a great feeling knowing that you have given a piece a new lease of life and you really can make it work for wherever you want it to go…no compromises on colour etc that you have with a purchased piece.

I am thinking about running a ‘Daisy’ short course early in 2016 where I will teach my students how to paint different daisies…small and large over a few weeks. Once learnt, these could be repeated onto almost anything…let me know if this is something you would be interested in.

Happy painting…
Dawn x