Last week myself and Sue of Sue Chic embarked upon a mission to create some antique chic in the workshop, upcycling my very own vintage desk. When we left off we had used just about every Posh Chalk Deluxe Decoupage we could get our hands on before applying the WoodUbend mouldings, to see how we get on, you can read last week’s blog right here.
Now it was time to zhush up the desk with Dixie Belle and a whole host of Posh Chalk products. Often I can get a bit carried away with my projects and go a bit over the top with the bling, but this vintage desk was – well – a vintage so I had to hold off on the vibrant colours and bling!
So, in an effort to stay away from the bling, what colour did I turn to first? Deep Gold Posh Chalk Paste obviously! Now bear with me on this, I wanted the natural wood colours to come through and the pastes are water based, so I spritzed with water – or rather Sue did – as she went along. This technique thinned the paste out into a wash, meaning the natural colours of the vintage desk were enhanced by the dark colour of the Deep Gold Paste, method in the madness you see!
The great thing about the Posh Chalk Pastes is that they dry quickly, this meant no waiting around and we could crack onto the next stage of the project – a little bit of Dixie Belle’s Best Dang Wax in black. See I told you we were going for a vintage desk!
The wax was used add a little depth to the mouldings and just tone down the decoupage a little, as well as protecting it. As the wax is water based it means that it doesn’t have to be the last thing you put on and you can always paint right over it if you’re not happy. As with all waxes and patinas, it’s best to put a little more than you need on and then wipe it back.
Next stop, more bling – for a vintage desk which wasn’t blingy, we were certainly leaning into the shiny posh Chalk Pigments and Pastes. Sue and I mixed up a healthy amount of the Copper and Byzantine Gold Posh Chalk Pigments and proceeded to dry brush over all of the WoodUbend mouldings.
The pigments are great for dry brushing over the WoodUbend mouldings as they really highlight all of the intricate details of the mouldings. The great thing about the pigments is that you get to control the consistency, so if you’re looking for a wash, add more Infusor – need a thicker mix? More pigments! We have a handy blog post about the pigments if you would like to learn a little more, give it a read here.
Now, I love stencils, especially Posh Chalk ultra-durable stencils (obviously), so one of my projects is rarely complete without at least some stencilling. My vintage desk was no exception to this rule. The issue I faced, however, was that we had got a little excited with the decoupage and there was little room for the stencilling. Luckily, for me at least, there was a little room on the inside panel of the two pillars.
So, mixing up some more of the Byzantine Gold pigments and reaching for the Kaleidoscope Posh Chalk Stencil, I got to work. The pigments were mixed up a little thicker this time around as we were using it for stencilling. A thin mix would likely bleed and ruin my brand new vintage desk.
Byzantine Gold pigments are perfect for vintage projects, it is the most subdued gold in the Posh Chalk Pigments range, so won’t overpower any subtle colours or ruin a vintage style. The Kaleidoscope Posh Chalk Stencil is equally versatile, it is large at 50x50cm but it’s a repeating pattern. This means that you can match up the design and create the pattern over a much larger surface!
Although my mouldings and stencilling were suitably sparkly, it’s hardly a key component for a vintage desk, so it was back in with the Best Dang Wax in black. Grabbing a big brush the whole desk (aside from the top but we’ll come to that) was coated in the black wax.
For the pigments, I broke out the big guns, the Posh Chalk Patina, also in black. The Artisan Patina range are oil based and very highly pigmented. A tiny bit goes a long way with these little pots, so use them sparingly. Sue and I used them to pick out subtle details in the mouldings and really add to that vintage desk feel.
That’s it for the sides, now we had to finish off the top. We started where we began with the desk, decoupage! Two of the Posh Script designs were prepped and applied to the top. If you’re interested in how we applied the decoupage, check out last week’s blog.
Once the decoupage was laid and dry we taped off a central bit of the vintage desk with a little bit of low tack tape and painted it with the remainder of the Posh Chalk Pigments we had used for the stencilling.
We repeated this around the sides of the decoupage, whipped off the tape and toned it down once more with the Best Dang Wax…and there it was! My brand new vintage desk was completed – now I actually have to sit down and do some work.