Liming Wax 101

I've been wanting to try Brimax's Liming Wax for awhile now. It promises to give an aged, whitewashed, "Restoration Hardware" look...without the hassle of the 1/2 paint, 1/2 water whitewash technique. All my searching online only brought up images of the wax used on lighter wood and not the darker stained table I was wanting to use it on. In the end, I decided to just go with it (and am now spreading it on everything I can get my hands on)...here's a few tips:

Liming wax is a smooth, white paste. It can be applied to bare wood, as well as stained and sealed wood. It works best when the paste can get into the grain, so some roughing up might be in order. Here's a before pic of the table I used it on. It had a good coat of gloss or poly on it, so I went over it with a sandpaper block. I also used a wire brush in a few areas to open up the grain and cracks.

Here is is halfway through. You can see how the liming wax is getting down into the grain and providing a whitewashed look to other areas.

The contrast of the limed top to the bottom.

Here's the finished top. There's one spot over on the right I want to add more to. They suggest putting a coat of clear wax on to seal it. I started to use my Annie Sloan Clear Wax and it acted almost like an eraser. So, I stopped.

I'm loving the driftwood, whitewashed new look it gives to the table. It took like 30 min. and I barely used any wax (it's a little pricey at $20/can. But, I barely put a dent in it).

Liming Wax 101

Then, I got this crazed look in my eye...what else could I put this magic paste on? We've had the table below for too long now. It's a simple coffee table on steel, hairpin legs. We've brought him to numerous shows, but alas, nobody wants to take him home.

Here's the top after a coat of liming wax and some of Annie Sloan's clear wax. What a difference! The white wax got down into some deep holes and cracks and the clear wax took away some of the hard edge of the liming wax. Leaving a lovely aged piece.

I would love to know...what do you think of the liming wax look? Would you try it?

Update: Sofa Table from Antique Door

Here we are...half way thru the first month of 2013 and we've been silent! Jeff and I have been out and about, searching for doors and other items to turn into fab items for your home. But, overall, we've been feeling pretty uninspired. I blame it on the cold weather!

While we get back into our groove, I thought I would share the last sofa table that we made. It's the table Jeff was working on in this post. I'm so happy with how it turned out. The stain on the top had such a cool effect. We usually go with a darker stain, but I really like this shade. We'll definitely use it again.

We brought it with us to our last show in December. And, while someone didn't snatch it up there, it barely made it 24 hours online before it was sold. It was a Christmas present -- so happy it was going under the tree!

Sofa Table from Old Door

Sofa Table from Old Door

Sofa Table from Old Door

Sofa Table from Old Door

Sofa Table from Old Door

Weekend Plans: Paint, Paint, Paint

I started this post as a way for you to take a look at what we've been working on for our last two shows of 2012. Now, it's become more of a to-do list of everything that needs to be done for next weekend's event: the Chandler Hill Annual Harvest & Holiday Market. This one is super close to our house and Chandler Hill is one of our favorite wineries. It will be a great place to meet some new people.

It's going to be a busy weekend, but here's what we'll be finishing up. We'll have alot of home decor items for this show. Chalkboards, mirrors, vintage frames. We've also put together a cute wall vase using recycled wine bottles.

Jeff's been working on a bar/buffet table that I'm really excited about. I'm looking forward to styling it next weekend. In the meantime, it will be getting a coat of paint on the legs. I'll be trying a new distressing technique and if I'll goes well, I'll share it next week!

If you are in the St. Louis area, come join us Saturday, Nov. 10th from 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. There's a great line-up of vendors. As well as the usual picturesque atmosphere and fantastic wine!

Farmhouse Style Dining Room Table

One of the things we are trying to start doing more is showing the process Jeff goes through when making our tables. This is one we brought with us to Strange Folk and were overwhelmed with the response. While it didn't sell (not many people expect to go to a festival and buy a dining room table!), everyone loved it. Which was great to hear.

It started off looking like this:

What I really like about what Jeff does with the large doors is that he trims them out. While they still look rustic and farmhouse style, they have a more finished look.

And, here it is today! We stained it a dark brown and added 4x4 legs (which can be removed). I painted and distressed the legs and gave them a coat of dark soft wax (the legs are super smooth...although they look rough). We opted to go with 5 small panes of glass over one large one (moving the large piece is really hard).

It can seat 6 comfortably...maybe 8. It's currently for sale in our Etsy shop and can't wait for its first Thanksgiving Day meal!

Countdown to Strange Folk Festival

The countdown is officially on! Since mid-July, we've been prepping for Strange Folk Festival. With 150 vendors, bands, food and alpacas, it will be the largest one we participate in this year. And, our first official festival. I'm excited to show our stuff to the world. Nervous that people will think it is stupid. Curious about why there will be alpacas. I promise to report back on all of the above!

During the last several weeks, we've held back alot of our items from our Etsy shop. Here's just a quick preview of what we've been working on and of what we'll be featuring in our booth. If you are in the STL area, stop on over!

Coffee Table with Hairpin Legs

After waiting a month, we finally got the hairpin legs we ordered! Here's the final product. He can't wait to go to his first show!

We also ordered a set to use for a side table. I'm loooving this look -- I think we'll definitely be doing more like this!

Hairpin Leg Coffee Table - Part 1

If you've taken a look at our tables, most of them have square, wood legs. We wanted to switch it up on a few of them, so we've ordered these: 

Hairpin legs

I can't wait until they come in! We'll be making a coffee table and side table featuring hairpin legs. We both really love the look of this table:

Source: hairpinlegsforless.com

We knew this part of a door we picked up a few months ago would be perfect. It is super thick and heavy. We won't be trimming it out and will leave the edges raw. Here's what it looked like when we picked it up and what it's been thru since then:

Original State

Original State -- Dusty and Dirty!

Door gets sanded and cleaned

Signature coat of red paint is added to the back

And here it is today...just waiting for it's new legs! (Forrest Gump movie quote coming soon)

I'm hoping to have it done next week...stay tuned!