Rome Wasn't Built in a Day!

Okay, so no, I admit MY masterpiece isn't Rome. Although, you ask my family and I'm pretty sure they will tell you they thought I was building a new Rome during the time I spent on this table. :)

So where did this come from?

A neighbor asked me if I wanted this table, he was giving it away, and I said, "Yes! It's something I can paint." :)

I started out painting the top black. It has two coats. I sanded lightly after each.

I waxed with clear wax, then brown, but didn't like how it turned out.

So I added another two coats of black. I then Mod Podged the burlap ribbon around the edge. There are six coats of GF HQTC, very light sanding in between, with the last coat much thicker. 

The blue-gray on the chairs is a combination of many different colors. Waverly Pool, Waverly Celery, Deco Art Retro and Deco Art Chalky Finish.

I mixed the colors until I had it just right. Love the color! Painted it with a good solid two coats of the blue-gray, with heavy sanding for distressing, then dry brushed some white on. Sanded. Then almost a wash of the blue-gray...very watered down. Waxed with clear, then buffed. Waxed with brown then heavily buffed.

The seats and pedestal I changed the technique wanting it to look a little smoother. So I painted over with the blue-gray, then while it was wet added some white in certain spots and blended. Every few minutes I would add a little more white chalk paint and blend until I finally liked the outcome. I waxed it with clear wax and buffed.

I found some metallic paint that I wanted to add to the table, because although it was gorgeous, it was too plain for this absolutely non-plain-Jane-girl. I rubbed some copper in and then went over some of that with black shimmer. 

Toned this down with another coat of black chalk paint. I sanded once more and after three more coats of GF HQTC it looks fantastic.

This is everything drying after the GF High Quality Top Coat was applied. Mind you, this has to be done in an air conditioned room because heat and humidity...KANSAS...can ruin this application!

But it did turn out gorgeous. :)

Then came the "staging" process. :)

I bought this back drop and was very excited to use it. But as you can see, it's not quite big enough.

(Like the duct tape I used to hang it with...hehehe...too much MacGyver? Nah. Don't worry, no duct tape on the table or chairs. I promise.)

I screwed a bike rack to a picket fence post I had trimmed, sanded, painted, waxed and screwed securely into studs on this wall. Used a pcv pipe with curtain hooks from WalMart, they are kind of like shower curtain rings, but they have clips on the end. So actually, the duct tape you saw on the backdrop was not to hang it with, but to get it at the right length for this piece. After showing that to the experts at Flipping Furniture for Profit Q&A group, they said I needed the plain light wall behind the table.

After many pictures, almost a total of 200, and being squished into this small area between the dresser and plastic drawers...time to perfect that photo.

Here's where my years of designing digital scrapbook kits with Photoshop Elements came into play. Taking the picture above the previous one, I added more wall space, lightened shadows, painted my baseboards, and added more floor in the expanded areas.

Piece of cake! ;)

So, was Rome built in a day?

Do you have any Rome sized projects you've worked on recently? Please share in the comments below. I would love to hear from you and perhaps give you a guest blogspot some time to share in more detail!