Shabby Chic Furniture in Galway
In this post Traditional Painter in Ireland, Adam Bermingham walks us through a small but very enjoyable contract… Shabby Chic Furniture in Galway.
Recently on Facebook a few of us at Traditional Painter were discussing “how much is too much” when it comes to distressing.
The client knew what she wanted & was very pleased with the results, complimenting her beautiful kitchen perfectly…
Try this one Yourself…
Creating this look is not as simple as it seems, but it is one that most keen homeowners, with an eye for style, can do themselves.
The only problem when advising on a job like this is the level of distressing, but the client had this nailed from the first minute…
“This is too much, I don’t want the stools as distressed as this.”
With this in mind & a colour chosen, I picked up the stools, got them back to the workshop & off I went.
Preparation
Remove stools from the back of the van. Evenly space them out in the workshop. Have a cup of tea.
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
There are a million ways to create an old, antique, distressed look on furniture. Take a look at this blog post by Traditional Painter in Yorkshire Lee Simone for more on this subject. In this case I opted for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Its advantages include minimal preparation work & the ease with which you can distress the finish.
Two coats of this on each stool, colour; “Louis Blue”…
Seen above is the mighty *Fox Sash Brush, as good in Chalk Paint as it is in every other medium.
Distressing
Now for the fun bit, choose your weapon… steel wool, sandpaper, scraper, anything really. The important thing to remember is to keep it natural, as if the distressing had taken place over time. Concentrate on areas that would get a lot of contact, where it would be sat on, where it might be lifted from or knocked into…
Protective Coating on chalk paint
This is a much asked questioned, and here are two good solutions if you don’t favour waxing painted furniture. Instructions here for waxing fast.
I am a big fan of Tikkurila Kiva Lacquer, I use it almost daily. But, to be honest I prefer a product that will yellow for this application, so I use Ronseal Matt Coat. For this, and all my clear coatings, I use Wooster Alpha.
Shabby Chic Furniture in Galway
Here is one of the stools ready for loading into the van on delivery day, and I can tell you the client was thrilled.
Thank you very much for reading & I hope this helps you in an upcoming project.
If you would like further advice on shabby chic furniture in Galway and surrounding areas, give me a call on 0857570351.
Happy Painting.

My Hand Painted Furniture is Adam & Tom Bermingham, a father & son team with diverse backgrounds covering specialist painting and decorating, antiques and interior design.
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