General Finishes - European Treasures

MARQUETRY COMMODE

Agnieszka HagArt — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:16:33 +0000

MARQUETRY COMMODE I have been so mesmerized by beautiful intarsia on this commode drawers that I have created identical stensil to replicate the motif so inside of the drawers and on Top of the commode. I left beautiful woodwork inlays untouched on the drawers and have painted only sides and Top. I used our own Vittorino Chalk Style Paint in two tones of green ( Fresh Mint and green ( Fresh Mint and Green Boutle) Stensil was painted with Vittorino Mustard tone and highlighted with GF Copper Pearl Effects. Copper Pearl Effects was also used on handles of the drawers. Entire Piece was sealed with clear wax and dark wax was added for patina and aging effects

Products Used

General Finishes Copper Pearl Effects
Vittorino chalk style paint Świeża Mięta - Fresh Mint
Vittorino chalk style paint Zielona Buelka - Green Boutle
Vittorino chalk style paint Musztarda Sarepska - Mustard
Vittorino clear wax
Vittorino dark wax
Custom made stencil by HagArt

Georgian Splendour

Tessa at Room Thirteen — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 23:10:40 +0000

This wonderful Georgian cabinet came to me in a sorry state. The top was complety warped and needed replacing. It must have been a beautiful piece in it's day but was now negleted and in need of some love.

I didn't really have a plan, I just wanted it to have the wow factor. I started with a custom mix of Autentico Grand Cru with GF Coastal Blue milk paint. I've mixed the Autentico with GF before and it works perfectly. I then used a custom mix of Autentico Paint in blue, GF Coastal Blue and GF Seagull Grey to create the faux finish, leaving bits of the custom mix Grand Cru and Coastal Blue to peak through. I then used gold leaf on all the detailing but kept it quite rustic. Finishing off with GF Topcoat in Satin and adding the gorgeous gold flower handles.

Products Used

GF Coastal Blue Milk Paint
GF Seagull Grey Milk Paint
Custom mix Autentico blue's
Custom mix Autentico Grand Cru and GF Coastal Blue
GF HP Topcoat Satin
Artisan Enhancements Leaf and Foil Size
Gold Leaf

Copper and Blue Foils Bedside Cabinets

Tessa at Room Thirteen — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 18:23:24 +0000

I love layering, creating texture and a bit of bling! I want my finished pieces to be tactile and look different at every angle and in different lighting states and these bedside cabinets really tick all those boxes.

I started with a custom mix of blue with Autentico Paint. The inside areas I used GF Dark Chocolate. Then I randomly smeared Artisan Enhancements Leaf and Foil size over the doors, waited for them to become tacky and used copper and blue foils, another layer of Topcoat and then a layer of Crackle Tex(Artisan Enhancements). Over the top of this I painted GF Coastal Blue and as it was drying I used a dampened sea sponge to remove chunks.

The rest of the cabinets I painted Coastal blue over the lighter blue and kept working the paint with my brush whilst it was drying creating a smeared look, so you can see the lighter colour peaking through. To finish it all off I used the amazing Copper Wax by Autentico.

Products Used

GF Coastal Blue Milk Paint
GF Dark Chocolate Milk Paint
Custom mix blue Autentico Paint
Copper Wax Autentico
GF Topcoat in Flat
Artisan Enhancements Leaf and Foil Size
Artisan Enhancements Crackle Tex
Artisan Enhancements Copper and Blue Foils

A Petite French Fancy

Karen Oshaughnessy — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 10:56:03 +0000

This was a really sweet writing bureau to work, its shape very feminine. After stripping and priming, I used General Finishes Linen over the whole piece, and then on the front drawers I stencilled with gold gilding to make the bureau even more unique. The inside was restained in Walnut and then all was sealed with General Finishes Flat out. Some new handles added and she was ready to go.

Products Used

General Finishes Linen
General Finishes Flat out Topcoat
Gold Gilding
Walnut wood stain

Secession Mirror

Jolanta Joly Tomaszewska — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 14:37:53 +0000

SECCESION MIRROR- DARK and LIGHT Reflactions

There is a full of light reflections a mirror piece of furniture standing in a hotel restaurant. I was inspired by moonlight distracting darkness of the night. I patinated silver leaves which resulted an receiving old fashion secession style. You will also see an old fresco on the sides of furniture giving the impression an old elegance . All this impressions is because of several stencils used by me. IOD moulds allowed me to enrich the shape of the Art Nouveau dresser . For decorations I used floral and plant motifs that are part of the original secession style.

https://www.facebook.com/jolythomas.home/?fref=ts

Products Used

Stain Blocker GF
Glaze Effects Van Dyke Brown GF
Sliver Leaf
Mould IOD
Paint Everlong-Noir
Chalk Paint AS-Florence
Paint Everlong-Stardust
Liquitex Profesional-Gloss Varnish
Stencils

Antique Louis

Vika Viola Krzyżaniak — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 09:32:35 +0000

Wardrobe arrived badly damaged, more than expected. It had plenty cracks, and scratches. It required massive amount of work including filing the deep cracks and sanding. Priming the wardrobe for next steps took a significant amount of time. Finally I could start with varnishing and styling. I knew form the start I wanted it in red, while the top will be checkered, but in a subtle way. I was always fascinated by contrast in art, so I decided to combine red with black and gold. The base colour I chose was Tuscan Red GF. It seemed too dark, so I've added a small amount of Holiday Red GF. I've enriched the cupboards with a template of a checkerboard. Once I've painted the whole thing, I covered the drawers in bitumen mixed with a black Prima Artisan Powder, to darken their sides. After laying a mixture of rabbit-skin glue, chalk, and water on the decors, I've gilded them with gold foil laid onto a bole pigment. I've covered the top in it's entriety in gold foil, drew out the checkerboard and patinated it, this time in patine made from the base paint and bitumen. I gave it a hard wipe, to let it blend into the background. Last thing left to do was to mark fragments of the furniture with a golden shine. I managed this using the gilding paste Treasure and polished the rest, to protect the dresser from damage. I chose matt varnish.

Products Used

Tuscan Red GF
Betum de Judea Valleyo
Holiday Red GF
Pime Memory Hardware Arisan Powder-Vansseronk Black
Gold Foil
Pulment Idea Oro Red Maimeri
Patina Al Solvente Per Doratura Verderame Masserini
Treasure Pewter Connoisseur Studio
Treasure Gold Connoisseur Studio
Treasure Brass Connoisseur Studio
Treasure White Fire Connoisseur Studio
Flat out Flat GF

Antionette

Patricia Devlin — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 06:50:57 +0000

My journey for my inspiration began with a newspaper article I read about Louis XVI King of France, but more interestingly his wife Marie Antionette the Queen of exquisite taste. She amassed artworks of extraordinary opulence and beauty. Particularly her furniture collection, the extravagant life of Queen Marie is surrounded by elegant French furniture and fabrics, very beautiful designs that are still prevalent today.

So I dedicate my entry piece to one of the most trend setting ladies of the 18th Century Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France.

Picking my colour palette was inspired by the beautiful fabrics with their vibrant pastels, florals and abundance of gold.

My entry piece is a hand-carved ornate sideboard that I bought from a second hand store over six months ago, I don't know the age or history of this piece but I do know it needed lots of love and attention. It boasts exquisite hand carved solid wood appliqués, inlays of leaves, flowers and columns.

Inside the sideboard is shelved with a removable drawer for endless storage options made from hardwood mahogany.

As I said earlier it needed a lot of attention. I began by removing all the hardware and the back as it was damaged, with numerous washes and sanding it was ready for it's makeover.

For the main body of my piece I used General Finishes colours to create a soft colour palette, starting with Antique White. I was not happy, the dresser seem lifeless, it was to big to take one block colour, then one evening I was working late and mistakenly opened the wrong tin of paint, Linen. Before my eyes the dresser suddenly came to life, the deeper colour was so much better adding depth and grandeur I didn't expect. I decided to leave the inside Antique White also the outside panels and the top to even out the right balance of colour. Strange how a small mistake can change your direction. Then I wanted gold and lots of it.

I replaced the back wood of the dresser covering it with a Fluer De Lis wallpaper to create a design effect to the back, here my journey begins with Burnished Pearl Effects, mixed with Extender I applied using a small damp sponge to the paper, I applied three coats to give an overall dept of colour. Moving on I used a small paint brush to apply Burnished Pearl Effects to all of the appliqués and recesses on the outside applying two coats.

Moving on to the drawers and doors I used two coats of General Finishes Snow White on the inside panels as a base before applying three coats of the Burnished Pearl Effects to all the appliqués details using a small paint brush. I then finished of with Linen to the outside rims of each of the drawers and doors.

A pop of colour, as gold was so prevalent I needed colours to enhance the overall look. I decided to go with cerise and lilacs, but they had to be vibrant in order to stand out so I got mixing, with the General Finishes colours the world is your oyster.

For the cerise I mixed General Finishes Holiday Red, Klein Blue and Snow White then added a dash of Champagne Pearl Effects.

For the lilacs I mixed General Finishes Royal Purple, Holiday Red and Snow White, I then added a dash of Champagne Pearl Effect.

The cerise and lilacs were applied to all the flowers, I also used the cerise on the drapes on the doors to have a more uniform effect.

I felt a more lighter colour for the centre appliqué would make the cerise and lilac stand out more so I got mixing again

I mixed Basil Green, Klein Blue, Seagull Grey, Antique White and a dash of Champagne Pearl Effect to achieve a very light hue of green to compliment the richness of the flowers.

I renewed all of the hardware on the sideboard and replaced the drawers and doors with vintage style handles, I wanted to mix the styles of the handles so I found six antique doorknobs of different styles and materials, some gold plated and some glass. I then painted the glass rose shaped handles with the cerise coloured mix to complement the uniqueness of the sideboard. The overall look was ok but the inside needed something to cheer it up a bit, so I decided to decoupage the removable drawer. I found beautiful wrapping paper form the Royal Horticulture Society that was a perfect match for my colour scheme.

My last task was the top of the sideboard. I used the Burnished Pearl Effects to create a solid line in the recess to break up the colour as Linen on its own smothered the overall look, thus making a boundary between it and the colour below.

I wanted the very top of the sideboard to be much softer and delicate compared to all the colour underneath. I started with one coat of Winter White, then I mixed one part High Performance to one part Burnished Pearl Effect and using a small dry cloth, I lightly dabbed this piece to create a cloud effect over the entire surface.

Finally I finished my piece with two coats of high performance top coat to protect the overall finish.

I would like to thank General Finishes for this opportunity, also Tara for all her great tips and advice, good luck to everyone taking part - it has been inspiring.

Thank you

Patricia Devlin

Products Used

Antique White
Linen
Seagull grey
Basil green
Klein blue
Holiday red
Royal purple
Snow white
Champagne pearl effects
Burnished Pearl effects
Extender
High performance top coat
Stain blocker

Winning Category

1st Place

Sideboard

Chris Kwalski — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 13:28:58 +0000

This sideboard has been painted with Annie Sloan Paris Grey and Java Gel on the top.It has been coated with Annie Sloan Black Wax to give a beautiful finish.

Products Used

GF Java gel Satin
Annie Sloan Paris Grey
Annie Sloan Black wax

Ginkgo Biloba elegance

Wanda McKenna — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 08:41:55 +0000

This Ginkgo Biloba inspired bureau was build around contrasts: matt & shine, dark & bright, classic & modern.

I've chosen black and dark shades of greys as a canvas for sparkling copper accents. I used copper leafs and some metallic paint to achieve the look.

I love leaving the best parts of the original woodwork so i left old intarsia around the edges and i refreshed the top of the piece by applying general finishes maple woodstain.

Ginkgo biloba leafs are imitation of 1920's lush wallpapers where simple pattern is creating an elegant graphic structure. Parts of the stenciling were made using general finishes Van Dyke glaze.

The very last step was adding a fraze - hand painted "Namaste" reminding us that there is a god sparkle inside everyone of us.

Products Used

GF maple woodstain
GF Van Dyke glaze
GF stain blocker
Rustoleum chalk paint
Folk art chalk paint
Copper leafs
Modern masters copper paint
Polyvine varnish
Polyvine glaze
Goldfinger daler rowney

Winning Category

2nd Place

Old Gold Sideboard

Kate Clowes Holt — Sat, 15 Jul 2017 09:26:43 +0000

Vintage bow fronted sideboard - changes colour in the light.

Method - base coat of FMP Bedford, FMP bronze sponged on in a random method. Top coat of FMP antique glaze applied with crunched up newspaper. Dark wax and rub and buff to age and highlight the details.

General Finishes Gel Stain in the colour Java used on the top to bring out the natural grain of the wood and varnished to give a beautiful but practical surface.

The inside of the top drawer has been recovered in black felt and the rest of the inside was cleaned and waxed.

Products Used

General Finishes Gel Stain - Java
Fusion Mineral Paint - Bedford
Fusion Mineral Paint - Metallics Bronze
Fusion Mineral Paint - Antique Glaze