Elbow Grease and Paint Pants--Robin's Egg Blue

I'm slowly finding homes for my fourteen auction finds.

I had a few people recently ask me why don't I start selling my finds.  My friend Kelly has a stall at Qcumberz, a local shop, and she and I talked about me sharing space and rent with her.

I thought about it for a few weeks, then Kelly discovered that she's been busy enough to keep her space filled on her own, but would I like my own space?  There would be an open stall starting February first.

After careful consideration, and selling my two fabric-backed cream shelves on Craigslist, I discovered that I really don't like to put all the work into a piece just to sell it to someone else. I gave Kelly my "no" answer, then later that day I headed down to Qcumberz to browse.

As I walked through the store, I knew I'd made the right decision.

Don't get me wrong--I'm happy to help anyone find what they want, attend an auction or go shopping armed with opinions and experience, but I don't think I'll be venturing into the retail market any time soon.

And with that, let me share with you a before shot of my latest project:

These shutters each measure 23x26" and weigh about twenty pounds apiece!  I loved all the details in the trim and especially the wooden keyholes.  I wanted to really bring out the detail work but still preserve their vintage feel.

First I tried to dry-brush white paint on the frames, and I hated how it looked.  It looked fake, in all honesty.  So instead of jumping right back into the project, I thought about it for a few days.  What color would I like them to be: a statement color, but one that wouldn't shout?  After considering yellow, I settled on a beautiful robin's egg blue--Behr's rain washed (500E-3) to be exact.

I gave them two coats of paint, then I pulled out the electric sander and gave them a heavy distressing.  They looked good, but I wanted to take them that extra step to amazing.  I pulled out the can of paint I had left over from the boys' dressers and dry-brushed a tiny bit of navy to give the paint some dimension, then finished off with a coat of clear wax.

Here's the finished product, anchoring my spring mantel display:

And a few close-ups of the details:

This may be my favorite project yet.

Until next week
Going once, going twice . . .
SOLD!

Linking up to Kristin's Tuesday's Treasures