It's been two months since we have had one of my favourite blog hops... but thankfully it is once again time for "Themed Furniture Makeover". This month's theme is "Farmhouse". I knew exactly what piece I was going to give a farmhouse update...

Here is what it looked like when I first saw it. It had good bones now the decision to make was what color to paint it...

I decided that my stash of Fusion paint in "Upper Canada Green" would freshen it up. And it did, but it was a little bland for my taste.

I wanted to use paint I already had and remembered some green and black "Old Fashioned Milk Paint" left over from another project. I mixed it a little more watery than normal and used it as a color wash on top of the base green color. When it dried it looked as though there were no difference in the two colors... until I brought out the wax and then it came to life.

I love the depth that wax adds to a painted piece. But it still wasn't where I wanted it to be... not enough patina for my taste! ;o)

I had a feeling that all it needed was some sanding but couldn't for the life of me find my sander for days. My son finally found it and the fun began!... the tough part was knowing when to stop! ;o)

I am so glad I found the sander. It saved my sore arms from some serious work and I love the end results!

The sander even saved me from a mess up... a scratch on the side that looked like a key had been taken to it. You see when I applied the first coat of paint I didn't sand the piece thinking that it was not necessary, (I didn't bother reading instructions and after the fact found out that indeed I did indeed need to sand) so when I moved it, it somehow scratched and the paint came off. The sander made the spot look more organic and realistic as though it could have been from natural wear.

To give it more of a farmhouse look I decided to attempt to add a faux punched tin panel on the door. I started by painting the panel in a gray chalk paint. Using various colors of glaze and a chip brush and a rag I attempted to get an aged tin look. I used my vinyl cutting machine (Silhouette Cameo) to cut a stencil of a punched tin design that I put together... a rooster and some wording.

Now that it is all done, I think I would have made the faux tin backdrop just a little lighter so that the faux holes would have stood out a little more. But for my first try I am pleased with it.

Here it is all decked out with some of my farmhouse finds. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and think I have found a technique that I will definitely be using again. I hope it sells at my next craft show although I may have a hard time letting it go...

Hope I have inspired you to get your "farmhouse" on... layers of paint and distressing will certainly help get that look.

And just for good measure here are the before and after side by side...

Make sure to check out the projects bellow to get more FARMHOUSE inspiration from my fellow bloggers and DIY Furniture Girls'...

Blessings,
Lucy