Antique furniture and Dovetailed drawers

October 27, 2021 SassyfitnesschickLeave a comment

When I started getting more involved in my old furniture flipping business a few years ago, I made it a point to be a quick study on some of the obvious things I needed to know about it.

Therefore, I did some reading, but more importantly, I just started studying pieces I got. I took drawers out. I looked at how it was built. I studied the woods used. I tried to store in my head periods of furniture ( yikes there’s so much!)

An old man I had talked to said the more I knew what the authentic old stuff looked like, the better I would be at recognizing it.

This included one key factor in trying to assess the age of a piece. Studying the drawers, the side where pieces join together often called dovetail. It is so called because of how it looks like a tail or peg fitted in. This makes for tight drawer corners.

Dovetailed drawers have been around a long time. The dovetail machine made its debut in 1865 to help the rapidly growing furniture industry.

Dovetailed machines offered precise, exact cuts and spacing and made the drawer process move faster.

Prior to that, the dovetailing was hand done, with the pencil and carpentry marks still visible ( it’s so exciting to find pieces like that!) Mostly though, the majority of drawers you find dovetailed will be neat and precise from a machine.

Of course hand detailing was still done as well and even today skilled carpenters do it.

Don’t let someone sell you on a piece as old by this alone. Even more modern day furniture can have drawers that are dovetailed.

I recently bought a cute old wash cabinet. The size and style made me want it, but also the fact it was a nice old piece definitely sold me.

I had planned to clean it up, refresh it with a little gel stain, and leave it in its old natural state.

I was so happy when a customer claimed it and was ok with what I had planned for it.

But here’s what I want you to see. This piece is old enough to have the hand carved dovetailed drawers! I oiled the wood admiring the old craftsmanship of them.

See the wide pegs and cut marks? Beautiful, glorious hand cut dovetail ❤

Drawers were a basic box, the back piece just cut and inset with a piece of wood.

And they weren’t to concerned about the precession of cuts in the back

Looking at drawer structure is just one way to help determine an age of a piece. Again there are many factors….style, wood, design, casters etc

I hope this quick tip on dovetailed drawers gives you a little insight when shopping for antique or vintage pieces. 😊

Let’s Talk Paint!

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 SassyfitnesschickLeave a comment

As an Elite retailer with Dixie Belle Paint, I carry both of their paint lines. I get a lot of questions about both so I thought I’d discuss them with you in this post.

Chalk and Silk paint. Two different Dixie Belle paints I carry in my shop

Our chalk mineral paint

“Chalk paint” as it’s referred to, is super easy to work with and definitely beginner friendly. We carry 69 colors from a soft neutrals, to fun bold colors like amethyst and peony and so many more. There is a color for everyone and all projects.

Chalk paint is very water friendly and I always recommend having a good mister bottle ( I carry those) to lightly spray your brush and paint while you work. This not only gives you a smooth finish but it makes your paint go farther. If the paint gets to thick, add a bit of water to a more workable consistency. Remember to use a little at a time to not thin to much.

Two coats is usually adequate for most things. The paint dries fairly quick, especially in warm weather! After the first coat you can lightly sand with our gray sanding pad ( available in my shop) or 220 grit sand paper. This will give the paint that nice smooth feel. Apply your second coat and after dry, lightly sand again and buff for a silky finish.

You can now leave your piece as is, the paint will fully cure in 30 days, or you can use one of our top coats or waxes to seal. This is recommended if you plan to use other colored glazes or waxes or you have a piece that will get lots of use.

Silk all in one mineral paint

Our Silk line was just released in January and it has been flying off the shelves. Silk has a built in primer and top coat offering a low reflective finish. It is water resistant, mildew and UV resistant, durable and scrubable.

This line comes in 20 soft coastal colors. This is a great product for those who just want to get a piece painted without having to do other steps to finish.

Silk requires a good cleaning before painting ( use our white lightning cleaner) and scuff sanding to make sure it has a good surface to attach to. It is recommended to use a good quality synthetic brush for application. You do not use water with Silk as this can affect its properties of primer and top coat.

Load your brush and use long even strokes, not over working paint. Silk does have a longer dry time than chalk paint. It is recommended to have several hours between coats. Once you are satisfied with your coats, you are done! If you wish to distress do so after paint is throughly dry. The paint will continue to dry and be fully cured in 30 days.

If you would prefer a different sheen, you can apply any of our top coats over Silk. All of our auxiliary products ( wax, glazes, top coats) work great with Silk! If you use one of our furniture transfers you will need to seal with a top coat.

Silk is easy to work with and is also great for cabinets too! I applied it in my son’s bathroom after we first launched it. He isn’t easy on his cabinets and the dog lays against them so I’m always scrubbing them and the paint has held up great.

A few other differences

You cannot mix or combine the two paints. Chalk is easy to blend colors with where Silk isn’t as easy to do so.

Chalk paint is water friendly but you do not use water to thin or apply Silk. Using a good quality synthetic brush will give you best results with Silk application.

I hope this brief comparison of these two paints will help you when choosing for a project. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have!

Remember you can find all things Dixie Belle in my Shades of Yesterday shop located inside the Corner Cartel 265 S Main St Boerne

A basic table refreshed in Silk “Quiet Cove “, Damask stencil using Sawmill Gravy

Chalk paint · Furniture Painting · Uncategorized · Vintage furniture

Making Your Own Specialty Wax

June 5, 2021June 5, 2021 SassyfitnesschickLeave a comment

I had a good customer drop off a piece to me, an antique clock, that had been in her family for years for some custom work.

Nothing is prettier than old clocks with such details

When asked how I was to do it I was told white and pink.

Pink? I clarified that and she told me it would go in a cottage she was doing in pastels. Well ok then, pink it is!

First the clock got cleaned with Dixie Belle’s White Lightening cleaner. Once dry, I painted it with two heavy coats of our chalk mineral paint in Cotton. This is our purest bright white.

The clock looks like it’s photo bombing 😜 you can see it all pretty and white

Once the paint dried I lightly sanded it with our sanding pad to give it a smooth feel. I then applied our Best Dang Wax in clear working in, especially to the details. Once on I buffed well with a clean t shirt rag. Wax is one of several top coats you can use with our paint if you wish to seal your piece. Our paint fully cures in 30 days and no sealer is required but many prefer to add top coat for extra durability.

So why the pink paint?

Do you know besides our regular wax colors of brown, grunge gray, white, black and clear, that you can make your own specialty colored wax? Tis true!

Hmmmm, how is this accomplished?

Take a small amount of clear wax, add only a couple drops of desired Dixie Belle paint into wax and stir well with a plastic knife or popsicle stick…anything works as long as you blend in the paint well with the wax. Then brush on, use a rag etc to apply your special wax and wipe back excess. I used clear wax and a few drops of Dixie Belle’s Soft Pink to make a gorgeous wax that I worked into all of the details on the clock.

I then used a clean rag to buff the wax making sure color was worked into all the delicious details.

And the finished product at home…

How soothing are all of these soft colors?

Find all Dixie Belle products, including waxes, in my Shades of Yesterday shop inside the Corner Cartel 265 S Main St. in Boerne.

Feel free to reach out to me if I can be of help with your paint projects!

Chalk paint · Uncategorized · Vintage furniture

Dixie Belles “Big Mama’s Butta”

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 SassyfitnesschickLeave a comment

It’s no secret that Dixie Belle has tons of amazing paint colors, but we also have lots of other products to make your furniture look beautiful.

I thought I’d share about one of our finishing products in this post, Big Mama’s Butta.

Funny name, but powerful product.

Butta comes in two scents, Suzanne’s Garden and Orange Grove ( my favorite!) It also comes unscented. If you’re into essential oils you can add a few drops to the unscented.

What’s in the secret sauce?

Butta contains hemp oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and carnauba wax.

How do you use it? What’s its purpose?

I use it inside furniture as a final touch on finishing a piece. Apply with a soft rag and work on drawers and runners for smooth sliding, use inside drawers themselves to bring a fresh luster to wood. The orange smells amazing inside a finished piece.

Use it on a beautiful wood piece you don’t want to paint to renew the wood. I bought a gorgeous antique cabinet a few months ago, the wood was gorgeous and I knew I wouldn’t paint it.

This was my first piece to use it on and wow, I was hooked! My daughter in law came by later and asked if I had used our “no pain gel stain ” on it. The difference was that drastic.

That’s not all….

You can use as a sealer after your paint has dried well. Apply with a lint free cloth, buff after application. Cures after 7 days.

But wait, there’s more!

What if I told you it renewed and restored leather?

Oh yes it does.

Recently my daughter in law sent me a photo of some gorgeous Italian leather boots she had scored at the thrift store with the question, “can I use the gel stain on these?” ( I’ve seriously got her hooked on the stuff! 😃)

I told her no, but I did have another product she could use. She had already bought some butta so I instructed her to use it on the boots.

You can see results below, the boot on left is before.

And a closer look….

Can you say wow??? 🤩

So there you go. Big Mama’s Butta can not only get those tight drawers running smooth, refresh old tired wood, cover old odors, and seal your piece after painting, it can also refresh and renew tired and worn leather.

Comes in 4 and 10 oz sizes, Orange Grove, Suzanne’s Garden and Unscented.

Find this product and all my other Dixie Belle products at my Shades of Yesterday shop inside the Corner Cartel, 265 S Main St in Boerne.