Stool Makeover

We would like to share how easy it is to give any piece of furniture a makeover using Amy Howard's One Step paint. 

What we needed for this project:

Any color of  choice of Amy Howard's One Step paint

Amy Howard at Home, Dark Antique Wax

Antiquax, Original Wax Polish

Three brushes to use with each product

For this tutorial we used an unfinished stool. 

~  First step is to thoroughly clean the piece with an industrial degreaser . It helps to remove any grease, grime, oil or wax from the piece.

~  After making sure the furniture is dry after cleaning, we began to  paint the piece with Amy Howard's One Step paint. It may take one or two coats to paint. Our stool was a light color and only took one coat to cover with maybe a retouch here and there. 

Amy Howard's One Step usually takes about 15-20 minutes to completely dry.

~   Using a different brush now, we are waxing the entire piece using the Original Wax Polish. After dipping the brush into the container of wax, make sure to unload some of the wax on a piece of cardboard for better distribution of wax on the bristles. Use a polishing rag (any cloth that does not leave lint residue on the furniture surface) to buff the piece. Make sure to wipe off wax excess and smooth the surface by wiping in a circular motion.   

~  Changing the brush, we are applying the Dark Antique Wax to add visual interest to any detail in the woodwork. Same way we applied the wax polish, make sure to unload the brush on the cardboard. Brush the dark wax over the detail making sure it's entirely covered. Then buff with a lint-free cloth.

And here is the finished stool. Makeover took about 2 hours on this piece. Amy Howard's One Step paint can be applied on most any surfaces. No need to strip, sand or prime. 

Hence the name One Step.

All products are available at Market Street Artisans, including the stools which can be pre-ordered.

Amy Howard at Home - Natural Cracked Patina

Don't you sometimes love the look of years of layering of colors and wear that appear through the cracks of the finish of an old piece of furniture?

You can achieve a similar look with Amy Howard's Natural Cracked Patina.

The process is simple. 

1. Thoroughly clean your piece and apply one coat of your choice of color in the One-Step Paint. Allow that to dry.

2. Brush on the Cracked Patina. Allow to dry one to two hours.

3. Brush on your next choice of color in the One-Step paint with long clean strokes. Be careful not to go back over what you have painted or you may pull up the finish before it's ready. As this coat begins to dry, you will see the piece naturally age.

4. After you have allowed this process to completely finish, you may apply a thin coat of light wax and buff with a lint-free cloth as usual. 

For the above piece, we used a small cabinet door from the re-Store. Our base coat was Amy Howard's One-Step in black and our top coat was One-Step in Linen. We waxed with light and dark waxes and applied the decorative knobs.

This process looks great on table-tops, cabinet doors, dressers and even small items. Come see us at Market Street Artisans and we will be more than happy to show you how to use it.

Until next time...