So this old gal has been languishing in my garage for a few years! Finally, a difficult winter meant my vehicle had to have shelter. The fainting couch came into the shop with the hopes that under that old amateur upholstery job we would find some carved wood.
Alas! The answer was a resounding NO! And the very old wood was covered in screw and nail holes and things needed to be shored up! Based on the age and dryness of the wood, we believe this to be at least a late 1880s couch. Thanks to our handy Loretta, repairs were made to stabilize the piece and we used one of our favorite products, Wood Icing Textura Paste to fill holes and smooth out the surface. Instead of wood fill, Textura Paste is used as it is so easily sanded smooth. And we didn't stop there with the Wood Icing.
Textura paste was used over a stencil to create a design since we had been disappointed by no wood carving! You apply the paste with a spatula or offset knife as thinly as possible. Then take off the stencil. Allow to dry, then sand off the sharp bits.
Next we applied Old White Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan. We did get some bleed through from the awakened tannins in the wood, but we ignored that because we were going to crackle the paint. So next we applied a coat of Artisan Enhancements Easy Crackle. When it was dry, we painted the piece with a top layer of Coco by Annie Sloan.
Unfortunately, our cracks were very fine, but they are there if you look for them. At one point we thought we would put metallic foil over the Wood Icing, but in the end opted to just distress. We did this because we really like this look with the upholstery Loretta did using Annie Sloan's French Linen and Old White woven linen.
Now she is just waiting for a new home in someone's classic Victorian or a downtown loft!
To learn more about Annie Sloan products, Wood Icing and Artisan Enhancements, visit our website at www.tlcvintagecollection.com. We ship!
