Using Furniture as an Art Canvas

I've built a few tables. I've stained a few pieces of furniture. But I have never used a piece of furniture as a canvas for artistic expression, until now.

Not a really impressive canvas is it? My husband found this desk back in August at a local Goodwill. We had been searching for something our college daughter could use for studying and after she took a look at it we decided to get it for her. It was sturdy enough to do the job, but it was an ugly shade of brown. I stared at it for three days, then ignored it for two. 

I was scrolling through Pinterest when this showed up...  

and the link took me Here. Inspiration struck me like a rock. My daughter loves horses, but we live in the suburbs, so she must live vicariously through others for her horse fix. But I could use that love of horses to reimagine that desk.

I started by removing the drawer pulls and cleaning the whole piece with a degreaser. Once it was clean inside and out I began assessing it for any damages. Found a few minor dings and some loose joints so I fixed those. Then I began sanding. I wanted to take the top down to the bare wood for a raw wood look. The original plan was to use the decoupage paper on the sides of the desk. Once I started sanding I discovered that the previous owner had in all likelihood built the desk out of whitewood and I wasn't really sure if the top was wood or MDF. It looked like wood but sanded like MDF. So, my dream of a raw wood top went the way of the dodo. Halt the project! Time to rethink. Luckily I was watching a Facebook live on the Dixie Belle page and the furniture artist was doing a blending technique to mimic cowhide.  That would look perfect on my daughter's desk. So I ordered the paint colors the artist used and watched that video a dozen times until the paint arrived. I couldn't wait to get started. 

It doesn't look pretty does it? Trust the process, is what all the furniture artists say, so I decided to listen and I'm glad I did. I used Dixie Belle Chalk Paints in Saw Mill Gravy, Driftwood, Chocolate, Mud Puddle, and French Linen.

The second pass looked much better and the paper just popped.

Once all the overpainting was done, the picture looked like it has a halo around it and my daughter was thrilled with it. So I used about five coats of Dixie Belle's Gator Hide to seal that top. The desk came with a glass top which we plan on using on the desk, but I wanted that paper extra protected just in case my daughter's cat knocks over her coffee cup or something.

Now onto the body. I decided to do an ombre effect. I've done it on canvas but I had never tried it on furniture so I watched every youtube video painting an ombre blend on furniture. My favorite videos on the technique are from Brushed By Brandy, Here, and Bella Renovare by Crys'Dawna, Here. 

So I began to work using the same colors on the body as I did on the top. I started with French Linen as my base coat. Then starting at the bottom I used Chocolate, the middle was Mud Puddle, which is my favorite brown by the way, and I used Saw Mill Gravy at the top. I love Saw Mill Gravy, it's the perfect shade of off-white in my opinion. Very soft and not in your face. Back to the ombre. I started by just laying down the colors where I wanted them. On the second pass, I just added a little of each Chocolate and Mud Puddle to wet the line between the two and then used a second brush to swirl the colors together until they were blended. I did it again with Mud Puddle and Saw Mill Gravy. 

I loved the effect, but it needed something more. So I added a furniture transfer

then I framed it. 

I found the transfer on the Re-Design By Prima website and found a stockist online. The transfer is called "Natural Splendor" and it is so beautiful. 

I did the same ombre on the picture frame.

I replicated the design on the opposite side of the desk as well. Once I had the sides just the way I wanted them it was time to ombre the drawers and add the pulls. Or so I thought. Do you see what I see? I see a boring blend.

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So I took the remaining pieces of the transfer and added them to the bottom drawer. But that wasn't enough. I had also bought a horse transfer from Re-Design by Prima called "Wild Soul" that I was going to use on another project and placed a few of them on the desk instead. I mean it is a horse-themed desk after all.

Now back to those drawer pulls. I liked the hardware that was on the bottom drawers when we bought the desk but it just didn't fit with the theme so I ordered some cup pulls from Amazon and while I was on the sight I decided to search for horse knobs and found these lovelies. 

They were perfect for the desk. They weren't expected until the middle of October, but they came in early. Now I could complete the desk for my daughter who had patiently been doing her homework on her bedroom floor.

I love the way the desk turned out, but I wasn't through yet. I really didn't like the particle board drawers. They were just so ugly compared to the rest of the desk. So I painted the insides of the drawers with Saw Mill Gravy and on the outside, I added a decoupage paper called "Tan Distressed Rustic Roses" I found here.

Now this baby is done.

My daughter is absolutely thrilled with her "new" desk. This was a true labor of love and I loved every minute of it. It reignited a passion in me that I had long thought was dead. I thought I had lost my creativity and my artistic vision, but I just needed to find the right canvas.

I was right about the cat. She loves the desk too.