The next part of the build concerns electrics and until I can get my head around that I looked for something to do quickly. I bought this little console table in eBay for about 25 euros, made by JBM miniatures. It is pretty but I'm afraid that I've seen too many thickly varnished miniatures to love it as it is. I know that I could sand it down but with the detail it would be tricky. I hesitated to dip it in stripper and take it back to wood but in the end I went with paint.
I roughed up the surface with wire wool and gave it two coats of mat white acrylic.
I then decided to paint the top in black marble effect. I just painted some mat black then dabbed a kitchen towel in white paint and transferred the white in blotches here and there but not too regular. I did Something similar with some Emerald green paint then with a fine brush I wiggled some whitish lines over the surface then picked out parts in brighter white. I then rubbed the surface down with wire wool and took a stiff paintbrush and coated the whole table with dark antique wax rubbing it into the detailing. Next day I brushed it up and with a cloth made the top shine.
It brings out the wood detailing much more this way.
I think it looks more interesting and besides I love painted furniture.
This style is Chippendale, a sort of Chinoiserie variation.
The top, I admit that the photo is not great.
In place against the wall which is itself not fixed in place yet. The chair is just for scale, I will use others and put one at each side of the table.
With some decor. I would love a silver tray from Mike Sparrow and some decanters and glasses on it here and maybe a vase of flowers too. I might put a basket of books under it or a dog basket.
Below are some tables for inspiration, some for the shape or colour or marble top.
I think that it's good to look at some of the miniatures on sale in a different way and imagine them painted or altered. Idealy we would carve and make all our own furniture but only a few of us has that talent. I do not !
La mesa te ha quedado genial,me gusta mucho el cambio que le has dado,parece otra muy diferente y con mucho más interés!!
ReplyDeleteÁnimo con la electricidad!
Besos.
Delete125/5000
Hola Pilar, sí, resultó bastante bien. ¡Estoy nervioso por la electricidad, leí un blog donde la casa de alguien se incendió! besososos
It's beautiful Stephanie! I really dislike the varnished mahogany furniture that you find so often in our hobby and love that you have transformed the table from "blah" to "wow"! It did hae lovely carving and the varnish didn't manage to accent it at all but your paint did!
ReplyDeleteHi Jodi, thank you. I have tried in the past to strip varnished pieces , one of them took me a week and frayed nerves ! Miniaturists like Pipi Turner have the courage to redo and strip bought pieces but I do love painted furniture so I can now look at some of the stuff for sale and imagine what I can do with it. I have also painted up some of those Xacto kits and they work better as the wood is untreated. Fun to be had !! huggss
DeleteBeautiful table Stephanie and amazing paint job! The marble is very realistic and love the idea of rubbing with antique wax. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you Shannon, yes in RL I tend to paint everything too, it does make bad furniture look a lot better. My 'antique wax was found in the street, two tins of it and I have used it on so many projects already. bug hig xxx and big hug ! hihihi
DeleteWow, good find! All Only ever see broken desk chairs and stained couches. But yes I also tend to paint most minis I have.
DeleteI will NOT admit to the number of hours I spend looking for things on eBay/etsy !! it would be embarassing but it does mean that I find a lot of goodies but now must stop as there are way too many things for the finished house, even for three houses ! I was given a LOT of miniature 'brown' furniture that ended up in a box Under the table but now I will fish them out and see what some paint can do to beautify them !! The good thing is that if I mess up it's not important ,,, huggsss
DeleteIt's always fascinating to me of how simple PAINT can become SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS : from silk to stone and everything thing in between, it's all about the well places strokes of a brush!
ReplyDeleteStephanie- YOU'RE AMAZING!
Miss E, your comments are always so charming and positive thank you. As someone who lived through the 80's and 90's when everything was paint effected there is so much fun to be had doing so in mini scale. I would love to do a room full of fake marble ! Maybe a bathroom ,,,, big huggssss
DeleteYou have such a great talent for taking an ordinary piece and personalizing it into something special. The table looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherrill dear, its so much fun and of course as the items are small it's quick and if anything goes wrong easy to fix and start over ! I love my table and for so little money it's a great addition to the room. More to come ! huggsss
DeleteMa chere Madame M. I love faux marbling. In my project there will be some floors, mantles, tabletops and even some wallpanels that need a marble paint effect finish. So understand you compleyely 😁 Your redecorated table looks super! It is truly enhanced from its original state.
ReplyDeleteMonsieur H.
Dear Mr H, yes I do love marbling. I did many samples over the years and studied a lot of it especially the Swedish stuff and conclude that I prefer it to look fake in a naive sense. Swedish Gustavian interiors were always a great inspiration for me and make me want to make a Swedish manor house as my next project ( in 2030 !! ) huggssss
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