Furniture Art Workshop

I haven't attended many workshops in life, just a couple of IEEE ones during my bachelor's. Little did I know, I would be attending a Furniture Art workshop a decade later.

Such contrasting fields.

I was dragged into the first one by friends doing Electrical and was politely voluntold to attend the latter. Though I wasn't very reluctant this time, I wanted to learn a thing or two because I badly need to revamp some chipped furniture which is mostly the aftermath of our moves.

So, there's this lady who came all the way from the capital city to our little remote setup to deliver this workshop. The event was organized by the ladies' club which is kind of a mandatory thing in my community - sometimes overwhelming but mostly it grooms you a lot as a person.

So this lady is a renowned furniture artist and runs a successful business by the name of Niche Designs. You can find her page on Instagram.

In my opinion, it's a little expensive hobby if you are to get high quality supplies. But still affordable than buying a new piece of chic furniture.

^{Facelifting in process}

She chose to revamp an old standing cabinet for demonstration while explaining all the dos amd don'ts and sharing a dozen tips.

^{"Before" picture of the cabinet - screenshot taken from a video that a friend made because I forgot}

I was so engrossed in listening and watching her do the magic that I forgot to take pictures. I did take one in the middle and one at the end, though. Also, it wasn't on my mind to write about it here, only when it turned out to be so informative that I felt like sharing, it might help someone or invoke feelings for a new passion. 😄

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Let me walk you through the whole process...

1- Cleaning

The artist first wiped the cabinet with a citrus liquid dish soap because it's important to clean the surface before painting. Otherwise, the paint will chip off if there are debris or oil patches.

White vinegar and baking soda mixture can also be used. Basically, anything that can get rid of grease and dirt.

2- Wood Filling

If the furniture is old then there's a chance of cracks, scratches, holes, or dents. I'm sure you already know there are wood-fillers for this purpose. Take a palette knife or any spatula for filling and then even out the surface but scraping off the excess paste.

The artist used an icecream stick for this. It worked great.

3- Sanding

Then comes sanding. The artist scuffed all the uneven areas with a sand block especially the places where she added fillers.

4- Priming

I always thought that priming is done to bring out the colour of the paint. The artist told us that sometimes there's oil seeped into the wood so a primer keeps it locked in and makes the paint more durable. She applied thin layers of a water soluble primer with a roller.

5- Painting

Always apply thin layers of paint. Heavily loaded brush always makes the surface thick and uneven. So, always unload a little after loading.

For painting, you can either use acrylics or oil paints. And for a more antique look, you might want to go for chalk paints.

The artist used chalk paints because she was going for antique look.

6- Sealing

Always seal your work off with a top coat. Over time, wood sap comes out of the surface making it moist and causing the paint to chip off. A sealer wouldn't let that happen. Polyurethane or wax sealers are used for a top coat on wood.

The artist didn't apply the top coat during the workshop because the paint was still wet. Although she told us that once the top coat is applied, it takes around 20 days to cure properly.

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The artist also showed us different decoration techniques which are trendy these days. It's better to do all the decor before applying the top coat.

1- Decoupage

Sounds fancy but it's simply gluing rice paper or napkins on the wood surface. The effect is such that the design seamlessly becomes part of the medium/surface. It feels as if it's directly painted.

There's decoupage glue for this purpose sometimes known as Mod Podge or German glue. This glue becomes transparent when it dries.

The different kinds of clocks you see are rice paper cut-outs which are pasted through the decoupage technique.

2- Distressing

This technique involves revamping old furniture to make it look worn out, aged, or distressed again. Ironic, isn't it?

Apparently, this kind of furniture is trending. The artist didn't use this technique on the cabinet but it's done by simply sanding the painted surface.

3- Antiquing

The artist did a beautiful demonstration of antiquing by using dark toned paint to accentuate the edges and crevices of the cabinet. The cabinet immediately looked aged but I think I couldn't capture such details in the pictures.

Some other techniques used on the cabinet were Stenciling and Dry brushing. The latter is used for creating a weathered effect.

^{Final look}

It looked a lot better in real. I wish I could take more pictures of the process.

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I have a chipped chester that I want to revamp. I'm gonna do some research on the products and if they are easily accessible and affordable then you might see a facelift in my blogs.