Tag: shabby chic

Trendy upcycled drinks trolley

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Hi everyone! My latest UnicornPostbox blog post is progression photos of a trendy upcycled drinks trolley, upcycled for the Children’s Air Ambulance 💙💙 Hope you enjoy!

I started off by lightly sanding by hand. I painted the drinks trolley with a teal frenchic furniture paint (looks more emerald green in person). I painted a few layers. I made a mistake with the stencil at first, so had to repaint and wait to dry again. I then spray painted gold on the stencil in all four corners, and on the bottom level a different stencil in the centre. I had to be careful spray painting, I covered the rest of the trolley with taped down newspaper to avoid unwanted spillages. To finish, I used frenchic top coat to seal.

(The paint is still slightly wet in above pic). I am really pleased with how this one turned out. I love the colour and have had compliments on it, the stencils aren’t perfect but it’s impossible to achieve perfection. I think it looks really shabby chic and cool. The start this year of many more upcycling projects for the Children’s Air Ambulance, it’s been a while! Haha 😄 I’ve got a bit of a tan with working outside, despite wearing factor 50 suncream and a big floppy hat. Ha!

Thank you so much for reading/viewing 🙂 My next project, before more upcycling- I’m going pub painting with my friend on Tuesday, so keep a look out for another amateur acrylic painting!

Lots of love, Lauren xx

© 2023 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

My first upholster! Progression photos

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Good evening fellow followers 🙂 My latest blog post is progression photos of a upholstered chair, I’m pretty proud of it, hope you like…

My first task was unpicking the metal staples around the brim, ready for new fabric. I sugar soaped and then used a primer on the bare wood, when dry I sprayed chalky grey furniture paint, and a crystal clear protection to seal. Next, I stapled a bottom sheet to the frame, to increase durability. The fabric I initially chose was black/dark blue, with elegant yellow flowers. I used the first bit of cloth as a template to get the right size. Upon completion however it was agreed the choice of fabric was a little too pretty, and did not match an industrial vibe wished for the new store cafe (this is what I’m working on at the moment). As it appeared more for a bedroom than a café, I unpicked the metal staples and started again! I upholstered with a plain more rustic fabric, and glue gunned a brim, adding a bit of personality with the tassels!

This has been my favourite project so far. I love the shabby chic effect, and I think it looks very classy and elegant. I love that I’m learning too. The store manager did give me a tip to pull the fabric really tight, so less loose, I completely agree however I don’t think I’ve done bad for a first upholster attempt. I’m really proud of myself, hehe 🙂 🙂

Coming up soon, some metallic steampunk effect frames, upcycled wooden spools (big project for the cafe) and a Earth map decoupaged table! Please do keep a look out… I’m hoping to sell some of my art/knitting too as sponsorship money towards my Liverpool cathedral absail, so I’ve plenty to keep me occupied 🙂

Much love, Lauren xx

© 2022 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Rustic charm distressed TV cabinet – progression photos

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Hey again! My latest blog post is progression photos of a rustic charm distressed TV cabinet, upcycled for the Children’s Air Ambulance. Hope you like…

At the beginning of the project, the TV cabinet was a dark mahogany colour wood – not always a preferable shade to sell nowadays. Therefore, it was my job to sand using a black and decker mouse sander – still very time consuming it must be said despite not being hand held sand paper! As you can see, I went for a distressed look. One of the drawers of the cabinet unattached also, so I used ‘no more nails’ to secure. After extensive sanding, I kept it simple and classic by rubbing on a furniture wax – to give a rustic shabby chic feel 🙂 🙂 The result…

My next upcycling project for the Children’s Air Ambulance is some sort of storage/ toy box I intend to paint, varnish and decoupage but before then I may have finished a cosmic wolf diamond art to donate. We can’t sell hand made items as a charity unfortunately, so along with what they send off, I’m going to knit some bobble hats, scalves etc for the refugees in Ukraine. I think that would be lovely to do…

Thanks so much for taking the time to read / view, much appreciated.

All the best, Lauren xx

© 2022 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Shabby chic decoupage bedside cabinet

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Hi blog followers, my latest blog post is progression photos of a shabby chic decoupage bedside cabinet I upcycled for the Children’s Air Ambulance.. Hope you enjoy!

Firstly, I thoroughly washed the bedside cabinet with some sugar soap and sanded by hand with sand paper. I then primed with a 16-24 hour dry primer (mistake, won’t be purchasing again, too long a wait), and sanded some more the next day.

I decoupaged the drawers, front and inside, with a pretty duck egg colour/ bird pattern wallpaper, using mod podge. I likewise decoupaged the top of the cabinet too. I sealed with furniture wax on the Rust-oleum furniture paint, and a clear satin varnish over the wallpaper.

I almost bodged the project up by trying to distress the sides. It just did not look right at all, so I tried to salvage it by repainting, leaving a few little distresses on the front/drawers, to keep a shabby chic effect.

As only my first attempt in years, I think I’ve done a pretty decent job. Far from perfect, but not bad. Moving forward, I think if I continue to decoupage/paint, to make sure all is smooth and to a professional standard so the Children’s Air Ambulance can make the biggest profit possible. If I improve and learn by practice they could hopefully sell my upcycled furniture for a lot of money!

This is my next project, a mahogany TV cabinet I’ve begun sanding with a black and decker mouse sander I bought yesterday. So watch this space!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read /view my latest blog post, I appreciate your ongoing support 🙂 🙂

Much love, Lauren xx

© 2022 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com