A Voyage Using American Paint Company

My son just left for college, and ‘Voyage‘ was on my mind, so I looked to American Paint Company to keep me busy from being too sad.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

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I instantly gravitated to this piece, I’m pretty certain it was a vintage buffet in it’s original state. I liked it’s VINTAGEness, the storage, and most importantly, the height.  At 26″, it makes the perfect entry bench,  a decorative low-boy chest for a flat screen, or a storage chest at the end of a bed.  I like pieces that are multi-functional.

It was painted black when I acquired it – a very heavily painted, worn finish.  I knew I couldn’t invision a clean, pretty finish on this unless I wanted to sand off all the imperfections first, which wasn’t an option.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

so I grabbed a basecoat paint in my shop, and started in.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

I’m keeping a linear effect as I brush on that first coat, sparingly.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

That’s our cheap chippy brushes, the ONLY brushes we like to use – perfect for jamming into cracks and crevices, and then it does a nice job of brushing over the finish and leveling it out.

love chip brushes, fabulous finishes studio, shop.fabfinisher.com, metro detroit, professional finisher

I use them for everything I paint, unless I have to roll on something.

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Only beef with them is their shed-a-bility when first opened.  Like this one, below, he’s still pretty young, and I know if I use him he’ll spit some bristles…the best way to break them in, and get them to perfect FAST is to get them soapy wet, and smash them around in your hand, or in your sink,  or on your driveway cement – make those loose hairs break out – then rinse it good.

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This little guy here is perfect!

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This ones starting to wear, see how the right side has longer hairs?  You will literally wear DOWN the bristles from use.

DSC_5563

Sidetracked again!  Back to Voyage….

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Now what?

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Now the APC Voyage is brushed on, completely covering the textured base.

TIP:  To help move the Voyage around, I dip my brush, periodically, in water, and then back onto my painted piece.   When the Voyage dried I sanded to pop some detail underneath.

When I refined it to my liking, I decided to use a more durable topcoat instead of waxing.   You never know, it might house a super heavy TV, or a bunch of little tots arriving home from soccer practice!

I decided, before topcoating, that I wanted to apply an allover stencil, I really felt it would add the perfect touch,  so I grabbed a stencil, and more paint.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Five colors, all from American Paint Company! We are in the process of transitioning our open cans of color that we use for workshops and studio painting into squirt containers, thus the ketchup looking paint bottles.

We sell stencils, but not this one.  It’s from my old wall finishing days, but one that has a real European feel.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Love the depth, stenciled with a multitude of colors and then finished.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

I stained the inside of the drawers to perk them up.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Never can resist a stencil in a drawer!

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

I thought I’d use original hardware, but once the piece was painted, the original was just hum drum  (ever have that happen?).  I swapped out the hardware for new, changed  the finish and added swarovski crystals!

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

I loved them with the new finish.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Another piece that I wish I had room for, but  available for purchase at Fabulous Finishes Studio, in Metro Detroit.

american paint company, voyage, elliis collection, painted buffet, bench, vintage, topcoat, beautiful matte, caromal colours, textured basecoat, chocolate, putty, decorative hardware, crystal knobs, no sanding stripping, fabulous finishes, metro detroit, shop.fabfinisher.com, patty henning, coupon code PattyH

Post courtesy of Patty

Comments

  1. Lovely piece. Wish I had back all the money I have spent on “good” brushes…..I ALWAYS come back to my chippy brushes. Great to see a pro painter agrees and with wonderful results. Thanks.

  2. Is this piece still available, if yes what is the price? It is the most beautiful painted piece I have ever seen, you did an outstanding job on it. Thanks for sharing! holly

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