Kitchen Makeover Autentico Iceland

Splashback
Using my arts and crafts collection of polished pebbles that were a gift, some unpolished pebbles, and melted glass decorations bought long ago at a brocante (why?).

I glued the bits on with tile glue, then donning surgical gloves, I moulded the grout in between and wiped off and smoothed as needed.  I sealed it with hard oil from La Maison Naturelle - about seven coats, whenever it felt dry I sloshed on another one until I felt...satisfied.  It is waterproof and as a splashback it keeps itself pretty clean and is easy to wipe over.

Kitchen cabinets painted with chalk paint (Iceland from Autentico)

There was a bit too much wood in our kitchen for my liking, especially as I wanted but could not obtain whitened wood because the French do not like it, they do not want it, they do not approve of it, they have never heard of it. I do not really like the French favourite colour for wood kitchens...but wanted wood for ecological reasons and sort of got cornered into it (learning experience will not do again).   Also the room is shaded and dark, and needed 'brightening'.

 I had already added some panels of colour, green and white and spent a long time realising I needed to paint one row of cupboards in a cool pale blue (Autentico Iceland, www.autentico-chalk-paint.fr).  I really like the way the cool colour makes the cupboards 'lift' and recede, reflecting a clean blue light, and making the kitchen look wider, balancing out the colours on the other side of the room.    Not everyone shares my taste for adventurous choirs of singing colours,  but I share my taste wholeheartedly.  I also love the silky soft texture and the fact I can see the wood grain in the paint.

How I painted the cupboards
I took advice from Autentico, and used their 'Velvet' rather than 'Vintage' paint which is not designed for kitchens but furniture, and is more porous.   I washed the cupboards with sugar soap (Hot tip, prepare Savon St Marc which is French equivalent of sugar sop in advance, following instructions for surface preparation for painting, and gently heating the crystals so they are thoroughly dissolves, put in spray bottle eg leftover from window cleaning so quickly available for chalk painting projects).    Straight after cleaning I wiped off the cabinets with kitchen towels.  I did 4 coats of paint to be sure, one in morning, one in afternoon for two days, and in between the third and the fourth I sanded, and I sanded the 4th coat, using plaster grade, ie very fine sandpaper, and waxed 4 layers, waiting until absorbed before starting another layers, and leaving overnight before buffing with soft cloth.   I find it enjoyable to gently sand and polish and prink and preen the surface to my entire satisfaction.  I fit in a layer of the process when I can, in between domestic and other duties.  If I wait 'until I have time' for the whole project, I never do and it never gets done.   On one cupboard, the one we all use the most,  I finished with ecological water resistant hard oil, to do a comparison for practicality and wear, both seem fine so far.

Kitchen stays in use...
One of the appeals of chalk paint is you don't have to dismantle kitchen, sand, use foul stripping products etc.  I never manage to execute projects which require this much upheaval, our kitchen is never out of use, all day long, so I painted with all the food in the cupboards, the doors and handles on so we could continue to open the doors (I decided not to paint inside as wood is in good condition).  I took the handles off at the end, cleaned them, and put them straight back on.

This blue wall goes down behind the dishwasher, I wanted to tile it to protect from food and coffee splashes, but we ran out of space (it's a very tightly fitted kitchen).  So I made up some thick paint with lime, and then waxed over it in a brighter blue wax, 3 coats, and 2 coats of clear wax, so far is durable and washable and resists stubborn stains...well, you have to think of these things.


Before and during cabinet painting

Chalk paint coffee table

This table was thrown away and left at the side of the road - its  only crime;  a slightly wobbly drawer front (easily mended with a brisk hammer blow and a touch of wood glue) and one corner lightly mauled by a dog.


I think it might be a vintage Ikea television stand from the days when you needed large drawers for video cassettes, and it's varnished pine which I cannot like so I was keen to paint it.   I thought it was worth making a statement with a painted table top, as we have spiral stairs from which we can look down up on the coffee table like a painting on the carpet...

Our coffee table is a fully functional coffee table and not an occasional table.  It must withstand food, tea, coffee, and adolescent feet when no-one's looking, so I didn't paint it until I had an idea for a robust table top, one with some texture and pattern so that visually, it would not be fussy about stains or damage. 

I went on an Autentico paint workshop at Returned to Glory in Berkhamsted,  www.facebook.com/returnedtoglory - and tried out a craquelure technique;  one coat of slightly gluey glaze over the paint, then when tacky, another glaze, which cracks as it dries (either with a hairdryer or after 30 minutes).  Then you can rub in some wax to highlight the cracks.  After the workshop I took my test piece home and threw strong coffee on it and it rolled right off, so I decided it would be a good technique for this table.

I used Autentico paints www.autentico-chalk-paint.fr, a pale blue (Iceland, sort of cyan at the white end of the spectrum) and a red wax (wax mixed with Think Red paint) to create dramatic cracks.  It's meant to be an 'aging' technique but I like to leave aging and distress to time, and go for a more arts and crafts philosophy.   However, the crackle didn't crackle, it barely fizzled.  I think this was because I used 'Velvet' and not 'Vintage' paint.  So I had something that looked like a red-streaked sky, a sky that was waiting for something - sunset, sunrise, or rain perhaps.

I decided it was waiting for some leaves.  I used white paint (Huile de Noix) to paint leaves in outline, it had a translucent watercolour effect over the craquelure.  I filled in the leaves with white paint, and then coloured each leaf in a slightly different colour using coloured waxes (I make my own with leftover paint and wax) in varying shades ranging from blue-green, to mint green and yellow-green.    I drew a stylised Seville orange (B has just been on a school trip to Seville) to fit the leaves into each corner, and to tie in with traditional French porcelain knobs with a modern take  (red, orange, greeny yellow and pale blue, from DIY shop Leroy Merlin).   I was really pleased with the leaves, they looked like the silvery underside of leaves before a storm, or faded leaves at sunset - or sunrise.

I painted the sides and drawers with chalk paint which I tinted a lemony yellow-cream, and waxed.

I wanted to make sure that the leaves were sealed, so I used an ecological 'hard oil', two or three coats, and it proves to be a tough, resistant surface.  I really love this product, based on soya oil, it is made by La Maison Naturelle  http://www.la-maison-naturelle.com - and is called 'polysol pro' - they don't seem to do the same product but have one similar under another name.   It is a milky liquid, designed for any porous surface, interior or exterior.    It can be swept over a floor or rubbed in with a sponge or cloth, but I like to 'paint' it on, making sure it gets into all cracks and dry bits.  It can 'brown' if left too thick over paint but if applied carefully stays transparent.   I would use this for areas above sinks, kitchens, bathrooms instead of wax (although I've never had any problems with wax), 3 or 4 thin coats.