Re-styling for Your ArtEssential Home

The Gold Mirror

Re-styling for your ArtEssential home is creative reuse that rewards you with one of a kind treasures. Sometimes this means restyling something you’ve had for a long time, like this mirror that hangs in my breakfast area. The mirror was brown oak, and used to hang behind my son’s collection of miniature buildlings. It moved with us several times but never found a new place to hang until I decided to paint it gold. On the round part of the trim I painted suggestions of bamboo then added brown spatters for visual texture. That took a couple of hours and cost nothing. No carbon emissions or shipping materials, no manufacturing waste, just a pleasant creative evening.

I highly recommend Deco Art metallic gold paint. After several projects, I still have half a container left. Glorious Gold is the color, and it resembles gold leaf.

The Patio Set

I often buy items at neighborhood estate sales to use in my home. The Capodimonte porcelain chandelier in front of the mirror above was purchased that way. This lovely piece was ordered on an anniversary trip to Italy, crated, shipped to Austin, and cherished by its owner in this home where it had hung for 30 years. And now it is cherished in mine!

My latest project was a patio table set for the deck. Just as our deck re-do finished up, I found a large round table with six chairs at a neighborhood estate sale. The set was well made, in good shape, and super cute– just in need of a coat of paint. On mark-down day at the end of the sale, I purchased the table, chairs and umbrella for a song along with a new garden fountain and a topiary reindeer.

While looking for just the right color paint, I ran across these delicious shades by Rustoleum in Painters’ Touch 2X Ultracover. Why choose just one? In the spirit of Portofino, Charleston, and Rue Cremieux, Easter dresses and cotton candy, I bought a rainbow of pastel spray paint for up styling my bargain estate sale find.

By the way, one can of blue paint covered two chairs, and the lighter colors covered one chair each. This paint covers well but there was a lot of waste when spraying the thin arms and legs of the chairs. Rustoleum in Painters’ Touch 2X Ultracover eliminates steps by combining primer and paint. All I did to prep before painting was hose the furniture off and wipe it down. Just watch out for overspray because it dries really fast.

Next, I ordered Ottertex laminated cotton fabric and 2 inch foam to make easy-care waterproof chair cushions. I’m better with a glue gun than a sewing machine so I made the cushions by wrapping the fabric around the foam, securing it with straight pens, and apply hot glue liberally under the edges. The bond seems secure, but I will be sure to let you know how they hold up long term.