Aye Matey!

Charlee Hunter
by Charlee Hunter
6 Materials
$100
6 Weeks
Advanced

And if you have been keeping up with my projects lately.. this is one more 'barn find' (I got 4 pieces in all, one is not yet complete.. oh who am I kidding , it's not even started LOL). Any who... Meet BOB... as in boring ole buffet. Bob was not quite as bad as Lola (Disheveled to Devine project), but he was still a disaster. Bob had gone through at least 3 color transformations: grey/white, orange (bright orange!) and teal. At some point during these transformations, they also decided that it would be a good idea to cut off the bottoms of his legs (poor Bob!). Then Bob got placed in the big ole barn, and left… in the dark corner… until I saw him. He was BIG, and heavy, and my husband complained (made up at least 3 excuses of why I should not take him home...).. and on the trailer he went (love when I win! ha!). Pay close attention on this one because there is A LOT involved in his transformation and I don't have a lot of room on HT to put it all in , so I will condense a bit. So, here we go............

So here is poor Bob.. lifeless and dare I say unimagined.. He had damage to his top, damage inside his cabinets and of course his legs had been chopped off (uneven I might add). But his drawers.. beautiful shape! and he has a hidden drawer in the bottom that was meant for silverware (it's the very bottom and looks like 'trim'). In the bottom hidden drawer I found VERY old Irish Hospital sweep states tickets!! That apparently belonged to "Pepper".. I wonder which color she was responsible for... :) I did a little project with those to go along with Bob.

Here are the sweep stakes tickets made into an anchor that can hang on the wall. You'll see why an anchor in a minute :)


so on to Bob's make over. First thing of course was to get all the grime off then on to STRIPPING!! Ugh. yep , teal... orange... white/grey ... thought it would never end...

Here you see the bad damage to his top, it has been stripped and anything that was loose had been taken off and sanded. You can also see where I'm stripping the rest and evidence of the three colors..

Once that was all done , I began repairing his top. I was sad that I could not save the wood it was so pretty, but I LOVE how it turned out anyway :)

The repair and a raised stencil :) He was repaired using wood putty, then the raised stencils were done with Water Putty mixed with Heritage paint in brown and put on with a stencil. The whole top was then stained over using a gel stain in expresso.. See those brads on his edging? Those are furniture tacks I added.

Once that was all dry, I dry brushed Fusion Raw Silk over the stain purposely leaving areas of the stain to peek through and used the wood grain stamp by IOD to create a faux wood grain towards the center. You can also see that I have painted the edging silver in preparation for the next really cool effect...

The rust!! Oh lovely rusty patina! If you have not figured out by now.. yes, I am doing a nautical theme. I want Bob to look like something that was literally dragged out of the sea, after he had been there a while. I had gotten a new product called "Funky Cold Patina" and I wanted to use it! LOL I used this stuff on his doors, Drawers, legs and top... really cool effects.


**Edit: I have also been asked about "Funky Cold Patina"

Funky cold patina, it is a 4 part 'reaction' paint... so Iron, Copper and two reactors, so it creates 'real' patina and rust. It was invented by Joni Strogis Segarra and she does not normally sell it. I belong to a group that she is on, she did a demonstration and offered a limited buy of her product .. I JUMPED at it and bought all 4 of them. She has not sold it since. However, Dixie Belle now has one very similar here is the collection:

https://dixiebellepaint.com/shop-dbp/the-patina-collection/

Do be sure to buy the protecting clear that goes over top. Use it only AFTER you have gotten the desired level of effect. and ONLY use this one, any other clears will destroy the reaction and ruin it.

Because a color (with everything else going on) did not work for Bob, his base color is the Raw Silk by Fusion. Both doors were stripped, the patina done around that door, then I purchased two of the Designed by Prima transfers called "old world" and used them on the sides, doors, and lower drawer. You are also getting a peek at Bob's new wheels!! I hand whittled his legs to fit just right in his new extensions :)

Inside of the cabinet showing off the new bottom of the cabinet. These were wood cut to fit, decoupage tissue paper, glued and nailed in. The back of the door was painted and a stencil on top. He is also showing off his new interior lighting ( light bars that are magnetic and come off to be recharged. They come on when the door is opened).


**Edit to add, some people have asked about the lights. I got them on Amazon

The side of Bob showing off his Prima transfer, embellished with copper stenciling.

And... his SQUID! His squid was printed (by me) and decoupaged on to the drawers (that had also been stripped). Then embellished with raw silk and Fresco medium. He also has an anchor stencil behind him. And here you see the 'secret' drawer, newly painted and new material added to the bottom piece that was also replaced. The inside of the cabinets and drawers were painted with Fusion Little Frog.

Detail of Bob's Squid.. (everyone else was doing Octopi, I wanted something different)

His top all complete : )

At last here he is.. complete. Whew. There is no piece of this buffet that went untouched, from the design on the back, to the raised stenciling, the decoupaged squid (one of Bob’s favorite things...), the new cupboard floors, transfers, lighting and of course his new fancy, rolling ‘legs’.

I had never done anything like this before, I typically paint "pretty" so this was a true out of box experience for me, and I loved it! In person, Bob is even more impressive.. well to me at least :)


Most of my pieces “speak to me” … but apparently, Bob was either the strong silent type, or had completely lost his will to care... he was very quiet when I began. Little by little as he got closer to completion, he began to come out of his shell…and speak to me… in a pirate’s accent... oh boy! He decided that he should be referred to as “The Dread Pirate Bobert” from now on... Oh and he wants an eye patch…

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
  • Peg Peg on Mar 19, 2021

    Did you sell this item? How long did it take to complete?

  • Couple quick questions- first, I'd like more info on the lights you used. Second, what can you tell me about funky cold patina? I thought it was a coating, like other patina products I've seen. But the link takes me to a product that is printed out like linoleum or even on aluminum panels. Is it like contact paper? Thanks in advance!

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 61 comments
Next