Frenchic Furniture Painting Workshop

Before we get to chatting about the Frenchic workshop, I just wanted to share more pics of my gorgeous boy. Yesterday I sewed a waistcoat and bowtie for Dylan to wear for WW2 Evacuation Day at school.

As he’d gone to school for World Book Day as “Pugs of the Frozen North” in a pug onesie, I felt I had to pull the stops out a bit for this!

He was thrilled with both outfits.

Today, however, was a day all for me!

I’ve got a number of pieces of vintage furniture that need some TLC, but I’ve been putting it off for forever. So when I discovered a local shop that stocks Frenchic chalk paints and runs reasonably priced workshops, I signed up.

I was so very happy when I arrived at Chic Interiors Wigan, walked through the door and spotted this beauty.

I figured it boded well for the day. And I wasn’t wrong.

Myself and three other lovely ladies had brought small pieces from home to work on. I’d brought this….

It’s a super piece. Really solid and a very useful size. But….that colour! Grim. And it’s so battered and worn.

As my other wood furniture pieces at home are white, I decided to go with the Lazy Range in Whitey White. The Lazy Range is splendid. You don’t need to wax the piece when you’ve finished!

Win!

I gave the piece a light sand to key the surface and also smooth out the top where the current varnish was lifting.

Now….I hate sanding anything. I ALWAYS use an electric hand sander and cannot remember the last time I sanded anything by hand. My heart sank when Amanda handed out small pieces of sandpaper. But it took minutes and wasn’t remotely arduous. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Then the fun started.

That’s one coat of paint! The Frenchic goes on so quickly and easily. With a cup of coffee it’s a very therapeutic way to spend an hour.

Whilst we waited for the paint to dry we practiced a couple of different paint effects. I really loved the ombre finish.

Back to the table. Three coats of paint later and I had a beautiful, white table. A quick blast with the hairdryer speeded up drying time no end!

But…the other ladies were adding stencils to their pieces.

It seemed like a good idea!

One bee stencil and some silver metallic paint later, I ended up with this….

I could not be more thrilled.

There are some imperfections, but I’m embracing them.

I also know what to do on the next piece to make it even lovelier. I just need to get the bathroom fittings currently lurking in the garage installed in their rightful place. Then I’ll have lots of space in which to play with paint!

I can’t wait.

In the meantime I’ve booked on a second workshop next week to learn the techniques used on that magnificent sideboard at the top of this post.

This is going to be fun!