Elephant Hide Furniture Finish and Thoughts of Love on Valentine's Day

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.” - Dennis Waitley

I love that quote!  It's Valentine's Day, the sun is shining and I'm a happy camper today!  I started off the day on a run with my Bestie Workout Pal!  I made my hubby smile with a card and a silly book.  I'm looking forward to a nice dinner this evening with said hubby and planning rounds of golf on Saturday and Sunday!


Blessings abound and although there are a couple of items looming which need my consideration and attention, right now I'm very content to sit for a few minutes and ponder the good stuff.

 

 So ... today I'm going to share a "how-to" of one of my favorite finishes ... Elephant Hide.  I've done this finish in many locations and have applied it to walls, niches and furniture.  Have used many different products and colors ... the one I'm sharing today is one of my favorite color combos!  Recently, we had the chance to re-do a Butler's Pantry.  The finish was originally painted, glazed and top-coated and the finish had yellowed over the years.    I prefer to bring doors and drawers to the studio to finish whenever possible.  The first picture left shows the original cabinet finish all laid out and ready to start!  We've removed the hardware ... pulls and hinges and of course, marked each door/drawer with their corresponding number so the original hinges are installed and the doors and drawers go back to their original spot.  This is important ... remember to do this if you are re-doing cabinets and if you don't know why ... then contact me and we can talk about it!

Original Cabinets, ready to start

Since I'm using Maison Blanche Furniture Paint, the need to sand, prime or prep isn't always necessary.  The paint itself acts like a primer and paint in one.  These cabinets were "well loved" and had much peeling and chipping, so the first thing that I did was to wash them well with a mixture of TSP and water since they had a lot of "drippy" stuff!  Then I lightly sanded all surfaces to give it some tooth and to get rid of the chipping topcoat.

The next step was to paint all surfaces with Maison Blanche's Chocolat.  This was a thin, quick coat to be a "primer". Once I was done with that the first pieces were dry and ready for the next step.

 First, I taped off all of the center sections where the elephant hide will go.  Using an old chip brush, I stippled Maison Blanche's Glacage Embossing Creme in the Walnut color.  When doing this, apply heavier areas and thinner areas, with 100% coverage.  When you are done with each piece, pull the tape while the Glacage is still wet.  To get a nice crisp line  pull the tape "away" from the Glacage towards the center of the cabinet and you will get a perfect line.  Don't forget to pull while wet!  After the Glacage dries you will have some difficulty pulling the tape and may not get your perfect line.

Center taped, applying Walnut Glacage to all other surfaces.

Applying the Walnut Glacage

Pull the tape while Glacage is wet, on a 90 degree angle away from the wet Glacage.

I don't have pictures for the next couple of steps!  After the Glacage is completely dry, paint the entire cabinet surface, all areas, with two coats of Maison Blanche Wrought Iron Paint and allow to dry completely.  I let everything dry overnight.

Now you are ready to start the elephant skin process.  Glacage is a beautiful product to use.  However, in this case, I chose to use Modern Masters' Metallic Plaster in the color Aged Gold ... one of my FAVORITE colors!

The first step is to tape around the center section where the plaster will be applied.  I take extra time to do this, making sure I have good adhesion as well as perfect lines.  We will be using cheesecloth to make the design, so take the pieces of cheesecloth and stretch them out to give some nice organic openings.  I like to do this by stretching the cheesecloth out over countertops.  Lay the cheesecloth over the center of the cabinet piece.  Using a small plastic trowel (hotel room keys are perfect for this size of area) load the metallic plaster and "ice the cake".  Start in the center, working your way out towards the edges.  Apply a nice even, not too thick layer.  Be sure to hold the plastic trowel pretty flat, not up on its edge.  

Metallic Plaster Applied through the Cheesecloth.

Here the cheesecloth has been pulled.

The cheesecloth is pulled, and the blue tape is pulled.  This must be done while the Metallic Plaster is still wet.

No picture, but after the MM Metallic Plaster dried, I sanded all the areas with sanding blocks and sandpaper.  This exposes the Glacage beneath and makes the surface yummy smooth!  Wipe those areas to remove the dusty stuff.  Then, take the tape and tape off the center Elephant Hide, like the following picture.  Again, pay attention to make sure you have good adhesion and good, solid edges.

 

Next, I mixed Faux Effects Venetian Gem Clear Gloss Coat with Faux Effects Faux Creme Color Black.  When you mix, you will use less color than you think ... the wet mixture will be "pastel".  Once dried, the finish will dry glossy, clear and much darker than the wet mixture.  This picture shows where I am "icing" with the VG CGC, again, with my plastic trowel laying pretty flat and not up on edge.  This will back fill the metallic plaster.  Try to have a nice smooth backfill with no application marks.  When you have backfilled the area, PULL THE TAPE WHILE WET!!!!  AGAIN, THIS IS IMPORTANT!

 

After this had dried, the center Elephant Hide is done!  Allow to dry overnight.

Next, you will want to topcoat the outside areas.  I chose to wax it, using Mason Blanche's Antique Wax, color Dark.  The wax is applied to the outside areas only, not the Elephant Hide.  If you feel you need to tape off the center, then do it.  If you can be careful with the application of wax, then that is okay, also.  The wax needs to sit and cure before polishing.  This can be accomplished in about an hour.  You will want to use less wax than you think.  I prefer to apply the wax and let it sit overnight.  This really allows the wax to dry completely and can be polished very easily.  To polish, you can use about anything ... soft cloth like t-shirt or diaper material, terry cloth anything than can polish the surface.  When polished, you are done!  You MUST topcoat Maison Blanche Paint ... with wax, hand varnish, rubbed poly ... something.  The paint will remain very porous without topcoating.

These pictures are cabinet doors, complete done.

 

I chose the paint the backs of the cabinets with Sherwin Wiliams

Emerald™ Interior Acrylic Latex

Sherwin-Williams Emerald™ paint and primer in one with advanced stain blocking technology delivers best-in-class overall performance.   

• Paint and primer in one with advanced stain blocking technology.
• Exceptional hide, coverage, durability and washability.
• Outstanding scrub, stain, water spotting and burnish resistance.
• Anti-microbial agents inhibit the growth of mold and mildew on the paint surface.
• Meets the most stringent VOC regulations.
• Creates/delivers a smooth, uniform appearance.
• Available in all Sherwin-Williams colors and custom tints in matte, satin and semi-gloss.

It's really hard to get an "after" picture of this project  because of the area. 

 

This is the best picture of the area that I have.  The upper cabinets were treated the same way (with the Glacage and Maison Blanche Wrought Iron and Dark Antique Wax.  I wish you could see these cabinets .. to touch them!  They're smooth, rich and beautiful!  

(And yes, we did the walls, as well ... another fabulous technique).

If you are interested in learning this technique in a workshop, email me at:

kim@elegantdesign-dfw.com

This is one of many finishes you can learn in our classes and workshops.

I've said it before, and I will say it again.  I love my life, I love my job.

I love my customers and I love making beautiful furniture and rooms ... MORE beautiful!

 

Focus On The Word

My word for the year is "design".  If you read my previous post, you know that I'm focusing on living by "elegant design" in 2014, or living "purposely" as I define it.  That being said, I attended a fun class, hosted by my artist friend Brandi.  (www.http://brandicottingham.com/author/brandicottingham/).  Really, Brandi gave me the idea to focus on a word - to really contemplate each day on it and make it part of my reality.

Brandi's class gave each of those in attendance the opportunity to chat, laugh, debate, focus and play around with paint and canvas to try and make our word come alive on the canvas.

While we were playing around, we each also had the opportunity to collaborate on a piece.  This piece of cardboard, retrieved from the trash by Brandi, came alive as we each added our little touches.   This cardboard was retrieved at the Tarrant County Food Bank location, which Brandi supports with much of her time and efforts.   As we thought about what we wanted to add to the cardboard canvas we thought about the beneficiaries of the Food Bank, and what thoughts we wanted to give them in a visual way.  What came through were bright colors and words of encouragement and love.

Working on the Cardboard Collaboration

Working on our individual canvas

This is how the cardboard canvas looked at the end of the night.  Thoughts of finishing it and framing it for the Tarrant County Food Bank bring lots of creativity from the group.

We're done and supposed to look stern and driven.  Isn't Brandi cute?

There is my little painting, depicting my word "design".  I'm trying to look stern per the photographer's instruction, but I look pretty silly instead!  Can't pose like today's "selfies" and look cool, I guess!

Thanks, Brandi, for your inspiration!  A fun night.  Check out Brandi's Blog for information about future class opportunities!   http://brandicottingham.com/author/brandicottingham/