the gigantically-amazing blue-&-yellow swedish-meatball-purveying super-design-store is opening in memphis in a few weeks, and we can’t wait! with the building taking shape just a short hop from the shop & studio, this seems like a good time to reveal our contributions to a fun book recently out, i modify ikea. the authors challenged us to create modified versions of a kallax bookshelf and skubb boxes (post coming soon.) the kallax proposition was to turn the shelving unit on its side and make it into a sideboard or credenza.

as always, step A: assemble the piece. thank goodness lauren and catherine were on hand to assist! they made quick work of it, and – huge accomplishment! – there were no parts or screws leftover…so gold stars for my girls right out of the box.

then, the fun really begins…starting with a trip to the hardware store for some basic plumbing parts. we decided to give our kallax re-do an industrial, masculine feel, from the legs up. four flanges, four elbows, two T-connectors and a handful of pipe pieces came together as a sturdy base. if you’re trying this, it doesn’t matter if you use galvanized or black parts – or even a mix of the two – since they’ll be painted. it is important, though, to remove all the stickers and to wash all the metal pieces down with a degreasing cleaner or soap, then dry them thoroughly.

setting the base in place, i made pilot holes so that i can easily secure it to one long side of the kallax once the painting is finished.

the next step is to apply a bonding primer on all the surfaces to be painted. since we’re adding gritty texture to the finish, roller marks won’t be a problem, and the foam roller saves a lot of time on large flat pieces like this one.

next come coats of metallic paint by modern masters in steel gray. (this color is one of their semi-opaque formulas, but it’s worth the extra coat or two required for full coverage.) over the steel gray, i rolled on a coat of modern masters’ oxidizing iron paint on the exterior surfaces of the piece, leaving the inside of the cubbies steel gray. if the coverage with the iron paint wasn’t perfectly perfect, no matter – having a little bit of the steel peek through will be just fine.

once the first coat of iron is dry, i attach the plumbing-pipe base with wood screw through the flanges, and then apply a second layer of the iron oxidizing paint, this time stippling it on with a gnarly old chip brush for lots of texture. (the paint is heavy-bodied, so this part is easy.)

when the iron paint dries, it’s time to apply the rust patina solution (part of the modern masters reactive paint line.) we like to drip and then spritz it on, but it can be applied with a sea sponge or a brush if you prefer. because the paint contains metal particles, the oxidation process is natural and authentic, and a little bit out of your control…you just have to let it do its thing! the modern masters products are all water-based, so clean up is simple.

for this piece, we wanted it to look as if water had dripped onto it over time, so we let some of the patina solution run down the sides and front, and didn’t worry about perfect, even coverage.

while the solution is still wet, i like to spatter it with a little hydrogen peroxide…the reaction makes crazy little pitted spots in the ‘metal’ finish that’s developing. it’s a bit of a leap of faith, since you won’t know the final result until everything’s dry. depending on the humidity and how much patina solution you apply, an overnight dry is usually sufficient to let the rust ‘bloom’.

to seal the iron finish, we always use the modern masters ‘permacoat extreme’ topcoat. it arrests the patina process and protects the painted surface from wear and moisture. over the permacoat, you can use a tinted wax if you’d like to for additional toning…we love annie sloan’s dark brown soft wax when our rust occasionally turns out too bright.

i’ll be sharing our skubb box project soon – stop by me & mrs. jones for your modern masters oxidizing paints, or to sign up for one of our patina workshops – we’d love to teach you how. for more details on this project, and 49 other inspiring ikea hacks, pick up a copy of i modify ikea at a local bookseller. do you have a favorite hack to share?

we lucked into this handsome dresser at a sale in rural mississippi. heavy and solid, it has great, simple lines, and nice details on the legs. bonus: the original casters and hardware were all intact.

with a little bit of a masculine feel, we thought it was a perfect piece for the yummy midnight blue that miss mustard seed calls ‘artissimo.’ renee and meredith teamed up to give it a thorough cleaning, and then two coats of paint. as we hoped it would, the milk paint crackled nicely where the old varnish was full of texture.

after gently distressing the edges with sandpaper, we mixed miss mustard seed’s white wax and antiquing wax in just-about-equal parts to create a pewter-y gray. it got down into the nooks, crannies, and cracks, and softened up the color just a bit. then renee used ‘antique gold’ gilding wax mixed with annie sloan’s dark soft wax to freshen up the old hardware.

the overall effect is like a great pair of jeans with brass buttons. some attractive little white specks showed up when we sanded it…a characteristic of milk paint. ‘levi 501’ is for sale at our midtown studio now happily installed in a stylish bachelor pad.

our catherine always has her discerning eye peeled for a find, and she scored huge when she spotted a bedroom suite with beautiful lines (but with a terrible paint/glaze job, and lots of damage) at a local junque dealer. cash in hand, she bought all four pieces for a song. this will give you an idea of the sort of unfortunately heavy-handed finish that had been put on the whole set:

for this linen-press-style piece (the cabinet doors reveal two deep drawers inside) my studio squad teamed up to create a fabulous finish. first, after a thorough cleaning, margaret and catherine applied two coats of a beautiful blue-gray.

renee, our unofficial vp of sparkle-and-glamor, took up a tiny brush and put gilding size on all of the details and trim, gently applying the gold leaf when the size was properly tacky.

to accomplish another favorite method of ours, what we call ‘come & go gilding’, renee brushed clear shellac over the gilded areas, and then covered the whole piece with a wash of the gray paint lightened with white, using a soft cloth to create a cloudy, translucent layer.  renee blended it further with a barely-damp brush. over the details with gold leaf, we used a damp cloth to ease back the wash, revealing the softened gilding, for this beautiful ‘knocked-back’ effect.

on this piece, the wash layer also softens the large flat planes, and helps camouflage some of the repairs that were made. i love the way it makes the gold leaf look as if it were lost, and then found again.

finally, we sealed the piece with clear wax, our favorite way to protect paint® and bring it to life. allowing the wax to dry overnight makes it easy to buff to this gorgeous sheen:

to keep the focus on the pretty details, we painted over the inexpensive hardware, and treated it to the same wash and wax, letting it fade away. as much as we adore this press, it is available for sale at our midtown memphis studio.

mrs. jones has had to be away from custom work for just a bit, but a project for a wonderful neighbor was just too good to pass up. two doors down from the little pink house, an extensive renovation has been under way for several months. my neighbors had found some yummy old doors in new orleans, but the existing paint was a shambles – falling off in chunks – and had to be professionally stripped. the doors arrived at our studio bare, clean, and ready to go, but my lovely clients really wanted the crusty, crumbling look back again. a little paint, plus a secret (!) ingredient, we were able to (almost) replicate the look of years of weather upon layers of paint.

a layer of wax on top of the paint gives it some protection, but we left it barely-buffed and matte for a more authentic weathered look.

they’ve designed a bar/storage area to be hidden behind the doors, mounted on a track, barn-style. i love their minimal-and-clean-but-rustic-and-textured-kitchen.