Reimagined Monday: Miss Mustard Seed's Linen Settee

Today is a reimagination we couldn't resist sharing.  Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint was the final fabulous touch, but the full-on before and after is something to behold.  Plus it makes us feel that reupholstering is not completely out of our league!

Here is Marion Parson's (aka Miss Mustard Seed) antique settee, made over for this year's Lucketts Fair.

Do you remember this settee?

I know it doesn’t look too bad in the pictures.  It really wasn’t too bad, but the fabric wasn’t upholstery weight, so it was worn, faded and torn in some places.  It was also pretty dirty.  I actually found ladybugs in the tufts and under the cushion.  Plus the cording was pretty tired-looking.  So, I stripped everything off of the frame, including the padding.

This is when things get a little scary.

But I press on…

I sanded the frame, just to scuff up the shiny finish.

…and painted it in MMS Milk Paint in Grain Sack, which is a neutral light gray color (and definitely my favorite for upholstered furniture frames.)

I did add some of the bonding agent to the paint, because I wanted good adhesion.  I applied a very sloppy coat of paint, which is okay for small, carved surfaces like this.

Once the sofa was stripped, I noticed that it was meant to be upholstered in three separate panels.  The tufting, while pretty, just didn’t feel right and seeing the frame confirmed that the tufting was a later addition.  I decided to take the piece back to the way it was meant to be.

So, I reused the padding, but filled in the holes created by the tufting with with some excess padding.

I also added a layer of batting to smooth out the lumpiness…

Once the fabric was stretched tight, it was nice and smooth.

Yeah…these pictures are out of order.  I finally got around to taking a picture of the finish, which was distressed with some 100 grit sand paper (by hand) and then I applied a light coat of MMS Furniture Wax.  I did this before adding the fabric.

This piece was definitely the most time consuming project of the fair, but I love how it turned out.

I added some cream gimp trim and made a cover for the seat (with a zipper and all…fancy.)

Look at the amazing texture on that vintage Hungarian linen…love!  I have ordered some more and can’t wait to get it to work on more upholstery projects.

I even like how the original seams on the linen blankets show in a few places.

I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of this piece all prettied up with pillows on it!  Darn it!

Blog post and photos courtesy of Marion Parsons (Miss Mustard Seed).

Send in your project pics and be entered to win our Reimagined Monday draw!

Reimagined Monday Draw

We would like to highlight more customer projects!  Send us your before/during/after pictures and tell us about your creative process using Chalk Paint™ or Milk Paint and you'll be entered into our monthly Reimagined Monday draw.

Each month we will give away a different item like paint, brushes, books, supplies, gift certificates and more. You don't have to be featured to be eligible... the month you enter is the month you will be included in the draw. 

Send your name, pictures and story to:

info@appleboxboutique.com and win!

 We are deeming our next blog post date "Draw Day"... We will be announcing the winner of our Reimagined Monday draw for May, as well as for April (the original winner has moved to a different continent and asked us to pass it along to another happy painter) plus, we will draw from the entries we received yesterday during the Highlands Street Festival... it may have been stormy, but we had a record number of people stop in with the hope of winning our REDO-IT Draw prize of a Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Starter Kit!

Check in at our blog and/or Facebook to see if you've won!

In the meantime... Happy Painting!

♥, 
Apple Box Boutique

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