Free Chairs are Good Chairs

Friends of Friends were moving and hubby was helping them move some stuff. They were going to a smaller place and had a bunch of stuff for the dump. He spied this chair and bought it home for me, it was a bit sorry in the beginning.

She sat around for a while as it had this stick on vinyl on the seat and I had no idea how to get it off. Once I got to her I sanded and cleaned and decided for a more rustic finish in case I could not get the seat perfectly flat.

Painted up in Annie Sloan Graphite and stencil in AS Pure White, she turned out lovely.

New Stencils Coming Soon

Here are some lovely new stencils that are ordered and winging their way to us. 

Email Carla hello@paintmevintage.co.nz to pre order.

Aren't they gorgeous!! Can't wait until they arrive!!

Damask Wreath

Drawer Damask 

Herboristerie 

Roman Numerals 

Route 66 

Stencil Tip No. 4

Our furniture stencil tip number 4 is:

• do not move your stencil

before stenciling work out exactly where you want your image  and measure and line up your stencil  in the right spot. To keep it in that exact spot I suggest using green painters tape to lightly tape it in place, like this:

and this:

This will help it stay in the same place. As you paint, hold down parts of your stencil close to where you are painting and dabbing, to ensure those parts stay flat to your piece, this will help against leakage under the stencil and untidy lines and bleeding of the paint underneath the stencil. If possible it is also a good idea to try and stencil on a flat surface, so you could move your piece onto its back if you were stenciling on the front cupboard for example. Of course this is not always possible so going carefully and slowly will help too.

To see our other stencil tips go here stencil tip no.1 and here stencil tip no.2 and here stencil tip no.3

Happy stenciling!

Facebook Stencil and Brush Giveaway!

Head over to our Facebook Page  to be in the draw...To celebrate reaching 500 likes and say thank you to everyone who has liked our page so far we are giving away a 190mm clock stencil and stencil brush.

Stencil Tip No.3

The third tip for stenciling is tools of trade. Using the correct tools will give you more control over what you are doing and a more professional image.
You will need:

1. furniture paint (vintage paint, acrylic paint, chalkpaint are all good)
2. paper plate or piece of paper
3. stencil brush ( my preference)
4. or small foam roller
5. or foam "dabber"

Following on from the "less is more tip" in post Stencil tip no 2 you will need to use the right tools to create a good looking stencil. I have used all sorts of things and these tools are my personal preferences for the look I want to achieve.

Small foam rollers and different sized stencil brushes

1. Paint - I think this is self explanatory, what you usually use will be fine
2. Plate or Paper - to put your small amount of paint on and use as an excess dabber. Dab on the plate and remove the excess paint from your brush before you stencil. This will help against bleeding and give a cleaner finish
3. Stencil brush - a small natural bristle, flat topped firm brush is best. These come in different sizes for different stencil jobs. You use an up and down dabbing motion to paint onto your stencil. ( this is my preferred tool)
4. Foam roller - can also be used to stencil larger jobs. Very important to roll it a few times on some paper as foam usually retains a lot of paint and this can seep in under your stencil edge giving a messy blurred image.
5. Foam dabber - another tool for dabbing, but dab it a few times on paper and then use as above for foam roller.

Nice clean image from a stencil

Have fun stenciling!

Stenciling Tip No. 2

This is a simple one but will improve the look of your finished stencil project. 

• Remove your stencil before your paint dries

After you have painted two very light coats of paint one straight after the other, remove your stencil straight away. This will give a nice clean edge to your stencil and ensure no sneaky excess paint creeps under your stencil while it dries. It also has the added bonus of the stencil coming away from your piece easily and not getting accidentally glued onto your piece by paint.


This is the second in my mini series of stenciling tips, I hope these are helpful, see the first one here Stencil Tip No. 1

French Script Stencil AND Retro Blue Vintage Paint

First Time Use - French Script stencil

Always on the hunt for Queen Anne style furniture I picked this piece up a while ago but never re-furbed it. I must have had a plan! I finally kept a French script stencil for myself and wanted to do a retro but feminine look on this tallboy.

The stencil was tricky on the top, and I had a few mishaps, but nailed it in the end

Tricky to get this on the top, but worth the fiddly work

Retro Blue in Voodoo Molly Vintage paint is my favorite colour, so it had to be painted in this. I used a good quality synthetic flat edge brush, two coats with a quick sand in between coats to keep it a smooth finish. 

No distressing ( unheard of on my pieces) and finished in a light coat of poly. This completes the look, I hope you like it

Poor Sad Before

Best Furniture Stenciling Tip

Have you ever started a furniture stencil job which look like this?

Good furniture stenciling comes with practice as with most things. And we all make mistakes or aren't sure how to start things. I have had clients email me to say their stencil bleeds and is no good, but a stencil looks like this for one reason, too much paint on the brush or roller.

You can see further down the picture that the stencil looks slightly better and that's because the roller has used up some of it's paint. 

So my tip is:
Less is More. 

Put a very small amount of paint on a plastic plate, dip your brush or roller into it and then wipe the paint off on a rag or clean part of the plate. Then stencil. It will feel like you aren't making much impact but when you pull your stencil away you will see that you have a clean stencil image. Give it a go, it will work much better

Stencil improves as the paint is being used up on the brush

Vintage Stencil Piecrust table with Chalk Paint

This piece started out as a sad little piecrust table on Trade Me auction site. Here is her before picture - not very inspiring is it?

Tables are not fantastic for resale but are a great project for trying new techniques and I always enjoy working on them. This one had a full pie crust around its edge which was pretty unique and it looked like it would take a stencil well. 

The original was in good condition just dirty, so I cleaned her up with water and sugar soap and then did 2.5 coats of white chalk paint, taking careful note to ensure the paint did not clog or drip around the pie crust. Then I distressed with a medium sandpaper and choose this Paris Wreath Barelycorn Vintage stencil in a French Grey and sanded back once it was dry. Completed with clear wax. I love how the stencil is muted by choosing two neutral soft colours and she looks ready for her new home now.