Friday Guest: Fiona From Lilyfield Life

Happy Friday!  You have made it through another week and the weekend is just about to start.  So give yourself a big pat on the back for surviving this week!  I have been working on a project all week that I hope to be able to share with you soon.  Here is a little sneaky peek...

I am so excited to end the week with a fabulous gal from down under!  Fiona from Lilyfield Life is so talented and funny and sweet.  Her only flaw is that she lives oceans away from me! :)  Fiona has quite the hand at painting furniture, and has a gorgeous clean white style that I adore.  I love this glimpse into her bedroom....



And her dining room is also stunning...



Today Fiona is going to share with us her talent for painting designs on furniture!  Take it away Fiona!


Hi everyone,



I want to say a special thanks to Cassie for inviting me here today. Not only is she amazing with her creativity and painting but she's so lovely and funny. You can really get a sense of who she is from her blog, can't you! She and I are always making plans to share some laughs over drinks.  Someday!



I blog at LilyfieldLife about my home, recipes, and furniture projects.  Today I thought I'd talk about painting designs on furniture. I don't usually use stencils on furniture as I'm scared they will bleed and not be super neat.  And they are also expensive to buy! I did make my own Fleur de lis stencil but I usually just use it to trace in pencil and then paint it freehand.  Because I made it myself with a art knife, it's not that neat but as I'm painting freehand with a brush I can fix up any bits when I paint it.

Here are some of my makeovers using free hand painted designs:

I've recovered several children's armchairs. You can usually pick up these on eBay for around $10. I upholster them using a drop sheet and then draw the fleur de lis on using my stencil and then painted it with an artists brush (rather than painting the stencil). To make the 2 red striped I used painter's masking tape to create the 2 stripes.

I drew this damask on the dresser below freehand and painted it very carefully. To help me I enlarged the damask from the Graphics Fairy on my computer and then copied it bit by bit lightly with pencil. Things don't need to be as perfect as you think.  In nature there are barely any straight lines, but our eyes kind of straighten out any imperfections. Anyway I don't want my furniture looking like it's mass produced in a factory in China so I'm very happy with small imperfections.

I've also painted several union jack dressers. I initially thought I'd use painters tape to make it straight but I got little areas of bleeding and it also looked a bit too perfect. I was much better just drawing the lines on with chalk and then painting with a steady hand and a smaller brush.  To steady my arm, I will often hold my elbow with my other hand.

 and this one

I love painting harlequin patterns.  It makes furniture unique but not too "in your face" so it sells very well.  For the harlequin pattern, I do not use tape at all. I use a ruler (or the edge of my long spirit level) and draw diagonals from one corner to another and from there, draw the lines to create the harlequin. I then paint very carefully with a little artists brush. Time consuming, but I actually find it very relaxing.

 

 

I also painted several coffee tables in the same design.

I did use tape on the piece below and it worked very well

 

  

For the bird furniture I have done (inspired by Miss Mustard Seed) I just paint the pieces freehand after drawing them lightly in pencil. There's no right or wrong with something like this.

So if you've been wanting to try some different designs then don't be afraid to do some freehand painting. It's really not as hard as it seems.



If you like my style and want to hear a bit more about my life in Australia then I'd love to see you over at LilyfieldLife.

Thanks very much Cassie for having me here today!

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