We're Talking of Ercol Dressers and Why I Love This Blog...

I get so excited by the furniture makeovers that I get to feature here.  Not only by the remarkable transformations the pieces undergo, but by the talented and lovely people I get to "meet".  Every so often I get to feature a furniture artist from another country.  I find it so interesting the differences in our languages.  A few times I've had to "Google" a word that I've never heard before.  (I learned one from today's flipper that I'll use in the next paragraph.)  I also was told a short time ago by a different furniture flipper I featured that I taught her via this blog the word flippin' in regards to furniture and she uses it all the time now.  (Yay!  Totally cool!)

Today I am chuffed to introduce you to Gemma of Mariposas Painted Furniture.  She is located in the village of Middle Rasen just north of the historic city of Lincoln in the United Kingdom and we are going to take a look at the tranformation of this Erco Dresser.  I'm going to let Gemma take it from here...

Gemma wrote, "I'd been living in Madrid for two years prior to coming home and starting my new venture.  I did a course in porcelain painting while I was over there, as I love to paint.  I couldn't find a similar course back here in Lincoln so I eventually stumbled across an Autentico Paint workshop and loved the idea of painting furniture.  I had the most awesome day and got totally addicted. 

This Ercol dresser was one of a few items I got at a local auction (the first time I'd gone to an auction and bid).  I loved the experience.  I'd heard about Ercol and discovered it was one of the best quality furniture manufacturers in the UK.  This one was from their old colonial collection, very dark stain to emulate the trend in the 17th century. Their new pieces sell for thousands and this vintage piece was made of solid elm.  I got to work on it straight away using the Autentico color "Linen" in their Vintage range, which is the range made for furniture painting. The colour looked breath-taking, I painted the top (or hutch) first, while my husband stripped the work top taking the old dark stain off and revealing the beautiful natural colour and grain of the wood. 

After I'd painted with four coats, I lightly distressed before I waxed and then put three coats of Autentico clear wax on.  It was a long process as each layer has to be totally dry. We then used danish oil for the work top giving that about three coats. We added some new felt to the removable cutlery drawer and that was all done."

 ~ ~ ~

Stephanie again!  Isn't that a gorgeous piece of furniture?  The details on it before just seemed lost to me in that sea of dark dark wood.  Now, they really stand out.  I love it.  

This piece sold rather quickly.  Gemma wrote, "My customer traveled up from South Wales to collect (a fair trek) as she said there's not much choice for painted furniture where she lived."  

You can follow along with Gemma on her Mariposas Painted Furniture Facebook page.  There you can see more of her stunning work.  Let her know you saw her on Furniture Flippin'.  If you live in the UK, you can see the items she currently has for sale in her Mariposas Painted Furniture Etsy shop. Check it out.  You might find something you can't live without.

Thanks so much Gemma for sharing your amazing furniture flip!  (And for teaching me the word "chuffed".)

Dear readers, I know a lot of you come to the blog through Facebook and I really do appreciate your interaction with me on our Furniture Flippin' Facebook page.  I encourage you to leave comments here on the blog as well.  If you haven't subscribed to the blog yet, please do so.  Facebook is getting wackier and wackier when it comes to pages and newsfeeds.  So, if you want to be sure and not miss a flip, then you better not count on Facebook. 

Come back tomorrow for another amazing furniture flip!

~ Stephanie