Before & After: Create an heirloom with Dixie Belle

By Dixie Belle Paint Company

After a few years, every piece of furniture goes out of style, suffers damage or just needs an overall uplift. Some antique pieces can benefit from a good cleaning with White Lightning, repairing with Dixie Mud and waxing with Best Dang Wax! Not all old finishes are salvageable; severely damaged finishes can become so destroyed that they are unable to protect the wood. Dixie Belle Paint Company has all the products to help you restore or redo your furniture finish.

The piece shown here reveals some damage and is not able to return to its natural finish. Fortunately, because of Dixie Belle Paint, Claudia Cirey could transform this family heirloom into a piece of art that is a treasure to enjoy for many more years to come. The client was happy to keep the antique in the family and get a gorgeous piece of furniture, too.

Many DIYers see an old, dirty finish, and their first thought is to sand it down or scrape it off completely. That is not necessary. Dixie Belle Paint does not require priming, scraping or sanding. For a very old antique that has stains or odors you can mask it with BOSS. BOSS blocks odors, stains and stops bleed-through. This formula, in clear or white, blocks out the smells of old furniture and any stains or areas of damage it may have.

No matter if your antique furniture is a family treasure or a flea market finds Dixie Belle Paint Company has the products to get your furniture back to beautiful. This piece is from Fall City, Nebraska and estimates put it at least at 115 years old; it was passed down as a wedding gift for many generations. The first step is always to clean with White Lightning. Mix White Lightning and water according to package instructions and thoroughly clean your piece. Using clean water, rinse your piece once again to remove any residue. Allow your antique to dry completely before painting.

Two base coats of Dixie Belle Paint in the color Sea Glass were applied and two coats of Drop Cloth were applied to the draw. Two-tone tone dressers are very popular right now for statement pieces. Cirey lightly sanded after the paint was dry and then taped off sections for the French-inspired striped design. After everything was completely dry, she distressed the piece completely. To get the unique image on the front, Cirey used Iron Orchid Design Transfers. These transfers a revolutionary and apply with ease; simply line up the transfer where you want it to be and then rub vigorously to adhere it to the piece.

After the IOD transfers are complete, you can begin to create depth and dimension with additional Dixie Belle Paint products. Cirey applied dark glaze to create a vintage French look. You could use Grunge Glaze, Black Glaze or Van Dyke Brown Glaze. The final step is to apply Best Dang Wax in Clear to seal and protect everything. You could also use Dixie Belle Clear Coat or Gator Hide. It’s important to note that waxing is not a requirement.

Your goal in restoring an antique piece of furniture is completely up to you. You can liven up the natural finish, change it slightly or completely transform it.

For more information, visit Dixie Belle Paint at https://dixiebellepaint.com.