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Shabby chic art from recycled flooring


Good morning all! In the last couple of days we've all been painting on some spare laminate floorboards, there are lots of odd pieces left over from when Lee updated our staircase and landing. It came from Trash Nothing, so it was free!

I really love the look of old fashioned cafe and bistro signs - so out came the black acrylic paint and my white chalk pen, and I had a look on Pinterest for some inspiration.

This is what I came up with.

The edges need finishing off - and it could do with a coat of wax, but it's not bad for a unique piece of art.

It took one coat of black acrylic paint which was left to dry for a couple of hours, then freehand fonts and swirling patterns with my white Uni chalk pen, which works a treat. To distress it, I scratched into it with scissors (probably not the safest way) but it gives a nice aged effect.

Once I've found my clear and dark wax, I can then finish this one off properly.

There are still lots of pieces of laminate left over, so as well as my signs, I'll also be making more pieces of art like this.

Here is our back wall, which is now our dining area (yesterday it was housing a cabinet and was basically a dumping ground for toys and all my craft supplies). I painted the wall last year with Autentico chalk paint in "aged paper" and dark wax.

The large sign came from a local shop called Smile at Home, they stock Autentico chalk paint and waxes and are pretty much next door to where I live! It's like a treasure trove in there.

All these pieces are unfinished, but it just shows what you can make from recycled flooring.

I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so I'm planning on some more Potter inspired signs, Honeydukes; Butterbeer; Ollivanders; Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4.

We also LOVE Sons of Anarchy, this Samcro design was just a test, I will be painting over it as I'm not happy with it.

The sign below is one I made for Anarchy Photography, it will be used for the photobooth and also at our wedding.

Everything I make has either been found by us, or reclaimed, so all it takes is a bit of patience and time. Go on, have a go!

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