THIS TERRA CLAY PAINT IS PERFECT FOR IMPERFECT FURNITURE!

Hi creative friends, and welcome back to Trashy Treasure Tuesday! Today I’m sharing how I took this thrifted beat-up PotteryBarn Storage Cube and turned it into a textured beauty. This box had holes, chips, and scratches galore so this layered paint technique is perfect for IMPERFECT furniture. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

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I’m looking forward to seeing what our TTT crew have created and I hope you join me on today’s tour as well! I’ve included their before’s and links to the after’s down below.

Here’s the thrifted storage box. Once I brought it home I did a Google search and learned it was an older Pottery Barn Tristan Cube.

Amazing for holding toys, blankets, books, games, or pretty much anything!

THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE.  YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Thrifted Storage Cube  – SALVAGED
Furniture Cleaner
Bosch Sander
Paint Brushes
Woodubend Moldings
Lani’s Lagoon Clay Paint
Malachite Terra Clay Paint
Wheat Terra Clay Paint
Desert Tan Clay Paint
Terra Tuff Topcoat
Bronze Gilding Wax

WOODUBEND STORAGE CUBE MAKEOVER

Here’s how I salvaged and upcycled this storage cube. Because it’s a soft wood,  it was beaten up. It had so many scratches, chips, holes etc. A great piece to try a textured clay paint finish on! One of my favorite ‘textured’ furniture artists is Maja Komosa at Reloved By Maja Komosa. Her textured finishes are stunning. I have some practicing to do before mine resembles her texture technique yet I’m so grateful for the inspiration to try!

CLEAN & PREP

I started by giving this piece a cleaning on the inside and outside. I also flipped it over to make sure I got all the cobwebs and dirt off the bottom of this piece as well. When using Terra Clay paint they have a designated cleaner called Terra Clean however I used my all-purpose White Lightning.

SAND

Because of all the dings, scratches, and holes in this piece, I knew I was going to give it an abstract layered paint finish. Instead of sanding it perfectly smooth, I scuff sanded using my palm sander and a 220 grit sandpaper. For the rounded edges and feet, I used a medium-grit sanding pad to get around all the curves. This was enough sanding to remove the remainder topcoat/finish for the paint to stick. No primer is required.

WOODUBEND

To add some interest to the front of this cube I used some Woodubend. I covered the hole with a keyhole mold and picked two scrolly appliques for the front. As you can see in the pic below, the one was broken in 3 places. No worries with these awesome Woodubend Moldings because they are easy to work with and piece back together!

I heated the moldings up with my heat gun so they are pliable. Then added some wood glue onto the back and pressed down where I wanted them. For the broken Woodubend, I puzzled it together with heat and glue. I’m sharing how easy this is in the Youtube video in this post below. I also have a full tutorial on How To Apply Woodubend here.

PAINTING LAYERS

My vision was to create a textured finish with some color variation to hide all the flaws in this piece. I started by applying Lani’s Lagoon Terry Clay Paint. If there was a slick or factory finish I would have primed first but because I had scuff sanded the remaining finish off there was no need for primer. I used a large natural brush to pounce the paint on randomly.

The second color I painted was Malachite Clay Paint.  There’s no right or wrong way to apply the layers. I just dabbed, pounced and brushed on the paint to create some texture and color variance. Terra Clay Paint is an artisan paint so you can get creative. It has low VOC’s. It’s very pigmented. It can be reactivated with water before sealing. It does NOT self-level so if you’re after a smooth finish – this isn’t the best choice… or maybe I should say it wouldn’t be the ‘easiest’ paint to use for a super smooth finish. But it blends beautifully and it creates a gorgeous texture.

For the third textured layer, I used Wheat Terra Clay Paint. And finally to bring it all together I covered the entire piece with this Desert Tan neutral.

TOPCOAT

For the topcoat, I used Terra Tuff. This topcoat can be applied with a brush, sponge, or foam brush in two or three light coats. Sanding between coats is recommended. It dries matt and is super durable. Great for tables, cabinets, and countertops. Any high-traffic items! Dry time is 48 hours and cure time is 21-30 days. As you can see, the colors will change when applying it.

BRONZE DETAILS

For the details, I brushed on a Bronze Gilding Wax using an artist’s brush. I applied it to the Woodubend, the feet, and the edges of the cube. This gilding wax is oil-based and doesn’t require a topcoat but does require ample dry/cure time. However, it’s easily applied OVER a waterbased topcoat and I don’t have to worry it’s going to rub off once cured.