Nursery Furniture Redo

 

An expectant mother hired me to transform a cradle and an armoire for her baby's nursery.

 

 

She found the petite, vintage armoire on craigslist.  It is the perfect scale for a nursery, but required a cosmetic intervention.

 

She wanted the piece to look shabby and distressed. I painted one coat of Paris Grey Chalk Paint® with a dry brush to allow the dark stain to show through.  I used a little Old White Chalk Paint® on the trim to show off the lines and details.  After the paint dried, I did a bit of distressing all over with sandpaper. 

 

I sealed the finish with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax. 

 

My client said this adorable cradle had been in her family a long time.  She just wanted it to be simple, shabby, and white.

 

 

I painted it with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint and finished the cradle with an all over, light distressing, to add to its vintage charm.

 

Annie Sloan Craqueleur

I love using Annie Sloan's Craqueleur for achieving an aged patina.  I picked up this white, ceramic madonna wall hanging at an estate sale because I thought it was kind of cute.

It was plain, white, and boring, so I added some depth and character with a little Chalk Paint, Craqueleur, and gilding wax.

I love the Chalk Paint palate and whenever a customer asks me my favorite color, I am stumped because I really love them all. I painted the crown in Louis Blue, the hair in Coco, the skin in Country Grey, the cheeks in Scandinavian Pink, the clothing in Old White and Antionette, and the base in Paris Grey.

It looked soft and pretty after I painted it, but I wanted to achieve an authentic, aged patina.  I applied step one of the craqueleur, let it dry, and then applied step two.  I used a blow dryer on a high heat setting after applying step two.  Every time I use the Craqueleur I start to think it did not work because the crackle is very difficult to see before using the dark wax.  After thoroughly drying step two and having a little faith that the crackles, although invisible, were indeed there, I rubbed the entire surface with Annie Sloan's dark wax.  The crackles magically appeared, giving the madonna and baby a glorious, patina! For a finishing touch, I used an artist's brush to sweep a bit of gold gilding wax over the wall hanging.

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Grey and White Desk With Hutch

Desks with hutches on top are a great invention.  I found this one at a yard sale and at first I passed it up because I really did not need another big project.  Then, I kept thinking about this piece later in the afternoon, so I sent Mr. Rubbish back to the sale to see if the desk was still there and to try to negotiate a better price than they offered me.  He accomplished both goals!

I was not crazy about the desk portion of this two-piece ensemble.  I think the dated drawer pulls were detracting from this desk's potential beauty.

The half clover shapes on the top are what I really loved about this piece.

I wanted a two-toned finish, so I painted the outer part of the desk and hutch with the same grey, custom mixed, Chalk Paint color I used on the cane back dining chairs.  I painted the inside of the hutch with Old White Chalk Paint.

For the drawer hardware, I wanted to keep it simple while complementing the clover arches on the top of the hutch.  I ordered inexpensive bin pulls from Ebay that had the same screw width as the existing hardware, for easy installation and no re-drilling of holes.

I painted and distressed the bin pulls to match the rest of the desk.

I love that this desk is both functional and beautiful now. Couldn't everybody use a desk with a hutch somewhere in their house?

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Grey Cane Back Dining Chairs

These vintage cane back dining chairs came from a community yard sale.  I was just heading back to my car, after an unsuccessful visit to the community sale, when I saw a woman carry one of these chairs out to her front yard.  I stopped her immediately and purchased the four chairs for a very good deal!

The chairs looked similar to the first set of cane chairs that I fixed up here.  They were old and dirty with flaking paint covering up their beautiful bones.

The gold velvet upholstery is indicative of the era from whence they came.

I used a mixture of about 50/50 Paris Grey and Country Grey Chalk Paint to create a soft, pale grey hue for these chairs.  

I love the wooden details above the caning on these dining chairs.

I dry brushed some Old White Chalk Paint over the appliques and along the edges of the chairs and then distressed them with 220 grit sandpaper.

Fortunately, the cane backs were all in flawless condition.

I reupholstered the seat cushions with a charcoal grey and white striped, hemp linen fabric.

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Paris Grey Bedroom Set

This amazing, vintage bedroom set came from an estate sale.  It is difficult to find full vintage sets of furniture and this one even came with a vanity, that you might remember from this post. 

The bedroom set was in great condition with an orange wood finish before.

I painted the set with Paris Grey Chalk Paint with Old White on the trim. I love the details on the the headboards and footboards and the paint really makes the them stand out.

Above is the way the bed looked with just two coats of Paris Grey.

To soften the Paris Grey, I applied a wash of Coco Chalk Paint and water over it before waxing with clear wax.

I distressed the Old White trim and applied the Coco wash over the white too.

This bedroom set would be so pretty for a classic sisters' bedroom or guest room.

Here is the night stand before.

...and after

This bedroom set just has gorgeous detailing!

The dresser is nice and tall with five drawers.

Here it is with just Paris Grey.  Notice the third drawer is missing a piece of trim on the left side.  I measured the gap and looked online at woodworking sites, but could not seem to find a trim replacement.  Looking through the online catalog, I got the idea to try some reed spline that is used on cane chairs to hold the caning in place. I measured the gap and ordered the spline, which only cost a couple of dollars for a whole roll.  When it arrived, I cut it to the right length, applied some wood glue, and wedged it into the groove.  It was a perfect fit!

I love the way the Coco wash softened the Paris Grey & Old White and aged them in a subtle way.  

This bedroom set is a show-stopper now and gets lots of attention at Loot.  

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