Put this Bed to Bed

Have you ever kicked yourself for passing up a piece?  I did that.  Saw an awesome bed at an antique mall and passed on it.  Then all I could think about was that bed!  So the next time I was at that mall (out of town, not like I could run back over there the next day), I made a bee line for the booth.  Giddy-up!  The bed was still there.  It was destiny!  I bought it and brought it home.

I love the hand-carved curves at the top!  But it could use some personality.  I waffled between upholstering the flat panel and painting the legs and border off-white or painting it turquoise.  I decided that the piece was too rustic to be upholstered.  So I gave it a coat of Provence, topped it off with a coat of clear wax followed by dark wax.

You can see the difference the dark wax made!

Here she is finished.  She's a queen size and has rails.

Judging by the chatter on Facebook about the pictures, she won't last long!



Showing off here this week:

It Took Three Times to Slay the Demon Buffet

I spend part of my day dealing with defiant children.  Not my favorite part of the job but it's necessary.  That's why I love to paint furniture on the weekends.  It's my therapy.  Until I met this buffet.  

She had beautiful lines and was in pretty good shape.

I started by stripping and refinishing the top.

Then I taped it off to protect it while I worked on the base.

I thought I'd try the verdigris technique that I'd see at 

A Bit O' Whimsy.

So I started by spray painting the base in copper.

I decided to use Annie Sloan Florence and Provence.  First I smudged on some Florence.

Then I followed by smudging on some Provence.

Can you say "camo?"

But I thought it might improve once I did a wash of white over it all.

Maybe not.

Well that was a disappointing attempt.

Why did this buffet have to be so obstinate?

Ok, on to plan B.

I covered most of the gaps and Provence with more Florence.

Hmmm, guess that's a little better.

I remembered that I had purchased some copper pigment that you could add to wax.  This could be cool with those copper highlights in the crevasses!

So I blended in the pigment into some clear wax and applied it as the vendor had instructed.

Um, NO!

It looked like mud!

So I tried to tone it down by wiping it down with some mineral spirits.

Still gross!

Her defiance was bordering on rebellion!

So I resorted to a proven technique.

I repainted the entire thing in Florence.

Much better!

I distressed her to show some of the copper underneath and gave her a coat of clear wax and dark wax.

Then I tackled the hardware.

I spray painted the pulls in copper and then dry brushed some Florence in spots to make it look like the hardware had verdigris.  This girl was going to wear verdigris if it killed me!

  

So it's not the best picture.  It was dark when I took these.  She just wasn't going down without a fight!

But she's in the shop now.

The secret to wrangling unruly children is persistence.

Same goes for demon furniture!

PS.  I went today and got some better pictures.

I've also had several comments about painting such a beautiful piece of furniture.  While I agree that it has beautiful characteristics, the "before" pictures don't show the damage.  She had missing trim, large chunks of wood missing, and it looked like a dog had chewed the edge of a door.  Painting her was a way to give her new life in spite of her abuse.

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