A New (Old) Blue Dresser

For our last project in Daughter’s Master Bedroom, we revamped an unloved dresser. Well, that is not entirely true. We purchased this wonderful dresser from our favorite auction house with the sole intent to paint it and sell it in our booth. We even tried a new Annie Sloan color and dark wax on this special ‘guy.’ Yes, we are calling the dresser a ‘guy’ because Daughter envisioned the piece in a teenage boy’s room. It was a very masculine, well done piece. Unfortunately, the little dresser had three interested buyers that contacted Daughter but yet, the dresser remained unsold. Shame.

Daughter brought him home for a little R&R and he sat in the Master Bedroom to provide much needed storage. Daughter had no intention in keeping the dresser but it began to grow on her. It was also the right size for her TV corner.

IKEA Vittsjo Desk Hack

We’re back with more projects from Daughter’s Master Bedroom Makeover. Today, we are highlighting Daughter’s bedside tables (otherwise known as IKEA’s Vittsjo Laptop Desk!) They are simple, elegant and stunning!

A Fabulous {DIY} Upholstered Headboard

Last week, Daughter shared the progress in her Master Bedroom Makeover and at the center of the room was her new {DIY} Upholstered Headboard! Gorgeous! Today, we are sharing the step-by-step tutorial to recreating this stunning headboard. This project has endless design possibilities and only cost around $100 for a King Headboard!

The Art of Dark Waxing

By now, you know that Georgia & Daughter love, love Chalk Paint. We’ve been using Annie Sloan for awhile now and recently, picked up a can of CeCe Caldwell’s Paint to try. Our hearts still belong to Annie but our distributor has moved out of the area and an antique shop close to Daughter now carries CeCe Cadwell’s.

If you are familiar with Chalk Paint, you know that you have the options to use Clear Coat or Dark Coat Wax. We have mastered the clear coat waxing process but we wanted to attempt the dark wax technique. Using the dark wax provides a more aged, weathered look. Here is a great sample board from Southern Hospitality.

The left side of the color board shows the paint covered in clear wax, while dark wax has been applied to the right side.

Now to find the perfect piece to paint and wax! We selected this great black chest of drawers to try out the new technique. The chest was picked up at an auction and was already painted black. It was produced by Stanley Furniture and made in the USA. We like the simple lines and size of the chest.

Since we made the girly end table and footstool, we wanted to create a masculine piece of furniture. (Not that this piece couldn’t be paired with a great purple or pink in a girl’s room!). We selected Napoleonic Blue by Annie Sloan for our second layer. The blue is a bright blue with purple undertones. With clear wax, the color is very vibrant!

If you are striving for the weathered look, there is a clearly defined process for using both Clear Coat and Dark Coat Wax. Here are the steps we used:

First, we painted two coats of Napoleonic Blue over the existing black paint. We let each coat dry completely before applying the next one.

We then applied a thin layer of Clear Coat wax to the entire piece, including the drawer fronts. Even the Clear Coat wax will slightly change the color of the Chalk Paint providing a deeper color.

This is the scary part (at least for Daughter). After the Clear Coat dries, we sanded the entire piece again. We know, it sounds counter-productive. You perfectly painted the furniture and now you are removing the paint? Trust us, if you want the distress look, you’ll need to rough it up. As you can see, we distressed a few areas more than others.

In a few selected areas, we sanded down to the bare wood, providing a weathered look.

We removed the loose paint and dust with a clean cloth. We applied a thin layer of Dark Coat wax to the furniture. The difference in color really made us step back and observe. What a difference! It grew on us the more we applied the Dark Coat. It really gives the piece dimension and depth. The chest is richer in color and has some soul. There are a few spots that appear to have more color variation and it gives the piece character.

After a night of drying, we styled the chest of drawers with a few masculine items: a TV, a few military books, a bulldog statue and a mind game.

Here are a few close up photos of the chest.

The Dark Coat wax is here to stay! We can’t wait to use it on other pieces with different colors! Tell us what you think? Do you like the Dark Wax coat?

 ~georgia & daughter

Pretty in Pink

A few weeks ago, we picked up some great finds at our favorite auction house. In case you missed the photo on Facebook, our truck looked like this on the way home. We received a few lingering looks and bright lighting from our fellow commuters. Much to Georgia’s fretting, we (us and the furniture!) arrived home safely.

One of our first buys of the night included this solid oak end table. It was made in the U.S.A and the construction is sturdy and built to last a lifetime. However, the top had a few water rings and the finish was undesirable. Nothing that we couldn’t fix.