Café-au-Lait Bedroom Furniture
Maybe this is starting to sound insincere, because I do say it after almost every project… but I think I just finished one of my all-time favorites! This time, in the furniture category.
I got to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint again, which you know I adore. I used it on this blue bar and this yellow chest and this green TV stand.
For this project, my client wanted to simplify. Her existing bedroom furniture was colorful, happy, great quality… but a bit too BUSY for her current tastes. She hired me to transform her pieces into restful, neutral furniture.
Before I got to work...
Key criteria for the new furniture:
- French country style
- warm tone
- darker than existing cream on painted furniture
- distressed/antiqued
We started by looking at the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint color chart. We chose Old Ochre as our beige of choice.
Day One: I painted everything Old Ochre.
End of Day One: I hated the Old Ochre.
It was far too white in the client’s warm, cozy bedroom. It looked like nursery furniture compared to her pretzel-colored walls. It did not meet the “warm” or “darker than existing” criteria.
Enter Brandy from Vintage Style & Designs! You may remember that she was a huge help during the Yellow Chest project, and she came though for me yet again this week. She stayed open late and let me mess around with samples until we came up with the perfect café-au-lait light brown. It was a surprising trio of ASCP paints that combined to make the color:
I used appx. 3 Country Grey : 2 Arles : 1 Primer Red.
Day Two, I slathered on the new beige-brown color, and LOVED it. Everything was instantly warmer and more inviting.
Here are some photos during the waxing process:
Waxing furniture is a full-body workout. I was seriously working up a sweat after all that buffing and massaging. And like most workouts… so worth it! I LOVE the finished product! We agreed that the new furniture met all four of her initial criteria.
I hope to get more photos from the client when all the furniture is in place with her new bedding. I’ll be sure to share them with you. I love dramatic before-and-after changes, like this one!
It’s so satisfying to help someone beautify their surroundings. I hope this client has even sweeter dreams at night, now that she’s enveloped by serene furniture!