The days of grey and white are over. Well…maybe not over, but taking a temporary back seat! Perhaps it’s the season; I always feel a bit bolder during the summer when the weather is warmer, the flowers are in full bloom and the sky is blue. Why shouldn’t that brightly colored goodness translate to furniture?
I get some of my very best pieces from customers; in this case, a gorgeous antique hat dresser.
So often, I keep it simple with pieces that have as much detail and visual interest as this one and allow the beauty in the lines and carvings speak for themselves.
But, the day I painted this dresser, I had a bit of sass and pulled down Antibes green and English Yellow Chalk Paint®, started blending colors for a bright pop of granny smith apple green. MMMMM….luscious!
As if that wasn’t enough, I added a wash of English Yellow to the top to add the bright yellow overtones directly over the granny smith apple green.
HOW TO MAKE A WASH: Washes are a great way to add visual interest to an otherwise plain piece of furniture. To create a wash using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint®, add water to your paint to thin it down. Then, lightly brush it over the top of your already painted piece, or an existing wood finish. The wash will settle in the details of the wood (oak is the best substrate to wash) or add colorful hues on the existing paint. In the case of this dresser, I added the English Yellow wash over the paint before it completely dried to allow all of the colors to blend more fully. You can also dip your paint brush in water before dipping it into the paint to apply a heavier wash.
The girls and I sat around trying decide what kind of top coat to use. We had a brief debate over clear wax vs. dark wax and collectively decided that the dark wax would muddy the color and defeat the purpose of the bright, bold pop of green. Yet, we wanted more than clear wax to settle into all of the ornate details and carvings. The solution: colored wax. Florence, specifically. The pop of teal was a fun contrast to the green and yellow shades, yet subtle enough to set off the details without overwhelming the overall effect.
HOW TO MAKE A COLORED WAX: In the case of this antique dresser, I mixed Annie Sloan’s Clear Wax with Florence Chalk Paint®. The ratio was approximately 50/50, though I don’t use exact measurements. When you mix a colored wax, it’s a good idea to test it on an obscure section of the furniture. You want the top coat to still be a creamy wax and blend over the furniture like wax, but have enough paint so that you can see the tinting in the top coat. Add more paint or wax as needed.
Once it was painted, washed and waxed I added new knobs. The original knobs were beautiful and in perfect condition but didn’t lend to the more contemporary color. So, I added some sparkly, diamond cut glass knobs and will save the original handles for another project!
Have you ever made a colored wash or tinted your wax for a project? We’d love to see! Post your projects on our facebook page.
