Florence Dresser

 

Florence is a fun, vibrant color and this plain dresser needed a little vibrancy in its boring life.

 

The existing hardware was not helping the situation. In my mind I pictured some kind of bin pulls with labels for the drawers.  Putting my vision into reality is often a challenge and the hardware search proved to be no exception.  I scoured ebay for days looking for the right pulls to dress up the drawers.  I finally found these amazing, vintage, ex-card catalog pulls for a fantastic price.  I patched the old knob holes and attached the new card catalog pulls, which added so much character to this previously drab piece of furniture.

 

 

I used a dry brush technique to apply the one coat of Florence Chalk Paint®, allowing the dark wood finish to show through the paint.  Then I used a damp cloth to wipe off extra paint along the edges, before it dried completely, leaving a naturally aged looking finish. 

 



I love the way the Florence looks with the vintage, brass pulls.  This was such a simple fix up, but it made a drastic difference. 

Vintage Cane Back Dining Chair Set

 

 

This is the third set of vintage cane back chairs that I have given a makeover.  There were six chairs in this set and the caning was all still in excellent condition.

 



 

The chairs were really dingy and dirty and one of them was painted bright blue.  I sold the two arm chairs to a Loot customer who wanted them painted in Emperor's Silk Chalk Paint® and upholstered in a natural linen.

 

I kept the rest of the set simple and neutral.

 

I painted the chairs with two coats of Pure White Chalk Paint® followed by a wash of Coco Chalk Paint®, made by watering down the paint. 

 

 

 The Coco wash subtly aged and softened the bright white paint and the paint on the edges of the chairs naturally crackled giving them an authentic looking patina.

 

 

I have a thing for stripes, so I chose an elegant, wide-striped, pale, cream and aqua linen to reupholster the seat cushions.