For the better part of the year, I have latched on to a
specific furniture look, cream distressed back to gold undertones. And I am not
ready to let go.
The gold peaking out dresses things up, but the simplicity
of white slightly roughed up…keeps a lid on too much glitz.
I love design that has good yin and yang in it, dressy, but
with practicality.
So with that in mind, I took to updating this beautiful mid century modern dresser by
Dixie furniture. What really stole my heart was the gorgeous
hardware…isn’t it awesome? But the dull yellow finish...not so awesome.
I created a new look starting with a primer in a color close
to beige or yellow to serve as a base for the metallic gold. Then I went to one
of my favorite products of 10 years, modern masters metallic. I applied a shade called warm silver. Really a soft gold. Two coats of this
goes on like glass. On top I applied a coat of classic white chalk paint then
wet distressed back to the gold.
To make this piece unique, I then added a hand painted
element in gold and gray. When a dresser has such an even clean front, I can’t
help but look at it as a canvas.
I chose simple vintage french postal ephemera from the
Graphics Fairy, here.
To see the step by step process for this finish with a transfer, view my older post, here.
A couple tips when painting images on furniture...
- Don’t be afraid to use artistic license. The original postal image had a flower, which was just too much feminine for me. I took it out. I also added another postage stamp lower to create balance.
- Always use water color pencil to draw up image and in a color such as gray that can work as a shadow color. Wipe off what you can, but what remains acts as a shadow for depth.
- Experiments with colors…don’t always use black to paint words etc.
I finished this piece with my hands down favorite
topcoat, Modern Masters Dead Flat
It is virtually foolproof..
It does not drip easily.
It does not show lap lines.
It give you time to brush a little back into if you need to.
It gives a smooth flat gorgeous finish.
I have made the mistake of using other polys
and waxes I had on hand after running out of Dead Flat. Like I said. Mistake. Order on amazon and get it in two
days…don’t kid yourself, you probably wouldn’t have finished the piece before
that.
Tweak and Style your world beautiful
