One of my clients recently purchased this gorgeous Victorian Bed off Kijiji. I have to admit, I LOVE that more and more people are seeing the value in re-vamping pre-loved furniture. More often than not, these pieces are well built and will outlast new furniture purchased in big box stores. AND… for a fraction of the cost, it’s so much fun customizing a piece for that one-of-a-kind decor.
As you can see, this pre-loved bed had lost some of it’s original luster.
The cane was in need of a minor repair; the finish had seen better days, but which ever way you looked at her, she was still a Bona Fide-Victorian-Beauty!
All she needed was a kind hand to hit that “Refresh” button… and that’s exactly what we did.
My client chose Sherwin Williams (SW6751) “Refresh” for the colour of this bed. I realize viewing colours on a monitor can be deceiving, but I hope you can see this stunning soft blue/green.
To give the bed some old-world character, it was distressed in areas where it would naturally wear over time. Then a 50/50 mixture of CeCe Caldwell’s “Vermont Slate” & “Simply White” were mixed together and dry brushed onto the beds detailing. Once dried, a light sanding was applied to expose a hint of the original gold detailing.
To give this bed an antiqued look, the same 50/50 mixture mentioned above was used to customize a dark tinted wax.
The dark antiquing wax was applied sparingly over a coat of clear wax. Then a 3rd coat of clear wax was applied to soften the antique effect some more.
So what do you think? With her updated look, is she more French Country Chic or Old World Victorian Charm with a trendy splash of colour?
Thank you for the information on how to know if your painted furniture was oil are latex paint.
I love all the work you post! I’m inspired now. We bought a vintage sewing table and chair that looks like a retro stereo console. The chair stores in it and it’s quite a unique piece. We had planned to restore to its original dark wood, but suffer seeing the color and ease of chalk painting, I really want to go this route. I am new to your blog and tried to find the instructions for the preparation of the wood PRIOR to painting. It’s it the normal prices of cleaning, sanding, etc? Does the original wood have to be sanded down to an almost natural color or can chalk paint be painted on to a semi-rough sanded state?
Do you email the reply back to me or do you reply on this blog? Thank you so much!
So glad you’ve found the SI blog Rebecca…welcome! Your vintage sewing table and chairs sound amazing. If you’re painting with a chalk/mineral paint, a cleaning is sufficient unless you have a shiny surface. If the surface is glossy, then give your pieces a light sanding to roughen the surface slightly. No need to sand down to the bare wood. All the best with you projects! 🙂
Absolutely beautiful…great job and I LOVE the colour!
All I can really say is stunning!
Gorgeous!
Thank you Meg!! 🙂