Refresh”ed” Victorian Painted Bed

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?