Hollywood Regency Glamour

We have had this dresser set listed as a custom for a few weeks...

it was living dangerously!

Since we are head over heels in LOVE with One Step Paint in Black,

we jumped right in with these pieces

Here is the before

(this before makes it look WAY better than reality!)

While cleaning this dresser and removing the drawers,

we discovered it was made in Sweden...a first for us!

The entire body was covered in Black One Step Paint

with only the center panels contrasting in white

 (mirror obviously isn't shown...it's black and it's gorgeous!)

The hardware features silver leaf with a touch of black

Behind the door, three lingerie drawers are clean and simple

(the areas that look mottled are really shiny from the wax...hard to capture on camera)

On top, we wanted a "little something"

that would add to the graphic impact

without being too fussy

This Cherry Blossom stencil from Royal Design Studio is PERFECT

The nightstand we opted to keep very simple and classic

We're really pleased with how this set turned out...

Simple and classic, yet it has great impact

If you haven't tried One Step Paint from Amy Howard Home yet,

what are you waiting for?  

Go for it! 

Kenny and Michele

Gilded, Grey, and Gorgeous!

It's no secret we're big fans of grey, cream, and gold...

I mean, can you blame us?

We used One Step Paint from Amy Howard at Home

to achieve this gorgeousness

Of course, this beauty started out pretty good!

Not bad, right?

Great "bones", wonderful details...horrible color!

We took this tallboy on a trip to France

 The original hardware was stunning, even more so with some gold leaf 

 Creamy Bauhaus Buff brings out the inset panels, trimmed in more gold leaf

 That perfect Grey?  Atelier. We love it, too. 

This piece was a custom order for a lucky local client...

we hope he adores it as much as we do!

Henredon makes my heart beat faster

Henredon...vintage Henredon

how you make my heart SING!

Especially when it's FRENCH PROVINCIAL Henredon

so hard to come by...I've only had one other

(and let's face it, we've has a LOT of pieces pass through our hands!)

This was an estate purchase...

we found an old pay stub inside from Bausch and Lomb, circa 1972.

Net for the week?  $288. 

I gather that was a fair sum in 1972, as Henredon isn't inexpensive!

But enough yapping from me...check out this loveliness

 I adore this style...the taller, more tapered legs are very elegant

and remind me of Drexel's Touraine line

(but this has prettier hardware!)

 Excuse the unedited, non-glamour shots

("befores" are supposed to look terrible, right?)

 Serpentine body

(killer curves on this girl!)

 Lately, we've only been finding single nightstands

so we were thrilled this had a pair

 Full/Queen headboard w nice carved details to mimic the mirror

Cane is PERFECT

And can you believe they had the tallboy, too?

You KNOW I did a little happy dance when no one was looking!

We are picking up another dresser, nightstand, mirror, and two tallboys tonight...

much to Kenny's surprise because after unloading all this, I received the following text:

"We are officially FULL UP. No more furniture until the shipper comes"

Surely we can fit in a FEW more pieces, right??  

Task Master

I didn't get to paint AT ALL last week...

so today, I made up for lost time!

Kenny's been knee deep in a custom order

with a dresser that basically needed rebuilt

from the inside out, 

so I've been in charge of all new goodies...

hard to do when you aren't available to paint!

I planned on painting a desk

but it needed some work...

"find something else to do for a few hours"

was Kenny's reply...

"it will take that long for the glue to dry"

so he went to work fixing the desk for me,

and I went to work perusing our warehouse

for projects I could complete in one day

(no dining sets or armoires today!)

Project #1

 As you can tell, I REALLY LOVE

my French Stencil from Royal Design Studio Stencils

 I also really love Craqueleur

 

Project #2 was the mirror...sorry, no close-ups!

Project #3

I used the same custom-mixed chalk paint color 

on this table, 

but no dark wax...

I really love the silver against the Sable Grey!

Hoping to get a new dresser posted by the weekend...

fingers crossed!

Mademoiselle Dresser

We've scored a slew of French Provincial dressers lately...

seems like it's feast or famine, and they typically sell so quickly...

we snatch them up whenever we see a great one

We're incredibly particular with our pieces...

they must be solid wood, preferably circa 1960 or earlier

with stand-out details that make them special

This dresser certainly met the criteria!

So heavy...solid wood cut nice and thick!

It's made by Dixie, circa 1950's...

before Dixie started using 

laminate and particle board

Check out the details...

Kenny spent lots of time

making sure each and every drawer

(there are NINE!)

looked like new...

We've been having a bit of a love affair with brighter, richer colors lately....

but for this piece, we went back to our "roots" so-to-speak

my first loves, Paris Grey and Old White

From Annie Sloan, of course!

Love this dresser?

It's for sale in our Etsy Shop

No Shy Violets Here!

Well...

this dresser...

it doesn't have a ton of fancy carvings

or too many frills...

but that is why I love it so

The subtle beauty of it

the long, tapered legs

the slight serpentine body

the elegant hardware

The fact that it's Hendredon

really pushes me over the edge!

I debated on doing a more subtle color

but really, why? 

The simple elegance of this piece was just 

BEGGING for something different

I perused Pinterest for color inspiration...

I knew I wanted a sophisticated purple

Very smokey and sexy and grown-up

if you're interested, here is the Pinboard

For the record, my husband and partner, Kenny,

was NOT on board with this color

When I said "Purple"

he envisioned deep, regal purple

with gold hardware

Me? Not so much!

I mixed up this custom color using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

then applied a glaze over the top using glaze base and pigment 

The top, well, it gave me some trouble!

My plan was to strip it  and re-stain it in that lovely

weathered wood look my friend at Stellar Junk does so well

I mixed up my staining concoction

and started stripping the table

All was good until towards the back,

 a HUGE burn mark materialized!!

NOOOOO!!!

I considered stenciling over it, making the top striped...

just wasn't working out at all...

so bummed!

Not to be discouraged, I mixed up a custom grey

then topped it with the smoke glaze

Perfect!

Such an elegant, sexy piece of furniture!

I've decorated the entire room this belongs in...

Velvets and silks, some crumpled linen perhaps

a chandelier, dripping in crystals

(check out the lavender one on my board!)

dark walls and a soft rug

plush, lush, and dreamy...

Available in our Etsy Shop

Scarlet Begonias

This dresser is solid wood,

made by Ethan Allen

but not quite as curvy

as we usually like...

it said

"Country French" 

in our minds

(it also said "1980's Golden Pine")

We opted to just "go with it"

and make it not-so-fancy

 It's got such lovely carved details...

they're chunky, though, not delicate

 We decided Milk Paint was the perfect choice

but we wanted a bold color...

we used Real Milk Paint products

(white and bright red)
We knew we wanted to dark wax this piece
so we mixed up a slightly lighter
shade of pink
(try to keep in mind how your finishing products will
 affect your color when painting your own pieces)

 Three coats gave the depth we wanted

followed by lots of distressing...

 We stripped the top and refinished it to match the drawers

(it was in terrible condition!)

 and these tri-fold mirrors...

so loving them lately!

They make an already fabulous dresser so grand!

We finished this project with Myland's Wax in Clear

and Annie Sloan Wax in dark

It's totally BoHo Chic, don't you think?

you can find this item for sale in our Etsy shop