Shades of Grey

I was in one of my favorite “junking spots” and heading to the check out with another piece in hand when I saw her. All of her beautiful lines and sweet details were obscured by a dated, dark brown finish and  she was just crying out for some Chalk Paint® love! I can’t resist a damsel in distress so she was soon on her way to my studio.

There were definitely some repairs to be made such as gluing down loose veneer, filling in some missing veneer and recreating a small piece of molding that was missing from the side of the back piece. I used a phenomenal product called Wood Icing  that is primarily used for creating interesting textures in a finish but that can also be used for making repairs….you can sand it to a silky smoothness and Chalk Paint® will go right over it without a primer. I put some Wood Icing into a plastic baggie with a corner cut out so that I could squeeze the product  out in a strip that, with a little filling and sanding help, would mimic the missing piece of molding.

Once all the repairs had dried and been sanded to a smooth finish it was time to paint. All the shades of Grey have been big sellers in my studio of late so I decided to use Paris Grey, a light bluish gray, to bring out all of the features of this lovely piece.

Whenever I first start painting a piece, particularly if it has carving or embellishments,  I use only a very small amount of paint on my brush and lightly dry brush the paint over the features. I can always go back and add more paint, but if I start out with a full brush and slap it on, I’m now committed to keep doing that, and I like to give the piece an opportunity to “tell” me what it wants. Sounds crazy but it’s true! I like to see a bit of darkness from some random grain or scratch or peeking out from the edge of an embellishment.

One of my favorite tricks is to take a brush and work just a tiny bit of the base color (Paris Grey in this case) back into the wet wax….I love the way you can blend it into the wax and add a touch of  lighter color  which will sit on top of any texture. It creates lots of depth to a finish without being very obvious. Try it…you’ll like it!

Here she is all painted up and ready for a second chance to be used and loved by someone. I love the way that the paint brings out all of those lovely features that were previously hidden by that dull dark finish. Alas, there was only one of the original pulls so I opted for a simple knob so that the details could take center stage. She would be stunning in a foyer with a lamp and a pretty mirror above her. This piece is for sale so contact the studio if you are interested in taking her home with you!