January | 2016 | UpwithFurniture

This antique dresser was probably just wood at one time but over the years it had been painted a few different shades. When I bought it, it was a pale peachy beige and the inside of the drawers had been wallpapered in a beige and peach floral. I have removed wallpaper from walls before but I had forgotten how much work it can be. I might have reconsidered buying the dresser if I had known how much time I would need to remove it. I thought about just painting over it but the wallpaper wasn’t in great shape and the corners weren’t very well done. Because the dresser is on the small side, I just couldn’t see an adult using it so I painted it with a child in mind.

kid's 6

It gave me a chance to use FrogTape Shape Tape which gives a nice clean edge and a playful look. I admire the work of Poppyseed Creative Living who uses this tape a lot in her designs. She has been an Annie Sloan Painter in Residence and has many great pieces.

kid's3

The white looks pure white but it is actually a 50/50 mix of AS Pure White and Old White. You can see that I got the wallpaper out of the drawers and painted them, as well as placing a bright orange wrapping paper inside. The turquoise is AS Provence which is a lovely saturated blue/turquoise.

kid's 7

The antique-looking porcelain knobs are from Lee Valley and are a nice touch without being too feminine.

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kid's 2

Linking up with:

http://www.elizabethandcovintage.com/

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.ca/2016/01/show-and-share-no297.html

Making Broken Beautiful | No. 22

http://www.mccallmanor.com/

http://www.patinaparadise.com/2016/01/fridays-furniture-fix-23.html

http://www.thepainteddrawer.com/2016/01/fab-friday-link-party-2.html

Best DIY Projects and Recipe Party

http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.ca/

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French country is a much-beloved style and is the inspiration for a lot of furniture updates. Some of the characteristics of the style are: rustic, lived-in looking furniture; natural woods with low gloss or painted furniture that looks old; soft colours mixed with splashes of bright yellow, blue and lavender; mix and match fabrics and colours especially toile, gingham and florals and stripes. If you want to read more about the history of classic French furniture, I wrote about it here.

Annie Sloan’s Country Grey is the perfect colour for achieving this look. It’s not really grey but beige with grey undertones. When it is dry-brushed with Old White or had dark wax applied to it , it transforms the furniture into that classic French look. You can see many examples on this Pinterest page.

This vintage coffee table was given to me. It is fruitwood and has the lovely carvings and cabriole legs of French furniture. I stripped the top and opted for a lighter stain. It is popular to use dark walnut on everything these days but the lighter colour is actually more in keeping with the style and shows the grain nicely. It has multiple coats of satin poly on it.

fp coffee table 5