Vintage Turquoise Console and Side Table

Console before

Turquoise is one of my favorite colors these days, and it it HOT in the interior design world. I scored this awesome vintage 70's console. Perfect to finish and post for sale! The side table was done in the same color, but was for a custom order. I decided to try a new awesome European paint on the market. I goes straight over most surfaces with no sanding or priming! How awesome is that! It's finished with clear or tinted wax instead of polyurethane or varnish. Here's the before pictures of each piece.

Side table before

Applying second coat

 I didn't sand, but I did wipe down both pieces. The first coat of chalk paint went on easily, but didn't quite give the coverage I wanted. I let it dry overnight before putting on the second coat. This is a photo as I am appling the second coat. You can see the coverage on the first coat was pretty good. 
I love the detail of this console. Very heavy ornate trim. A perfect piece for distressing and "glazing".
Here's the side table with both coats completed.

I used their recommended wax. Since I wanted to "antique" the look on these pieces, they have to be clear waxed first. This seals the paint so that the colored wax doesn't absorb unevenly. I used a small brush to get the wax into the grooves and used a t-shirt clothe to buff the flat surfaces and spead the wax evenly. Waxing was a very different experience for me. It seemed a little more labor intensive than a traditional paint and glaze finish. May be it's just something I'm not used to. I let the clear wax dry a few days, before I could distress the finish. This is achieved with a rigid sanding block and 100 to 120 grit sand paper. I hit the edges and high points in the detail. I even added some within the body of the flat areas.  
Once the distressing was complete,  I mixed a little raw umber with my wax. They actually make a tinted wax, but a little wax goes a long way, so I thought I'd just tint my own. Using the same technique, I brushed the tinted waxed into the grooves and used a soft cloth to move it around and give the pieces an aged look. For the side table, I added a fern stencil to the top. I added some warm silver metallic to the clear wax. 

Fern Stencil

The warm silver gave a very subtle accent to the top of the table. A very nice, unique accent on a popular pop of color, on an otherwise boring table.
The console turned out awesome too. I really wanted to paint the handles red, but decided a bronze paint would be more universally appealling. "Universally appealling"....such an ugly phrase. Maybe I should have done red...   I would love your opinions and feedback! I love hearing from you all!

Completed vintage console

Completed side table

The product I used on these pieces can be purchased locally in Charlotte, NC at Great Walls Supply. Check out their website! http://www.greatwallssupply.com/  And as always, the console is currently for sale in my Dilworth Blacklion store on East Boulevard, and online in my Etsy store  www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios

Formal Room Transformations - Final Product

Our team has worked hard this week to transform the three rooms from Mondays blog. I'm sure you've been anxiously awaiting the final pictures. All three ceiling are dramatically different, but flow very well from room to room. The dining room ceiling is fantastic! A warm silver metallic blend with a chocolate glaze. Very elegant!

And the green on the walls is the perfect complement. The drapes aren't in yet, but will really pull the chair fabric and wall and ceiling colors all together. They are a black silk with scrolling leafy vines in taupe, red and green embroidery.

The foyer ceiling carrys the dining wall color along with the bronze from the study and the study drape fabric design. The green metallic plaster gives a beautiful silky shimmer inside the coffering. For the scroll design, I enlarged this picture of the study drapes to print on 4 sheets of paper. I taped them together and taped carbon paper to the back. I centered and traced the design into each of the foyer ceiling panels. Then using a chocolate glaze and a blend of bronze and gold, handpainted the design.

We also painted and glazed the wood trim to blend with the wood front door. Much more dramatic than the flat white before. The final product!

And finally, the study ceiling is a perfect blend of the chocolate, gold and champage. We used the same brown base color on the walls and ceiling. In the tray, we trowelled on three wax colors in champagne, gold and chocolate bronze. This was finished with a chocolate glaze as well. The medallion was painted with bronze metallic and lightly dry brushed with a metallic gold.

With the new uplighting, these ceilings will be conversational, showstoppers. Another happy client! For more great visual ideas, check out my website at www.paintingthetown.us.

Formal Room Transformations

Our challenge this week is transforming the walls, ceiling and some trim in the formal dining room, study/home office and entry foyer. It's a stunning house in a beautiful neighborhood, south of Charlotte, NC. We have some artwork and window treatment fabrics that have guided our color selection.

Here is the before shot of the dining room ceiling. Just a big boring rectangle.

Our homeowners have choosen a beautiful sage green for the walls Benjamin Moore color 2142-40. To add some drama to the space, they have choosen a beautiful warm silver metallic for the ceiling with a warm chocolate glaze. The picture to the left is a sample of we plan to do.



For the study, we wanted some warmth and depth. The beautiful trey ceiling barely noticable as is.

We chose a chocolate brown (Benjamin Moore color HC-73) for the walls and soffit. For the trey ceiling, we chose a multi color trowellable metallic wax finish with a glaze.

The foyer walls we are leaving for another time to flow into the rest of the house. But the ceiling is going to be fantastic! It's pretty unnoticable now. It's a barrel coffered ceiling. But all one color and light.

We are going to paint and glaze the barrel trim to look like wood. Inside the wood coffers, we will use a sage green similar to the dining room wall color. But it's a spectacular green metallic plaster! This sample does not do the finish justice (or maybe it's my phototgraphy skills or lack of?).

This is a trowelled finish and there are numerous metallic plasters out there. Someday soon, when I have enough followers asking questions, I will reveal my sources. This sample shows a beautiful stencil done in glassbeads. We didn't want the raised texture of the glass beads, so we will be using a sheer bronze paint. Once the plaster is complete, I have a custom design we will hand paint in the center of each panel. The design has been pulled from the pattern in the study window treatment. This will keep us busy this week. (Please send massage therapy gift certificates if you are feeling generous.) I hate to leave you hanging, but we must finish before I can show the final product. If you need some immediate visual drama, check out my decorative painting website at www.paintingthetown.us. Otherwise, please check back on Friday to see the finished room transformations.  See after pictures here http://savardstudios.blogspot.com/2012/01/formal-room-transformations-final.html.