Twin Wrought Iron Bed in "Provence"

I was so excited to find this wrought iron bed on craigslist. I had been on the hunt for the perfect "big girl bed" for Em. It was painted a very dark red, which was very cute as it was, but definitely wouldn't work with the pink bedroom.

My greatest CraigsList find ever!

Midway through the project. On the left, the footboard has been painted with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
The headboard, on the right, is the originally glossy deep red.

I wasn't sure what to do about the rusty/broken wheels. One opinion I read online was to remove the wheels from antique beds. Apparently, they compromise the stability of the bed, and if you don't really foresee the need to wheel the bed around, they are unnecessary. This worked for me! Until I find good endcaps for the legs, I have them resting on rubber discs to protect the floor.

Here is the final project!

Em's first night in her big girl bed!

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Owl Silhouette Project

The animal of the moment for Au is the owl. This summer she has devoured Kathryn Lasky's fiction series The Guardians of Ga'hoole . Au selected the species for the project based on their characteristic sizes and profiles. I created silhouettes in Adobe Illustrator based on the photographs Au found at owlpages.com . Next we will print and frame them for her room.

Navy Bed

Painting in blue is something that I haven't done much of, so when a client was interested in painting her son's vintage white bed in navy blue, it was really a great opportunity. Annie Sloan's Napoleonic Blue wasn't quite dark enough for the room decor, so we chose to finish the piece with a generous helping of Annie Sloan's Dark Wax. I preceded this step with a layer of Clear Wax (and let it dry overnight) because I always want to have max manipulation when it comes to the dark wax application. This pictures shows the difference between clear and dark waxes. The paint, followed by the dark wax to achieve navy blue, also created depth and movement in the painted surface. A single navy blue paint color wouldn't bring that style!

Yankee Doodle Re-Do

If you were a boy of the 70s growing up in New England, this piece may bring back fond memories of playing with your Lite Brite or He-Man, splayed out on the shag carpet in your den: I donated this fixer-upper to the Junior League of Washington's "tossed and found" charity sale last month. A massive cleanup, repaint with an Annie Sloan grey mix (leftover Paris Grey, French Linen, and Pure White) and reupholstery with fresh modern home decor fabric gave this toy bench a complete new look. So cute. Another of those projects the girls are sad to see go. Who knows, maybe we'll run across another Yankee toy box some day.

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