A Fabulous Color Combo for Furniture

Neutrals in home décor are hot.

Now I know there are many color-lovers out there, but just a quick look through Pinterest or decorating magazines will show how popular the neutral look has become.

There’s even a whole magazine devoted to white interiors!

As a furniture painter, I want my work to sell, but I just cannot stand to paint the same neutral white or off-white over and over again.

This time I tried something in between. How about a color combo? Maybe neutral on the outside and a beautiful blue on the inside.

Hmmm. Does that sound like a mullet? You know, “business in the front and party in the back”.

I assure you, this china cabinet is more stylish than that!

 

But first, here’s its before shot……

This piece was missing the glass in the door. Normally that’s not a problem and I would usually just cut another one to fit. The issue with this one is that it had a curvy top, which would have been more expensive to have it made and nearly impossible for me to cut on my own.

I decided to take the door completely off and I actually like it better this way.

Also, the back had a crack in it, so I decided to remove it.

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The painting process…

The first step (after a cleaning and light sanding) was to paint the whole piece in Annie Sloan chalk paint in the color Pure White.

I did not prime this one…more on that in a minute.

Since I removed the back, I needed to replace it. So I bought a sheet of beadboard and painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue.

Then to give it more dimension and to really highlight those grooves in the beadboard, I went over it with a light glaze coat, wiping it back until it settled into the lines and just gave a hint of color to the rest.

It was about this time, when I realized that there were a few minuscule pink dots that had bled through the surface of my white paint. Usually, you don’t have to prime before using chalk paint, but occasionally, you’ll get a stubborn piece of furniture.

But no big deal, we can easily fix that. Just take a bit of B-I-N Shellac base primer….

and dab it onto the stain.

If you can’t find the shellac-based primer or prefer a water-based primer, there is a synthetic shellac primer made by the same company that works well, too.

When the primer dries, use a small brush and paint over the primer with your chalk paint, making sure that it’s blended out. Sand it a tiny bit if necessary.

A fabulous color combo…

Finally, I sealed the whole thing with topcoat and my husband nailed the new beadboard to the back.

I love the color combo of the white, duck egg blue, and the natural wood.

 

Are you a color-lover, are you more of a neutrals-all-the-way type, or do you like a combination?

Looking around my house, I definitely lean heavily toward the neutrals but with a little color thrown in for good measure:)