~Paint Transformations...following Annie Sloan's lead~

Hello friends.....it's very early Sunday morning 

and I am sitting in my favorite chair (Salvation Macy's) 

and quietly enjoying a hot cup of coffee. 

Miss Carmen has developed 

a habit of nudging me in the face every morning at 4:45 am.

Don't adjust your screen....

I did say 4:45 am.....Sheesh!

And you wonder how I manage to snap so many gorgeous Virginia 

sunrise photos??

Orange juice anyone?

Enjoy!

This week end I hid myself in my basement while working on 

my newest dresser restyle.

Pardon the photo quality..these were taken in a basement with a cell phone.

I found this little children's armoir

at my Salvation Macy's.

It is solid maple from the 1960's.

I know that because someone wrote on the inside door:

"Solid Maple from the 1960's"

I am such an astute detective...I see clues others miss.

Love the little pull out clothes hanger rack....too cute and very functional.

This is a great piece, just very ....bland and very orange.

My inspiration for the color came from one of my students at my Annie Sloan workshop last week.

She had painted a sample board in Coco and Duck Egg Blue.

When the piece was distressed, the two colors were so beautiful layered.

I knew that was going to be my next color combo.

so I took her from this....

*

*

*

to this...

What do you think?

I knew right away that I wanted to paint something on the door.

It was a blank canvas in my eyes.

While trying to decide what to paint, I remembered seeing a simple, but beautiful design that

Annie Sloan had demonstrated in her book,

'Quick & Easy Paint Transformations'

Annie called it "cow parsley" but we in America know it as

Queen Anne's Lace.

It was so easy...I'll show you how I did it.

I took a cut piece of cereal box and tipped the edge into some Old White.

Then I simply made long loose stems..no perfection here please!

Rustic charm is the goal..keep it loose.

I made the dots with the end of a match stick.

After my cow parsley dried thoroughly..the dots might take a little longer, so don't rush, I lightly sanded to make it appear worn.

Nice touch...don't you think.

Anyone can do this and you don't even need a paint brush!

I did the same design on the large wooden knobs, 

but I used Coco instead of Old White.

The old knobs looked chunky and dated

now they look stylish.

I love the Coco peaking through the Duck Egg 

and the patina of the clear and dark wax.

I painted the drawer sides in Coco

 for a nice visual when you open one.

Love it when I can salvage the original knobs.

See the subtle Coco underneath?

I am really happy with the pretty simplicity of this piece.

So that's my latest.

I can see this armoire in a child's room or maybe a farmhouse kitchen.

You could hang your vintage linens and dish towels on the pull out rack.

Sweet!

Thanks for the inspiration Annie!

I will be sharing my little dresser with these lovely blogs:

Hope Studios

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Savvy Southern Style

Shades of Amber

Miss Mustard Seed

Stay tuned my friends...I have a fabulous 

GIVEAWAY

planned for this week.

You are going to love it!!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.