These two pieces were both mahogany red...but thankfully not anymore. I have been wanting to take on this project for awhile. I do not care for mahogany at all and my bedroom was just feeling too dark. I wanted to bring in some fun colors that were peaceful and fun at the same time. I saw a picture of yellow and blue furniture side by side and thought that they complimented each other really well. I knew I wanted to use morning glory blue for the dresser. I had used it before on a bookshelf and fell in love with this vibrant color. This was my first time to go with a yellow color so I was really nervous about how it would turn out. I never in a million years I thought I would have a yellow piece of furniture in my house, so I definitely wanted to get the shade right. I decided to go with amber yellow by Valspar. It is a perfect buttery yellow that adds that ray of sunshine warmth to the room. Both of these pieces were primed using a brown tinted primer and painted with semi-gloss paint. For the dresser, I used a black glaze and clear coated it with polycrylic like I normally do. The vanity was also distressed and glazed with a tobacco brown glaze. For the clear coat finish, I had to use a regular fast drying polyurethane since the wood was mahogany. I learned this the hard way unfortunately. At first I tried using the polycrylic and then nearly had a melt down when I realized the red was pulling through the yellow. After taking some deep breaths and reading the label (always a good thing) I was able to gently sand over the polycrylic and spray on the oil based poly. This set will be complete when I recover the chair with something simple to pull it all together. I am thinking a floral pattern will do nicely. I'll be so glad when this little project is in the books.
Before
After
This piece was originally the hutch that sat on top of an entertainment center. At first, I thought it might be neat with some baskets below and books above. My husband thought you could also use it to store assorted balls that often collect on the floor of a little boy's room. Since it does have the holes for wires, I see this piece as being very versatile to suit a variety of furniture needs. The color is Valspar's Filoli Morning Glory.
It is a wonderfully vibrant blue. For the finish, I decided to try something new. Normally with a paint this bright, I like the contrast of using a black glaze. I decided to try a tobacco glaze for this piece. I quickly changed my mind again when I thought about dealing with the oil based walnut stain that I usually mix with the glaze to create tobacco. So, I decided to mix up a new glaze just for kicks. I took some light brown paint that I had lying around and added that with my glaze mix. The result is what I call "nude glaze". It reminds me very much of those nude panty hose that were popular when I was growing up! As you can see, I think it was really perfect for this piece. I hope that it finds a home soon!
