The White Pear Tree: bench

Friday, March 29, 2013

Something painted just for us

(You've all heard the shoemaker's story about his kids having the worst shoes? It's like that for everything in life: we get so busy with our work that when it comes to doing the same type of work for ourselves, we don't have the time, the energy or the desire.

I bought a bench at a charity auction last year. We needed something to sit on to put our shoes or boots on in the entrance way. This one was just right for the space. I couldn't wait to paint it, and I knew just how I wanted it to look.

But there it sat for months. Every time I saw it, I would cringe, because it was a reminder of one more thing that needed to be done, when there just isn't enough time in a day, when I was putting all my energy in painting pieces to sell.

I finally said enough was enough and tackled it a few weeks ago.

The White Pear Tree

(Sorry, I don't have a before. I thought I did, but I have so much furniture I lose track, lol!)

I wanted the French cottage look, so I did two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, followed by a wash of watered down Old White, which gives the piece a more greige feel overall. Love it!

The White Pear Tree

The bench was just a little too plain for me, so I added these lovely wood appliques:

The White Pear Tree

I painted them Old White for contrast, with clear and dark waxes.

The White Pear Tree

The pillow is from RuPiper Designs on Etsy. I absolutely love their stuff!

The White Pear Tree

I'm so happy with the outcome! And proud that I finally painted something just for us.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Nicole
xx

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Linking up to:

Friday, November 23, 2012

Country Grey and City Grey meet in Florence

Hi everyone,

Is everybody in the US still in a turkey induced stupor or are you out in full force doing Black Friday shopping? Either way, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I bought this small table (or bench?) at a garage sale. It was an expensive garage sale. They had many gorgeous antiques, but they were asking as much as a store would. It was an "new" older couple, two widowed people merging households, and I was thinking, good luck with getting rid of stuff at this rate.

Nevertheless, I was able to negotiate a deal on two items. On of them was the table I showed here. The other was this:

I'm not quite sure actually if it's a table of a bench, but I loved all the detailing on it.

These are the after pictures. It sat in my family room for at least three weeks, in other words, plenty of time for me to take a before picture, but do you think I did? Noooooooooo!

Just imagine a dark wood table. Go ahead, close your eyes and picture it. I'll wait.

And then, tada!!

When came time to paint it, I couldn't think of what to do with it, until I saw a chevron pattern somewhere, I forget where. Now, I know what you're thinking, what is she talking about, that's no chevron pattern? Well, it wasn't the chevron pattern that inspired me, but its colours: a beautiful bluey green and a putty grey. Very trendy. Florence from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint was the perfect match. However, for the putty grey, not so easy. Paris grey was too blue and Country Grey was too green. Solution? Mix them both together in equal parts. It was exactly the colour I had in mind. The blue of Paris Grey and the green of Country grey were perfect partners to Florence's bluey green.

And then came the fun part: stencilling. I found this beautiful silkscreening stencil from Martha Stewart. These are pricey, but they are beautifully detailed and make seamless patterns. The finished result does not look stencilled at all. It comes in several pieces which you can place any way you want, which allows for varied designs. I'm thinking of investing in a few more, they're that beautiful.