I fell in love with a Purple Painted Lady

If you're anything like me once you set your mind to do something you look for and collect as much information about it as you can. And so it was that shortly after Iron Dog was resurrected I decided the next step had to be saving a rather nondescript old maple dresser from going to the curb. And, I had to do it quickly because with a major home renovation looming, anything that was not deemed essential or too valuable to be chucked was going to have to go.

In the old days, before personal computers and before Google (yes I was there--but I missed Woodstock by a couple of years) I would have gotten myself to the library and spent hours looking up books and magazines. I mention that for those of you who take our time efficient modern living for granted. But I digress. So I Googled Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and started by watching her lovely and ever so helpful how-to videos. From there, I branched out, looking at several web sites and reading about what others were doing. And then I found her: Tricia Migliore Kuntz in New York, aka the Purple Painted Lady!!! Now Annie will always be my first love, since she invented my new obsession. But the Purple Painted Lady is definitely my latest Crush. I read her blog ALL. THE. TIME. So much in fact that sometimes I wonder if it could qualify as stalking. Tricia, if you're wondering who that person from Toronto is who shows up over and over and over again in your SEO stats, it's me. I am a huge fan.

The Purple Painted Lady is an extremely informative, helpful, and inspiring blog and Tricia is oh so talented. I have absolutely no fantasy that I could ever create anything as beautiful as Tricia does in her workshop. She is a true artist. I am not. However, and here is the great thing, with Annie's paints and Tricia's helpful tips, I can do a pretty good job and have a really lovely time while I'm at it. Hint: watch Tricia's video on how to apply wax!!

The other place I have been trolling is Pinterest. If you aren't on Pinterest you are totally missing the boat. But I warn you: once you set foot in it you may not come out for hours. I started a pin folder to get ideas for redoing the dresser. I had a pretty good idea from the start that I wanted to get rid of the old 1960's brown thick as paint stain and lighten her up a bit. But something told me at the same time she should have a little kick of colour. Not being particularly artsy, I chose to collect images that I liked and see what emerged from there.

And that is how I decided she would morph from a dull, mousy brown old girl to  light and youthful in a Swedish blue chapeau. Translation: Old white everywhere except the very top, which I painted in a gorgeous custom blue mix (Napoleon Blue and Duck Egg in a 50-50 mix, then Napoleon mixed with clear wax, a very light wash of Duck Egg, and then dark wax). I decided to leave the hardware untouched. It was all original and over half a century old, so it has a lovely patina.

Now, because I started working on her before I started to blog, there is no 'before' picture. BUT, I do have a pic of another piece that is part of the set (and which I am happy to say hubby would like painted as well). It will give you an idea of how she looked before:

See what I mean? very sad.

 

And here she is now:

 

 

 

Look at the lovely coverage you get with this paint. It is the absolute perfect paint for someone like me, who you would never hire to paint your walls because I always seem to leave them streaky. But chalk paint dries smooth and has such a rich look after a "full" first coat and a lighter second coat (cut the paint with a little water for your second coat). Annie calls this one and a half coats. (OMG I have never met her but I just called her Annie!)

 

 

What do you think of the blue top? The photograph doesn't do justice to the depth and richness of the color. And, although I am happy with how she turned out she is far from perfect.

 

I learned a lot about applying wax by doing this project. For example, there is a BIG difference between wiping off the excess (which you must do every time you apply wax, no matter how much or little you apply) versus taking off the paint under it! LOL.  The other thing I learned is that it is best not to use a cloth that can wrinkle or that has a texture when wiping or buffing your wax. This project was done with cheesecloth and it did leave little "cuts" in the wax. But I believe we learn a lot not just from our own mistakes but also from other people's. So, if you can learn from my misadventures, I am happy. 

So that's the story of the little brown dresser. Do you think she looks like she needs a little something on top? A lamp? Well, there was this ugly little red lamp... but that is for my next post!

Blessings,
The Duchess of NewLife