Antique Highboy Dresser Painted in Blues and Green Chalk & Clay Paints

I love color.  If I knew they would sell, I’d paint every piece in a whimsical combination of vibrant colors.  It’s so much more fun!  I have to keep in mind though, that not everyone likes bold color, hence the neutral pieces you see in between.  I’ve been getting my itch lately to go back to my roots where I used to blend all sorts of colors.

This beautiful piece has fantastic bones but she had been well loved ~ like seriously loved.  The finish was covered in crayons, stickers…  I stripped and refinished the top using Zinsser’s Magic Gel Stripper, stained it with Jacobean stain and sealed with American Paint Company’s Dark Wax.  I did the same process to the two front legs.

The rest I painted with a combination of colors.  I dumped several colors on a plate and started painting.  There is no rhyme or reason when I do this, I just paint.  I usually use colors of similar value and adjacent to one another on the color wheel.

I painted this highboy in:

APC’s Beach Glass

APC’s Wedgewood

Frenchic’s Pea Soup,

Old Town Paint’s Mustard

Old town Paint’s Leaf Green

One plate, one brush and a bottle of water to spritz with which helps in blending the colors.  Our paints are so incredibly easy to work with.  All of these products are available for shipping from our Online Shizzle Shop at www.shizzle-design.com.  They’re also available in both our West Michigan locations listed at the bottom of our website www.shizzle-design.com.  If you don’t like this color combination, come up of one you do like and give it a try.

 

To tie the stained parts to the painted finish, I sealed the painted surfaces with a mixture of American Paint Company’s Clear and Dark Wax.  For this piece, I literally took a spoonful of each and literally blended them together.  This combination keeps the same color as the dark wax but it’s more translucent, allowing the paint colors to show.  If you use APC’s dark wax straight out of the can, test it on a scrap board or inconspicuous part of your piece to see if it’s too dark.  It can dramatically change your paint color, especially if it’s a lighter color so take the time to check it first.  If it is too dark, either go with clear or mix some clear in until you get the look you’re going for.