Yep, you read that right, this formal french piece started out as an epic furniture fail. So what better to do than share my failure with the whole world, lol.
My vision for this piece was a formal French salon, ornate vintage-looking details, that really played up those curves.
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The look I ended up with wasn’t what I originally envisioned but that’s ok! It happens all the time. This is a very normal part of any artistic process including painting furniture.
Materials Mentioned
Primer Cleaner. Paint vintage duck egg, peppercorn Lace transfer Wax in White, Black, and Brown Wood u bend Mouldings Bondo Paint in shades of beige for top repair Gold decor wax Satin clear coat
I found this curvy French console on my local marketplace. It started out with an over all brown color and had been sitting in my unfinished inventory for quite awhile until it took on this new finish and created quite the buzz.
Before
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After a thorough cleaning, I started with a base of Slick Stick, then a smooth coat of Dixie Belle Silk all in one mineral paint in a 50/50 mix of Serenity and Tide Pool, it was gorgeous!
A beautiful color mix
I thought I’d add break-away powder glaze to the details , boy was that wrong.
I sprayed my powder glaze and went about rubbing it away, only to hate the look. It looked dirty and I just knew this was a mistake, not the direction I wanted at all.
Gross
Thankfully, this was a water-based product, so I abandoned this process and blended on a beautiful trio a coat of chalk mineral paint instead. I started with a base coat of Vintage Duck Egg, highlighted the centers with Drop Cloth, and shade around the edges with Hurricane Gray.
Much better in a new coat of Paint
I decided to add the Lace Transfer up the sides. I think that all those curvy lines complement the curvy nature of this french furniture piece.
The two large sides took 2 transfers, but I have a couple of sheets left over for another future project. I like that this transfer can be run vertically, horizontally, or in a rectangle design.
Adding the lace transfer
I used a razor to cut away the excess transfer after I already placed it, this made it easy to fit the transfer right into the curved body of this piece.
Now it was time to use Wax to and that depth I had been looking for around the edges and details. the gold really accentuates all those curves.
With my brown, black, and white waxes blended in, it still looked a bit plain on the front, so I added Wood u bend mouldings to the bottom two drawers.
Better with Wood uBend
The original marble top was chipped, so I filled it with Bondo and sanded it flush. Then I did my best painting it to match. This saved an otherwise beautiful top from needing replacement.
My hardware was dry brushed in Cotton, given a coat of Gray Wax, then a bit of Gold Gilding Wax.
Although this french furniture piece started with a rough day, it became a beautiful color blend with lots of detail.
Watch the Full French Furniture Transformation!
Just remember not to get frustrated with yourself… this one threw me a curveball! The final product is more beautiful than what I envisioned, and it took a slight detour to get there!
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