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I’ve been working on transforming my small apartment space for the past few months. We had an old wood bed that we wanted to use as a daybed but it was in desperate need of a makeover. Because this may have been in style 20 years ago but now it stuck out like a sore thumb in the room.
If you have been following me you know that I am on a quest to make this room brighter and happier. Here in Greece we are used to the bright light and blue skies and when autumn rolls around it can feel gloomy for us. But with a bit of paint I hope to create a fun happy room that will shoo away those blues.
Now that sounds kind of funny considering that blue is one of the predominant colors in the room but you get the idea! We are going to get rid of the blues with a blue daybed.
What I used:
- DecoArt Americana Decor chalky finish paint in Everlasting
- sand paper
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DecoArt Americana Decor chalky finish paint in Escape
- DecoArt Metallics in Champagne
- water to dilute the paint
- my homemade beeswax
The How To:
Since the wood had a glossy finish to it, I sanded it down just a bit so the chalky paint would stick better.
After three coats it was done. But as pretty as that everlasting white may have been, I wanted something more. You see one side of the headboard and foot board was flat…
…but the other side had carvings to emulate the shape of the boards.
I painted the carvings with the Americana Escape which is a beautiful blue. But I wanted a softer look so for the central panel, I added water to the paint and did a white wash, or in this case a blue wash.
I just kept on randomly dragging brush strokes across the panel. I was trying to emulate a look of blue clouds.
And then this happened! And I loved it so much I tried to create more drops.
And I got so carried away … I ended up with this!
And then I really went over board and watered down some acrylic paint in champagne which is a metallic color. I brushed that on too. It gave a fine shimmer to the whole panel. Almost as if it had been kissed by champagne dust.
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Can you see the different shades and depth of the panel?
This technique is not for everyone but I particularly like it because it reminds me of the sea and the calm look of the bay. I had to stop myself from drawing a little boat on there.
And here it is in the small apartment. We are using it as a daybed. You can also see the bookcases I had painted a while back. And to the left of the daybed is the doily top side table. I’ll be sharing the rest of the work in the small apartment in the coming weeks, so this is just one corner of the space.
And so ends my story of how I managed to turn a dull wood bed into a fun daybed. Of course there was nothing wrong with the bed, but as you can guess it would have weighted down the rest of the room. I think that these pretty blues are so much fun and add a note of cheer to the room.
Would you have gone ahead and added a drawing of a boat?
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The small apartment series:
Keri Roberts
Wednesday 25th of October 2017
Mary, I love the effects you gave the headboard! It looks wonderful! Those blue tones are so lovely and soothing, what a beautiful space you've created!!
Mary
Wednesday 25th of October 2017
Keri it was quite a stretch for me but sometimes you have to try new things and see how the work out.
Katerina Konstantinou
Monday 2nd of October 2017
Great work Mary! It's bright and blue like a Greek island!
Mary
Tuesday 3rd of October 2017
Exactly Katerina! Just what I wanted to depict!
Linda at Mixed Kreations
Monday 2nd of October 2017
I hate to hear that you are having the blues Mary! I hope painting the daybed helped in getting rid of them. The bed turned out really pretty, you did a great job on it. I love the way you did the blue, and I love the distressing. Yes you should of went ahead and painted a boat. Then when you feel blue you can imagin your on the boat. 😊
Mary
Tuesday 3rd of October 2017
What a fun thought Linda. I wanted to keep things light and fun with this room so that in the winter when we only have a few hours of daylight we can still feel happy instead of feeling gloomy. I think most Greeks thrive on the sunshine.
Debrashoppeno5
Monday 2nd of October 2017
The daybed is so lovely. It certainly does look like water.
Mary
Tuesday 3rd of October 2017
Yay, that is what I wanted to hear. Thank you Debra!
Florence
Monday 2nd of October 2017
I liked the natural wood actually, but I LOVE the whitewash, and the blue in the middle is very cheery. It does remind you of the sea. Adding a boat would have been fine too, especially if you can draw. I can't.
Mary
Tuesday 3rd of October 2017
If I had left it with the natural wood it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. I also have no problem with the natural look, but in this case it just did not belong. Btw, I am not a drawer either but that never stops me. ;)