I was feeling sentimental about an old piece of furniture I’ve had for many years and couldn’t get rid of it.  I remember purchasing it when we were first married at Bombay Company and back then I was really into traditional dark wood furniture.  (Actually, I still am!)  Anyway, this old console table sat in our entryway for years and then I got tired of it and stored it in our garage but I couldn’t bring myself to part with it since I still kinda liked it, if only for old time’s sake.

I was looking around our living room last week and I was thinking “that one wall sure could use a skinny console table” and then I remembered, oh yeah, I have one.  But I wasn’t fond of the dark wood anymore, I wanted a medium shade of gray (predictable, right?) so that’s what it got.  A new coat of paint in ‘French Linen’.

It was nice in dark wood, but I didn’t love it in dark wood and that’s the key really if you don’t love it, paint it.  So I did.  And now it totally works and it’s looking fab in sophisticated gray with gold detail.  This month it’s looking all cute holding some seasonal decor where it sits on the wall catty corner to the fireplace.

Here’s the quick play by play on its makeover.  I always lightly sand everything I paint to get rid of any debris – no need to get rid of all the varnish or top coat, just a little scuffing works best.

Wipe it down and get painting!  I used AS Chalk Paint in ‘French Linen’ with what was leftover from the apothecary chest that sits on the other side of the space.  (If you use Chalk Paint or Milk Paint you don’t have to prime first, but if you use latex or enamel paint, you do have to use primer first, more on that here.)

I’ve used AS Chalk Paint enough to know it’s durable and easy to apply.  I love that it’s a perfect “I feel like painting indoors” kind of paint since you don’t have to drag your piece outside to prime it you can just grab a beverage and start painting which is really one of my favorite things to do in life, drinking something tasty and slapping on paint.

I enhanced the little medallion detail and feet with another favorite product, Rub ‘n Buff in ‘Gold Leaf’ applied with a small artist’s brush.

After two coats of paint, I used the AS Clear Wax as a protectant (although Briwax and Johnson’s Clear Wax work too).  I use a soft cloth to apply it and then buff it out.

More detailed furniture makeovers in the gallery including my favorite paints for furniture.  Here’s what the console table looked like last week, kinda plain and old fashioned.

I much prefer it in gray.

Gotta love when you can use what ya got, right?

For the wall, I created this ‘Joy to the World’ print and framed it in 11 x 14” after printing it at my local Costco for a few bucks.

If you’re interested in printing one for yourself, here are a few more colors!

Download them here:   BLUE GRAY   /   PINK   /   RED  /   GREEN

Sources: the wall paint color formula is here, the story on the DIY picture frame wainscoting is here.  The gold basket holds branch clippings from my neighbor’s tree removal (score!) and it belongs to a set I bought from Joss & Main over the summer.  The white branch tree I found on clearance at Beverly’s Crafts two years ago, the hammered gold base vase was a clearance find from Tarjay.

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Tags: before and after, chalk paint, DIY, printables

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