I have a wonderful client, Stacy, who brought me this secretary desk to paint for her. It was previously painted a lovely crap brown, but thank goodness whoever painted it did a great job!
She saw a picture of it on Craig’s List and bought it from the store over the phone… a little dangerous not knowing what kind of shape it was in… but thank goodness it was in good shape and the price was right!
She lives about an hour away so she mailed me her candle holder and pillow case to help pull color inspiration from…
I chose Aubusson Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the exterior and for the interior I made custom mix of ASCP in order to achieve a very beautiful Coral Chalk Paint color (equal parts Emperor’s Silk, Barcelona Orange & Antoinette)
I also added her monogram using transfer paper and black paint pens (SUPER low tech)…
I just LOVE how it came out… now what else can I monogram
I heavily distressed this piece and I just adore the way the it looks! Check out the bow front drawers!
After distressing I waxed the desk in clear wax then dark wax to achieve this look.
The original knobs were wood so I replaced the drawer knobs with these great lions head pulls, which I think coordinate perfectly with the feet! The upper knobs are very small so Stacy is going to try and hunt down some small glass ones to replace them, until she finds them these will do as I painted them to match the pulls.
Love me some ball and claw feet!
I still have to reinstall the glass in the upper cabinet, but it is so much easier to take a picture without it so I just left it out for now…
It is still hot and humid here in Virginia which makes sanding down chalk paint a little bit of a bear… but that is all I can complain about with this paint!
I hope you liked the new look for the secretary desk, personally I think she is much happier… blue is definitely her color!
Thanks for stopping by… until next time!!
Linking up to these great parties!
Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, The Dedicated House, Elizabeth and Co., The Ivy Cottage, Primitive and Proper, A Stroll Thru Life, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, From My Front Porch to Yours, My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Live, Love, Laugh
I was featured!
This looks fabulous! Terrific distressing job and love the color combination too
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Thanks Tammy! My kids wanted to keep this one, they were bummed that we couldn’t! Hope you are staying cool!
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its awesome susan great job
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That’s a really pretty piece in a beautiful color combination!
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I think you did a wonderful shop,I can feel the talent and care you took to make this a wonderful peice. The color you picked…I really like and think the desk I did…I made a mistake and should have done in a blue or turq color…you did a great job and the color for interiour is marvelous.I know the customer will be very happy with the look…..best to you and think you do great stuff…reason for me to have your posts sent to my email…I think those who do this are telling you….We feel you are talented and you do great stuff and we want to see it ….right away….thank You.Kathryn
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You did a fantastic job! I love the color and the piece it is just stunning.
Cynthia
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I love the coral, one of my favorite colors! It really looks fantastic against the blue.
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Wow! I love this refereshing modern color scheme on this piece. Move her right into the library!
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It really is just beautiful. Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see your prettiness again next Monday. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
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Beautiful piece!
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just stunning! love the color combo and LOVE the feet and distressing!
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Wow! well done. It turned out gorgeous.
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love the way this turned out, you did a wonderful job,
i would love to feature it, if that would be ok with you please let me know
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Thank you! I would love for you to feature it! Very excited 😉
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That secretary looks wonderful now. You did a fantastic job.
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Awesome job. Love that color combo. Very bold.
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this looks beautiful, i adore those colours they work so well with each other
i would love for you to join us at our link party over at live love laughs linky
hope to see you there. xx
http://live-love-laugh-interiordesign.blogspot.com.au/
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just love the color combination that you used on the piece. great job.
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I love the monogram! What a great transformation!
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GORGEOUS! Love those colors together. Thanks for sharing at wow and it will be one of the features tomorrow night.
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Thanks Kim! I am thrilled to be featured… it helps motivate me when others like what I do!
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My grandparents had one that looked just like this I wish I would have kept it so I could redo it but was young when they moved.
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This one was already painted brown (why?) when I got it so I didn’t feel bad painting it… some you find are in great condition though as they are rarely used and are more of a decorative piece. I happen to know my client will be using hers… You can always keep your eye out for a “new” one as most grandmothers would not be happy about someone painting their antique 😉
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Which ASCP colors did you mix to get coral? I’ve been dying for a coral in ASCP!
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I mixed Emperor’s Red, Barcelona Orange and Antoinette 1:4:1 ratio to get this color, which pulls to the pink side of Coral. Red & Orange (1:4) pulls more to the orange side but test these to get the color that works best for you! Use an eye dropper and scrap wood… It helps! Have fun!
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Goodness, this is the prettiest painted piece I’ve seen in a long time. I love the monogram and the distressing. Beautiful.
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Just wanted you to know i’m featuring your gorgeous secretary on my blog Saturday-have a lovely day!
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WOW! Thanks Claire.. I am honored!
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Oh wow! I love the colors that you choose. This looks fabulous!
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Lovely! I came across this while looking for color ideas for an early American style secretary with hutch that I am about to paint. Did you paint with coral first on the body? Or is that the original brown that comes through after distressing?
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Thanks so much Kay! The brown you see coming though the blue is the original brown… well the original brown paint that someone painted it.. But brown for sure!
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Thanks so much. Getting ready to do one .
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Hi Susan, love it. Did you water down the Aubusson prior to painting? How many coats of blue did you use? What a talent.
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Hey Cassie thanks so much! It was a while back when I painted this piece, but I’m sure I didn’t water the paint down and I probably did 2 coats as I rarely ever had to do more than 2 with ASCP. Hope this helped!
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This desk is beautiful. Do you know of a source for the lions head pulls?
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Thanks Trish! Those pulls are Amerock brand, I just googled them and Home Depot is just one of the many places you can buy them from.
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