I got a call from a friend of mine about a head-board for her bed. She had acquired the head-board from a friend in a barter trade. She wanted advice on how to redo it. I dropped by her house admired it for a while then gave her advice on how to go about restoring it. The bed was beautiful and had such great character in all the carvings. After I left in the next few days things changed for her family and they were going to be moving. We all know moving is a full-time job with selling your home, finding a new home and packing. With all the exciting things happening she didn’t think redoing her had board could fit in. She called me to do it for her. I was excited to restore this piece and loved that she let me have full creative fun. That can be scary for some to do, but she just said do what you do.
I started with painting all but the framed inset white. I painted out the frames white but the inset a medium gray. The furniture was so dark it took 3 coats of the white chalk paint to get good coverage. Once all of it had dried I started the creative part of my plan. I wanted the framed inset to look like old white washed wood floors. This technique is done by using a rocking tool. You have to work extremely fast so the over lay paint doesn’t dry before you get the look you want. You only put on the layer of paint you are working on at the moment. Starting at the top you pull and rock the tool to the bottom. As you rock and drag it the wood texture starts to show. You can go back over it as often as you want to redo it. Be careful that the paint doesn’t start to dry or it will not look like wood more like a big mess. Around the edges I used my round chalk paint brush to tap out the edges where I started so they bend together. I also tapped out a little paint in other areas so that it had more of a worn look. It’s important to have drying time before you start to shabby chic it with the sander. I finished off the piece with a wax coat.
This bed is beautiful and the pictures really don’t do it justice. My friend was extremely happy with the results. She is promising to send me a picture of the bed fully dressed in her new home. I can’t wait to see it! We all get tired of the furniture we have but sometimes the budget doesn’t allow us to buy new. Take what you have and paint it to give yourself the feel of new. There are so many different ways to redo something do research on different ways that are popular right now. If furniture is still in good shape put just looks outdated all it needs is to be restored.
