Dear Readers, please give Cathy some advice! We are looking forward to your ideas!
Last week, you all gave Thea creative and imaginative suggestions for her brick fireplace makeover. She was thrilled with the response and is going to send me pics of her new and improved hearth soon. She wants to say thanks to everyone!
Now on to this week!
Cathy repurposes furniture and has a shop called Lucy Locketts (you can find her on Facebook). She has had this empire coffee table sitting in her workshop for a while now just waiting for inspiration to strike. Cathy stripped the top but hasn’t stained it yet. She applied a coat of Annie Sloan Coco on the base but feels it is too “blah”. She wrote asking what direction I would take it.
It’s the exact same as my coffee table in my living room that I found in a thrift store and just love.
On any piece, I always stain the wood first and paint after. It is a lot easier to find a complementary paint color to stain than vice versa. If Cathy chooses a very dark stain, such as General Finishes Java, then an antique white base with a dark glaze will look amazing on the base. If she goes with a golden tone top, then blues will pop on the bottom. Or if she goes for a walnut tone, black will look fabulous. Stain first, paint second.
What Would YOU Do? Comment below! Cathy and I are looking forward to your ideas!
don;t see many of them in blue and i think it would just look fabulous xx
I can’t add anything to what you already suggested Suzanne. You’ve directed her in the right direction for sure.
The first piece of chalk painted furniture I ever saw was a dining table with a dark stained top and ASCP duck egg blue bottom with the chairs painted the same.
It was beautiful and if I could have sold my own dining room set in time ….I would have owned that duck egg blue beauty.
It sold within a week and one of these days I will paint one exactly the same.
Suzanne you’re spot on as always! But I do think a lighter bottom would be great. Right now it’s so dark it’s tough to make out the details
I would add a two tone stained design using both dark and lighter color stain on the top, dark or light base depending on the surrounding decor both would work well.
I vote for the Java stain with antique white bottom – love the combination of light and dark. Whichever direction you go, it’s a beautiful piece and will be (and is) gorgeous!
How about a dark walnut stained top (may need 2 coats) and a coat of antique white over the CoCo. Distress through the antique white in spots to let the CoCo show through. Some clear and dark wax over the paint and a few coats of satin finish sealer on the top would provide a nice contrast IMO.