I love this French Country style chair that my client and I found at a local thrift store. We needed a simple piece for the entryway of her Mediterranean style home. While the original black and white did pop to begin with, we wanted to alter it to make it a better fit with the home’s earth toned interior and I pictured it as a Scandinavian piece.
The blue gray paint by Dunn Edwards is called tarnished silver and the fabric is a gorgeous block printed linen from Deco Home, one of my favorite fabric sources in LA!
This mirror was a gift. Can you believe that someone just GAVE it to me?
It’s cute, right?
Today, I have a one quick trick to update a mirror instantly by using a bit of white paint. I’m a big fan of altering accessories to bring style into a space. Although, it was a cute gilded piece before… it didn’t match our bedroom and lacked continuity.
A few coats later of Heirloom White by Rustoleum did the trick! The walls of our room are more of a creamy white too. I didn’t want to lose the depth and details of the handcarved wood, so I added in some silver leafing and a green patina using MetalEffects (my fave).
I have another Before and After that I’ve been working on for weeks, and I can’t wait to reveal it to you.
I wanted to share with you a quick little redo that I have been saving in my studio until my show had wrapped up! Here it is before on the left. All white and totally retro…
and on the right, a whole new modern look! I just love the Corallo printed wallpaper by Cole and Son. The print kind of reminds me of trees. I used the gold and silver version, but here it is up close in red.
The Fornasetti Collection is something that has caught my interest for quite some time.
Happy Monday friends.
Well, I’ve been working on this Little Red dresser all week! While, I liked her charm and character, I wanted to create a more feminine piece. Plus, she was really banged up!
I opted for a dusty violet paint color that I mixed by hand. I also taped of all of the iron detailing and buffed it gold using Rub n’ Buff. I prefer the antique gold because it is less shiny!
The piece already had great curves. Wanna peak inside the drawer?
I found these knobs at Anthropologie and chose them for the shape, color and texture. There are tiny bumps on each one, which kind of reminds me of a sea urchin! This picture shows how plum-y she can look depending on the light.
I’m still workin’ on her. What do you think of the new shade, is it a keeper?
So, I bet you would’ve never guessed that I’ve been hiding out in my studio all week, since I’ve been back, working on this vintage, soon to be antique, Secretary’s Desk. When I got it, it was a sight for sore eyes! My neighbor thought that I would enjoy restoring it and fixing it up more than he would, so…I got to work!
I loved the shape of this piece especially. I thought of a dark wood Jacobean desk with shiny gold knobs, I had seen a while back.
Inside there is plenty of built-in storage, aplace to hold papers, letters, books, a envelopes. For a stationery lover or a writer, this would be a dream!
I almost put shiny gold knobs here, but when I came across these brass pulls, I changed my mind. I had to include this photo because of the blue light in the background. I buffed and shined the surface of the wood with Howards Feed in Wax. It is a natural way of sealing wood and does not emit any harsh fumes. The wax simply penetrates the grain of the wood and hardens. Then, the surface can be polished to a high shine! I prefer this method of finishing wood these days.
Overall, the color of the desk is dark, rich, and stately; but in direct sunlight the stain becomes warm allowing the wood grain to stand out.
Why don’t they make more beautiful carved wooden furniture these days?
Turns out my last post was lucky 100 and I missed it! I guess that I’d been anticipating it for so long the moment just escaped me. To commemorate this event I’d like to get back to the roots of this blog with a before and after reveal!
Behold the white coffee table, before any work was done.
Renewed with a slippery black sheen.
I buffed the tips of the legs gold and applied countless coats of black paint with a foam roller, all the while perfecting my smooth roll, I’m on a mission to accomplish. Then, I applied two wonderful coats of an oil based polyurethane gloss. That’s our living room, you see in the background.
I like how the table top really reflects the light and it’s modern feel too. You can see our new Vera pillow has found a home. Have you got any pics of updated furnishings you’d like to share? Send me a pic. I love to see your creativity.
Tonight, I’m off to Grand Performances to see Caravan Palace, a popular Parisian group…
This week has been such a beautiful one. It started with the misty rain and ended with a sweet redo!
This table used to be yellow with rustic country charm. We had been using it much like a garden table filling it up with plants, watching as it quickly became dusty with soil. This little table is an antique, but was in no condition to be restored. I still liked the grace of it’s lines and the keyholes. A collector once told me it was probably a 1920′s wash table with a mirror attached. I always saw it’s original potential.
I think I like the pale pistachio paper and pink birds even more against the white.
I’ve been building a replacement for the garden, inspired by this tiny photo.
Now, I wouldn’t dare to set a dirty potted plant on this lovely white!
For custom pieces, please inquire hilary.hahn@pinkpianos.com.
Pink Pianos is a place to connect the dots between Art, Design, and worldly inspiration. Pink Pianos showcases new ideas and vintage resurfaced furniture products.
