The choice of which bed to use was a no-brainer: his contemporary, teak king was the only option. He is twice my size and used to having the whole thing to himself. Squeezing him into my queen 4 poster might be considered torture in some countries. Now we had to decide on storage. My 4 poster is part of a suite of bedroom furniture from Ethan Allen, and the pieces didn't want to be split up so they will become the guest bedroom furniture. They've been work horses since the early 80's and deserve a little rest. I have a lovely bird's eye maple wardrobe and antique dresser w/mirror that have been used in a guest room in the past, but they are both too delicate for daily use, so they will be stored until we get the guest house fixed up and ready for occupation.
Which brings me to the obvious choice; my Pakistani Camel's chest, from M. Hayat & Bros. of Peshawar, Pakistan. It's a beautiful chest on chest made of sheesham (rosewood) with delicate brass inlays on the drawers. I have a similarly styled small chest that would be perfect for a night stand as well. It's obvious for a few reasons: despite the delicate brass inlay, it has very clean lines and isn't nearly as feminine as my other pieces; it's versatile and can be split up into two side by side chests or stacked as a chest of drawers; and most importantly it comes from a happy time and a place in my life; from the country where Alex and I met some 37 years ago.
The two sheesham chests will work nicely with his teak bed, but big as they are they will only fit my clothes, jewelry, etc. So additional drawer space was needed. In Alex's current bedroom is a pine armoire that's more designed for media than for clothing; besides it has so much going on with several styles of mouldings that it's a bit schizophrenic, and a small knotty-pine chest of drawers that is sturdy and functional, if not beautiful. I wasn't vibing either with the rest of the room, so I decided to start looking for a solution.
I thought something Baliesque would be a nice compliment to the current pieces - either bamboo or something carved, so we headed to import stores first. I love an import store, particularly World Market, but nothing spoke to me there. Same for Pier One. Their wooden pieces were more East Asian than we were looking for; and the bamboo-look pieces were just so overly frou-froued and massed-produced looking. We tried some consignment shops and a high end importer called East Indies Trading Co., and found lovely options, but all with hefty price tags. Our remodel was already waaaay over budget, so we couldn't rationalize the expenditure. We fell in love with the East Indies Trading Co. though and wanted to take a piece of it home. Alex spotted small carved wood pieces that one could hang on a wall, and bought one to hang a tapestry from. Otherwise we decided to move on. We had about 4-6 weeks before the bedroom would be finished so no need to rush. I would keep looking. (Notice that I said I would keep looking - I can happily do this til I drop, judging the merits of the various things I've looked at and even going back for a 2nd or 3rd look. Alex is good for about 2 hours!)
Which finally leads me to how I came to paint my first piece of furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. When we walked passed the window of High Falootin' Junk in Mt. Dora, my heart fluttered. When we stepped inside, it danced a little jig. I've already documented my appreciation for the shop and it's owner in yesterday's post, but just let me add that the shop awakened creative yearnings in me that I'd laid aside for the last few years.
When Alex and I perused the color chart, we both settled on Duck Egg quickly. It's in my favorite color palette, and would blend beautifully with the paint color we selected for our bedroom. We didn't know what we were going to paint, just that it would be something for our master suite. We discussed a few options, and then in true Alex fashion, he said "let's just see what presents itself", or something along those lines. Meaning: chill, think about it later, and let's enjoy our dinner and a trip to Orlando. Me, being a bit OCD, found this hard to do. My mind was running through every stick of furniture we owned.
I did manage to let go of my internal furniture ticker for the weekend, but on the long drive home my mind was back into design mode. I set my sights on the knotty-pine dresser. Alex agreed, and I wasted no time getting started. No sanding or prep work required - music to my ears! I cleaned and dried the surface of the dresser and got to work. ASCP brushes on nicely and dries very quickly. Second coats have a tendency to catch the first one, making it hard to complete your coat without brush strokes; something I found out first hand. Doing a little research, I learned you can combat this by dipping your brush in a bit of water, then into your paint, for a smoother stroke. I've had lots of success with this technique on later pieces.
I did a light sanding to distress the piece before putting on my first coast of wax - a mistake I won't make again. The chalk paint comes off in a fine powder that will blow everywhere if you've a ceiling fan on like I did. Read the directions! Put a layer of ASCP clear wax on after your paint, rub the excess off and let it dry before you distress your piece. Then, if you don't want a darker heirloom look, let the piece dry completely and buff to a soft shine. If you do want the heirloom look, dab bits of ASCP dark wax in corners/creases or brush it all over the piece and rub it into the clear wax. Use as much or as little as you like. Then follow with more clear wax on a clean cloth to rub off the excess dark wax until you achieve the level you are looking for. Let the piece dry for several hours or overnight, and then buff the finish in the direction of the grain to achieve a smooth finish. Whether you're using just the clear wax or a combination of both, make sure you are really working the wax into the paint to create a bond which will firm up and protect your piece over time.
For more inspiration and instruction: http://www.anniesloan.com/
I love the painted finish of the dresser. It has a such a smooth hand, and I even like the brush strokes resulting from my novice technique. I still felt it needed something to tie it into the room and give it that Baliesque vibe, and that's when I remembered the wood carvings I'd seen. I found three beautiful carved flowers that would fit in the middle of each drawer. I debated how to attach them and decided not to drill into them, but instead I affixed them with Gorilla Glue. I searched the net for the perfect knob to compliment the piece, and found some awesome scarab ones at Anthropologie, just about my favorite shop ever. http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/24224487.jsp I can't wait until they arrive! Here are some pictures of how the chest looks now. I love the flower carvings, but I'm not convinced they should stay unpainted. I'm going to wait until the knobs arrive and see what I think. I'm leaning toward painting them out to match the dresser, or in an accent color. What do you think?
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