Need decorating advice!
+6
I need some advice from all you wonderful, talented ladies. I rent a little cottage with a very small living room. The walls are real paneling painted a soft neutral buttermilk & I decorate with beige & dark red with some brown & green thrown in the mix in what is my own country French theme. If it looks old & has flowers, fruit or roosters it fits in. My loveseat & matching chair are beige, the TV cabinet is distressed white & the desk is stained honey pine, all which I've redone myself. My pride & joy is my 1950's dark red hutch where I display my plate & pitcher collections. My coffee table, repurposed from a bar table, has a metal base and an oval top with a very pretty wood grain and a beautiful, carved edge I want to highlight. I plan on using a whitewash, transferring a sign for a French cafe & coffee shop done in beautiful script then highlighting with a dark wax. Now the question, and thanks for your patience so far! I have a square end table with square legs, a shelf underneath and lots of fancy woodwork which my parents purchased 50 years ago, so I really want to use it. I'm taking some vacation days from work this week & really want to get these 2 pieces done but I just can't seem to visualize the end table! HELP? I love a 2 toned look as well as a combination of stain & paint & I'd really like some distressed black in there somewhere. Any suggestions? Sorry but I don't have any photos.
8 answers
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It would help if you could include pictures. Do you already have the map you are going to use?
Rose
on Apr 07, 2015
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Not sure what you mean by a "map"? Due to finances (I'm divorced & work full time to support myself) I don't have an Iphone so have no way of supplying photos.
Tammie Housley
on Apr 07, 2015
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The table has a ditch 3 inches or so in from the edge and I'm also considering ModPodging the center with a soft, French looking fabric or paper to soften all those square edges. Like a lot of pieces I've done, I may just have to start somewhere and let it come to me during the process.
Tammie Housley
on Apr 07, 2015
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do the legs in the distressed black & the top & shelf with stain. with the fancy woodwork you might not want to do the top like the coffee table.
Celia Massie
on Apr 07, 2015
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...Even without photos, I think I have a visual on your table. I agree with the whitewash of your piece you mentioned, and as far as the end table...I would not stray too far off of a similar finish that you will be doing on the coffee table. They do not have to be ' matchy- matchy'...but I would make them feel ' similar' in finish, to tie the two together and not make them feel ' disjointed'. You could do a black as a base coat, and let that ' show through' a little with some distressing after your finish coat of white ( or off white or whatever you are using) ..and you could stencil a beautiful design on the top, in a ' almost black ' color , to add some of the black you desire to use. I dont have an I phone, but my droid takes photos, I send them to my email and upload to my computer. :)
Shelby @ The Weathered Barn Studio
on Apr 07, 2015
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Thanks so much for the suggestions. After thinking about it for a bit I think I'm going to do the entire base in a distressed black, after all, the metal base of the coffee table is black, and then do the top in the same finish as the coffee table. I think you're right Shelbybella and the 2 pieces do need to be somewhat cohesive. Even though they have totally different shapes I think them both having black bases & whitewashed tops will bring them together. Now I just have to come up with a design to transfer to the top of the end table. I've done a lot of refinishing & distressing but never the transferring so wish me luck. If they turn out well I'll try to find a way of posting a photo. Guess I still live in the bronze age. My phone doesn't have internet access either! :)
Tammie Housley
on Apr 07, 2015
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Well, what I usually do is work on the piece that I have the clearest idea, and think about the other while I am doing it! Then, if I still don't know, I start googling images like crazy, taking note of what I am drawn to, while I am sitting in the room and viewing the piece in question. I know this is a comment on the 'how' I decide and not 'what' I decide, but I hope it helps.
Duv310660
on Apr 08, 2015
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This is my advise, take the piece as is and place it in the spot you want it to be. With French being your theme and having broad choices as to color, it truly is up to you I would consider doing the top white, with some decoupage flowers and I would antique/age the top, the bottom I would keep in the natural tones, perhaps be brave and do a small banding of color like a piping of color, I would be brazen and use something like gold, My color pallet is quite similar to yours Cream Burgundy, Tan, and natural woods. with hints of green, Roosters Apples and Roses. French Colonial .
Lee Cunningham Green
on Apr 08, 2015
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