Girl in Pink: Colonial Style Frenchified

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Colonial Style Frenchified

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine asked if I would be interested in some furniture that she was just about to post for sale on Craigslist. Lucky me! Of course I jumped on the offer. She and her husband even insisted on delivering the pieces to my home! Well I think that was the easiest furniture purchase I have ever made! Right away I knew that I wanted to put a French spin on this traditional Colonial style desk, mirror and chair!

For this soft grey I mixed approximately 3 parts Pure White to 1 part French Linen. Each piece received 2 coats of this custom mix. Next, I accented details with Old White and Gold Gilder's Wax. I really would have loved to trade out the hardware for some French Provincial pulls, but it just wasn't in the budget for this piece.

After some light distressing, I sealed the new finish with Annie Sloan's Clear and Dark waxes.

The desk and mirror had plenty of detail but the chair was lacking. I paid a visit to my very dear friend Phyllis at The Purple Pear this week and picked up a few appliques including this lovely pair of flourishes. Another friend had commented that the mirror that came with the desk and chair looked like it had wings! I thought to myself, "how fun would it be to add a set of wings to the back of the chair?"

As you may have noticed, I trimmed up the appliques just a bit to make them more wing-like. I am pretty much smitten with my Frenchy applique wings. I will be on the lookout for more furniture to add wings to!

The desk top was almost pristine and a really nice, thick piece of mahogany...no veneer! I just lightly sanded a few spots and gave it a good coat of wax.