Cottage Chic

"Margaux & Marguerite"

We recently found these two tacky looking ladies that definitely needed a little help if they were going to regain their past glory.  Although they were solid structurally, their drab yellow color and shinny gold detailing made them very dated and quite honestly, U.G.L.Y.

  

Luckily, this was a problem that could be easily solved with just a bit of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!

Initially we weren't quite sure what look we were going for but we knew we wanted to soften their overall look while still showing off all their beautiful lines.  

When we found a home for them in a lakeside cottage we knew immediately what we needed to do...

 We started by painting them with the color Coco.  This is a warm brown/grey color that works beautifully alone or as base color to apply on pale pieces like these.

Then we applied a crackle medium to the recessed portions of the drawer & cabinet fronts and quickly covered the crackle with Old White paint.   (Even though both pieces would eventually be completely covered in Old White, we needed to do these areas separately because the crackle dries very quickly.)   

Some people might stop at this point, preferring the strong contrast between the two colors but we were going for a softer look.

Crackling was a great way to add character and interest to the piece and to really set off the surrounding details without bringing in another solid color.

We finished painting over the rest of each piece with the Old White, pretty much covering the stronger Coco color that we had initially applied.

Finally, we began sanding down areas here and there, bringing out more of the Coco color, giving these pieces a beautiful, worn look.

Last but not least, we had inside the cabinets on Margaux to play with so we threw in some Duck Egg Blue to give her more of that beachy, lake house feel.  This really created a nice contrast to the more neutral tones of the Coco and Old White on the exterior.

Of course with the garden in full bloom I couldn't help but to bring in some of that color too!

  What a change from the dreary, flat yellow & shinny gold!  It's amazing how a little paint can totally transform the look & feel of a piece of furniture and in turn an entire room, don't you think?

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