Before and After : Ornate Vintage Headboard in Annie Sloan Paloma, Paris Grey, and Pure White

One of my most recent projects is a super cool distressed / cottage / shabby chic look with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint blended and layered in Paloma, Paris Grey, and Pure White! I love that it's a little bit of a departure from what I 'usually' do, but that it's still classic and gorgeously elegant - while still being a little down to earth and approachable!

This gorgeous headboard came from a bedroom set that included a beautiful small chest / nightstand that I painted in Antibes a few months ago.  Remember this adorable green piece on the left? One of my favorites! Well, this next project is a testament to the versatility of the Annie Sloan color line - these chalk paints can be bold and beautiful, or soft and sophisticated. And no, they don't pay me to say that.. I just really dig the vintage-inspired colors!

Anyway, I absolutely ADORE this carved oak bedroom set! I will probably paint the large chest of drawers in a beautiful neutral, but I would realllly love to see it in a fabulous jewel tone! In the meantime, I decided to play with some leftover custom blended paint and incorporate it into this project. Isn't it amazing how different this looks from the green chest now?

Read on to see how we achieved this awesomely shabby chic look!

Before and After PLUS Tutorial : Bombe style Chest of Drawers in Modern Masters Metallics

When the client approached me with her ideas for a metallic stripe on this super classic piece, it was the polar opposite of what I had anticipated. I was thinking of maybe doing Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Louis Blue or Paris Grey, with some Old White accents on the carved side details and feet, light distressing... So we did a lot of searching online to see examples that might help me to realize the vision she had her heart set on! Here's the enormous complete transformation!

Originally the vision was for a more subtle stripe, so we mocked up some sample boards with Annie Sloan Paloma blended with a few metallic colors and thought that would serve as the base, with the pure metallic color on top. However, the client really gravitated toward seeing more of the metallic luster, so we ended up electing to put Warm Silver and Pewter next to one another. Read on to see the rest of the tutorial!

Before and After : Vintage Highboy Chest with Ombre Drawers

I have wanted to try some new-to-me details lately, so I took a foray into Ombre! This vintage French Provincial chest of drawers was beautiful, but had some broken trim at the bottom that we removed, puttied, and sanded smooth. Then I painted the body of the dresser in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paloma, and poured some out into a sealable container. I added about two tablespoons of Old White to the Paloma, blended well, and painted two coats on the bottom drawer. I continued this until I had painted two coats on the top drawer to create a subtle gradation, and used the lightest color to highlight the floral detail as well.

I loved the end result!! I also did a small touch of sanding for just a hint at a shabby chic finish. I wanted to preserve the beautiful vintage feel of this chest of drawers. I adore the serpentine front as well! Note: I have seen Paloma described as a neutral taupe / gray color, but I found it to have a cool, almost purple undertone as well. It was beautiful, though, and I'll also be excited to see what it looks like with dark wax the next time I use it! This was a Project Pair with a Bombe style chest of drawers that is using Paloma as the under-layer beneath bold, modern metallics :).