#paris gray

Whenever I'm on the hunt for furniture pieces to paint, I'm always most excited when I find a pair of nightstands I really love.  For some reason, pairs of nightstands never seem to stay together.  I always find single pieces, knowing that their partner is off in some other antique store, waiting to be purchased.  But single nightstands just aren't as popular. So finding a great looking pair like this is a real jackpot!

I was immediately drawn to the deep decorative moulding design on the fronts of the drawers. The shape almost reminds me of a quatrefoil, and has a very distinguished, classic style. Normally, I would have painted these white, but I was fresh out, and my personal preference when it comes to furniture is gray anyway.

Being my neutral of choice, I've used a lot of this particular shade, Annie Sloan's Paris Gray. All of the paints from her line vary a bit in coverage, but Paris Gray covers so quickly, allowing just a little bit to go a long way. Just to give you an idea: my one can was able to paint a large dresser, coffee table, pair of side tables, these nightstands, and was used to lighten some other colors I have on hand!

In bright sun, it reads almost white, and then at night with just a bedside lamp to illuminate it, it becomes a much softer gray. I brought out the original ash wood tones and darkened brass hardware by distressing along some of the curves and ridges of the drawer fronts and edges, which allows the protruding details to stand out even more.

Every time I paint with this shade of gray, the furniture feels less like something old and dowdy from the 60s or 70s and so much more like a beautiful antique from France. I'm continually amazed at what color can do to transform a piece.

Okay, so it's not exactly '50 shades', [more like 5] but I just had to make the reference.  Regardless, this is one sexy dresser, if I do say so myself.  It's actually my most coveted painting project I've completed thus far. [I know, I know I say lots of my pieces are my 'favorite' but I actually mean it this time!]

I didn't even want to style it with anything [but the obligatory nosy cat] because the paint treatment is so striking on its own. To create the ombre effect, I created a base color; a mixture of Annie Sloan's Paris Gray, Olive, Duck Egg Blue and Graphite...a clear sign I was on the tail end of quite a few cans of paint.

I removed the drawers, and painted the remainder of the dresser in the darkest base color.  Then with each drawer, I would lighten the base using a combination of Old White and Duck Egg Blue. It took some experimenting, but it wasn't all that difficult to do!

This dresser had a really beautiful wood grain and texture from the paint [the paint was thicker than usual because I was using the last dregs of several cans to create the colors]. I decided to make the texture more pronounced by creating a colored wax.  I combined just a small amount of Paris Gray paint with clear wax, and mixed it thoroughly to form a gray paste.  

The results have a bit of a limed oak look, but more subtle. The surface actually looks and feels more like a stone surface, which really needs to be seen in person to appreciate it. The variations in color make it all the more luxurious and custom.

The gray wax also did a phenomenal job bringing out the intricate details in the dresser, particularly in the scalloped detail at the dresser's base. 

I also lightly distressed the edges and knobs on the dresser, just to provide some contrast and to show off the original warm wood tones.