Coastal Blues

Every year starting in the spring our custom painting schedule starts to fill up with furniture that have one thing in common - they’re going to a beach house. 
 
Painting beach house furniture is fun because for a lot of people, the beach house is less formal, more fun, and the decorating is a little more colorful. 
 
However, you don’t need a house at the beach to love the coastal look.  The casual feel is so comfortable that this style is at home just about anywhere...

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​A few weeks ago Rachel brought two large dressers and a nightstand to us to paint. The two dressers were going in different bedrooms and didn't need to match so Caroline worked with Rachel and together they came up with two very beautiful beachy looks.
 
Yesterday Paul and I delivered these pieces to their new home at the beach.  As I looked at each piece one last time before leaving, I thought about how different the two looks are but how quintessentially coastal each one is. 
 
This first look reminds me of my grandfather.  A customer spotted this chest in the back of the store after it was painted and said, “my, isn’t he handsome.” 
 
My grandfather’s career was spent in the US Navy.  The photos around my grandmother’s house all pictured my grandfather in uniform.  My favorite photo was one of my grandparents together at a special event. He was in his uniform and she was standing proudly beside him wearing an orchid corsage.  Anytime my grandmother saw me looking at that photo, she’d smile and say, “your grandfather was so handsome.”
 
This dresser is tall and handsome and with its straight lines and polished appearance, it evokes the same distinguished appearance as my grandfather in his Navy uniform.

​The process to create this look was pretty straightforward.  The entire piece was painted in Napoleonic Blue Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan.  Then Caroline went back with a detail brush and applied Old White Chalk Paint® to outline the drawers. 

If you look carefully you'll see that the top drawer looks like four small drawers, but it’s really just one large drawer, at first Caroline outlined the smaller ‘drawers’ in Old White but she and Paul both decided that it looked a little like the Greek flag.  That's an easy fix - Caroline just painted over the Old White with a little Napoleonic Blue.  Clear Chalk Paint® Wax was used to seal the dresser.

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​The second dresser has a curvy bow front reminiscent of ocean waves so a color wash in shades of blue and grey was the perfect finish.  

​Caroline painted the entire piece in Aubusson Blue Chalk Paint® then washed on beachy-blue Provence, followed by cool Paris Grey.  Again, the piece was finished with Clear Wax. 

​The nightstand is in the same room as this dresser so it was done with the same color wash but with the addition of Paris Grey to lighten and brighten the deep open areas.

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​There you go…two completely different looks using coastal blues. 

​Johanna