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Dining with Queen Anne (Before & After)

My client, Colleen, called me looking for a little Annie Sloan Chalk Paint help.  She had some beautiful Queen Anne dining chairs, but she felt they were a little too dark for her taste now.  She wanted to add some grey to her dining room while keeping her current dark cherry dining table.

Queen Anne Chair (Before)

Colleen decided to paint the wainscoting in her beautiful dining room Bunny Gray by Benjamin Moore and it is stunning:

Bunny Gray Walls

The molding really pops and makes such a statement, especially against the black and white wall paper.  She really loved the deep red and gold fabric on her chairs and I thought it would go pefectly with a new paint job.  The color in this photo makes it look lighter and more magenta but it is a rich red:

Seat Fabric

We selected Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey for the chairs.  Paris Grey is a wonderful color because it is neutral but classy.  Here’s how they were looking when I was working on them in my kitchen:

Chairs in progress

Doesn’t the grey show off the lovely curves and details of the chairs?  I had all eight dining chairs in my studio (kitchen) and worked on small areas at a time.  After thoroughly washing down the furniture and coating in clear shellac I applied two coats of Paris Grey.  I did two coats of ASCP clear wax to seal the chairs and then applied dark wax mixed with clear wax and mineral spirits.  I worked slowly in sections wiping away as I went:

Dark Wax

The dark wax changed the color of the grey and gave the chairs a bit of an aged patina.  The dark wax works so well with the dark wood dining table and the hutch.

I dropped off Colleen’s chairs on Saturday and she loved them!  She said, “Walking down the stairs today, I was SO HAPPY seeing my chairs!”  It is so magical for me to work on pieces for clients and have their vision transformed into reality.  I guess you guys probably want to see how they came out, huh?  Well, here’s how Queen Anne’s looking now:

Queen Anne Chair (After)
What do you think?
Linking to:
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Jenny @ Simcoe Street
11 years ago

These look great! What a nice refresh

Jenny
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

pam {simple details}
11 years ago

Gorgeous ~ love that fun, lively fabric choice!

beachcomber
11 years ago

great job! love the choice of colour.
x

Dear Emmeline
11 years ago

Just curious Danielle. Does using the shellac before paint make a huge difference? And what kind do you use. I’ve heard of using it so that stains don’t come through the paint. Is that why you use it?

The gray, red, and black are a great color combo!

Danielle
11 years ago
Reply to  Dear Emmeline

I use the clear shellac by zinsser to prevent knotting (the stain bleeding through). For some reason this happens with some of the stains used in American furniture. It is pretty easy and doesn’t take much time. Wipe on with a cloth (rather than brush).

Donna Wilkes
11 years ago

Love the fabric and the color. Perfect against the wall color.

Tammy
11 years ago

Lovely! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this at Rustic Restorations Weekend!

Patti-Ann
10 years ago

Hi Danielle, why the clear, dark, mineral spirits combination?

Danielle
10 years ago
Reply to  Patti-Ann

Patti-Ann, I use the clear and dark wax to lighted up the dark wax and mix mineral spirits with it so it is easier to apply. I feel like it slides on better mixed with the mineral spirits.