Vintage Pink Painted Sideboard and a Birthday Girl

Thank you for all your sweet comments and emails from my last post. I'm glad you love reading here and seeing my latest furniture projects. I've got something quite special but definitely different to my normal style to share today. A huge PINK sideboard. Not something I ever thought I would be doing but I love the end result (in the right setting...probably not something I could live with though as I'm not a pink girl).

But this piece will be centre stage at events styled by the gorgeous Mary Ronis from Scribble and Style. and I think it will be fabulous.

I didn't take the best photos as it was too heavy for me to move inside by myself and the light was fading but I'll make sure Mary sends me some photos from when she has styled it for an event.

This breakfront sideboard originates from Egypt, painted in the French style. It was pretty enough before I painted it but was not the look Mary wanted and it was badly chipped and worn.

Mary has asked for me to paint it using this piece below she'd found on the Internet as inspiration. One of the problems I faced was the inspiration sideboard below had lots of ornate detail for the dark wax to settle in but the sideboard I was asked to paint was relatively plain. I solved that problem by adding moldings and using a cross hatch style of painting to create brush marks for the wax to settle in.

The paint is still drying in the above photo but you can see how plain the sideboard is. In the photo below the left side has been antiqued and the right side is still to be waxed. it makes a big difference doesn't it.

Here is a close up of the finished detail.

I spent a lot of time and effort on this sideboard. I gave it a couple of coats of primer because the sideboard had been chemically treated on importation. The initial colour that Mary's client selected was a good tone way too dark so I then painted it half strength and it was still no where near the inspiration photo so I diluted the paint to quarter strength. I then applied several coats of a water based sealer to the top of the sideboard so Mary can easily clean it. As this is used at events I can just imagine people spilling drinks on it or leaving half eaten cake on it and I don't feel that wax is the best sealer for that. For the rest of the sideboard I applied clear and dark wax.'I also replaced the hardware on the doors and added the mouldings. Some pieces are a tonne of work but finally Mary and I were happy with the piece.

Even James Gordon approved on Instagram which was a little thrill. He described it as heavenly!

What do you think of my big pink sideboard?

I also held a painting class this week and it was a lovely day. I have received such beautiful feedback from the painting classes participants and I love seeing people improve their skills and gain confidence. The August classes are now fully booked so if you are interested in learning to paint or improving your furniture painting skills then stay tuned for the next released of dates.

I finished the week with my sweet daughter's birthday and a party for her last night. 

These girls are all so gorgeous and fun. They played basketball for a few hours before having homemade pizza, frozen yoghurt and some chocolate macarons I made (using an adaptation of this recipe) in front of an old favourite movie (Ella Enchanted). Just a lovely afternoon.

I need to do some painting today to finish a vanity for a client but I'm exhausted and finding it hard to get motivated ...maybe another cup of coffee is needed.

Wishing you a good weekend
Fiona xx