This past weekend I decided to paint an old West Elm sideboard I have in my apartment. I just wasn’t crazy about the dark wood finish anymore and I wanted to paint it a color that would be more complimentary to my new gold lamp. I’m still learning when it comes to painting furniture, so I was totally prepared for this to be a failure, but lady luck was smiling down on me and I am actually pretty happy with what I ended up with!
I think I probably broke a few rules when I painted this. First I mixed two colors of glossy latex enamel (blue and white) which gave me a pretty straight forward light blue color. As far as I know that kind of mixing is totally fine. Where it got a little iffy for me was that I added in a little bit of satin latex paint that I had under my sink…probably a no-no, but I don’t claim to be an expert! I added in the extra paint because I wanted to make the blue a little more interesting. And I am happy with the way the color turned out. Now we just have to wait and see if this paint job will last.
Anyway, the new color definitely works better with the gold lamp. And it also inspired me to swap some of my wall art and put my horse anatomy poster over the sideboard. I like where this is headed. I need to work on a tablescape for this, so I’ll get back to you on what I figure out. Tablescapes are definitely a topic I want to touch on as it is something I’ve always wanted to be better at.
Anyway, lemme know what you think of my latest DIY exploration. Am I a really bad girl for mixing those paints?
it looks great! i am thinking about painting a dresser in the bedroom…. did you prep/sand the sideboard at all before painting?
Hi Theresa,
Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, I just cleaned it to make sure there was no dirt or dust. I think it depends on the surface and material whether you need to sand it. I’m going to try and learn more about painting furniture so that I can share some general guidelines with everyone…and then next time I’ll know what I’m doing too!
Lauren
I always thought of “tablescape” as something scary that only Sandra Lee enthusiasts would do, but now I’m excited to see what you do with your new blue sideboard. Thanks for making me less afraid (but not totally comfortable with) the term “tablescape.” :)
One thing that I will solemnly swear is that any tablescapes I put on this site will in no way be related to Sandra Lee or the aesthetic of her Semi-Homemade cooking show. I swear on the life of my cat! I won’t do it, so don’t be afraid.
[...] openly admitted it in my last DIY project post that I don’t know what I am doing when it comes to painting furniture. I’m not ashamed [...]
I’ve been looking for this exact info on this subject for a while. Bookmarked and recommended!
with ‘we leave it to you to decide’.