A Soothing Summer Palette!

Yesterday’s project was a natural one to take on as the temps soared toward 100! That’s because the soothing colors in the fabric covering this bench reminded me of ice cream!

It’s a gorgeous Ralph Lauren serape print in brushed cotton. Much calmer and sophisticated than that of a lot of  serapes. Check out the diamond detail in the wide cream stripes; those threads are in relief and stand above the rest of the fabric. A lovely touch.

It’s a gorgeous bench now, but it started out as a lowly thrift store purchase. Very sound, but in that sticky, faux red mahogony that ruled the showrooms for so many years. And that red velour suggested an old movie theater seat had gone AWOL!

First, a good deglossing. I added a high-quality soy foam cushion to the pancake-flat seat, too.

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White, a creamy color to complement the main color of the fabric. It goes on heavy, then takes a coat of wax before distressing. It’s an interesting process; I knew I could count on it to age the wood…below…

…and, when recoated with wax, darken the wood underneath. It looks almost black now, to complement the narrow black stripe in the serape print.

Vastly improved, I think. Worth every sweaty minute it took to prepare!

So here’s a look at the final product again, reposing in the cool shade of the ivy-covered patio. I am thinking about that ice cream cone now!

Kim

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 at 12:31 PM. It is filed under Uncategorized and tagged with bench, chalk paint, Fabric. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.