wash & wax, please

my lovely clients had this pair of nightstands made a few years ago.  the finish was fantastic, but in the wrong color scheme for their current look, and they were ready for something new.   hope wilkerson is working with them on a brilliant re-fresh and renovation, and their new master suite will be much more modern, lighter and cooler, in shades of white and gray.

here is the circa-1988 before:

and the beginning of the after:

the finish was done using matte paint and wax. the base coat is a bright clean white, with a wash of gray. how to do a wash, you ask?

my favorite method is to take a brush dampened with water, dip it into the paint, brush it quickly across the surface, then wipe back gently with a clean cloth. the wash settles into any texture. with the right paint, you can tweak the wash endlessly, spritzing it with water, using a damp cloth to remove more, brushing again to add back in…just get it the way you like it, and then step away for a little while.

after the paint is good and dry, seal the surface with clear wax.  (if you haven’t done this before, it’s a simple process: apply the wax with a brush or cloth to one section of your piece at a time, working it into the paint, and then wipe back the excess right away.)

the final touch my client requested was a bit of tailored detailing with pewter gilding wax.  using low-tack painter’s tape to create the “boxes”, i used my finger and a soft cloth to add the lined details.

the nightstands still await their new chunky, square crystal pulls, and their new room is not finished yet, so final photos will not be ready until after the holidays…i hope you’ll check back in a few weeks to see all the details.

{so many different color combinations make for a beautiful washed look…come by and see our samples sometime…or better yet, come to a workshop and create your own.}