Toning Down Bright Colors

I picked up a great set of Kling solid hard rock maple bedroom furniture, which included a chest, vanity, stool and mirror.  I didn't want this to be refinished as a 'set' so I painted the vanity, mirror and stool together.  I'll show you the 'relove' of the chest in a later post.  Here's the picture of the vanity....

I loved the legs, fluting on the sides, quality construction, but wasn't crazy about the knobs.  As always, I stripped the top and although it was maple, it was in good shape and decided to stain it.

I've been enjoying using the Milk Paints from General Finishes.  I love the silky smooth way it goes on, and easy clean up.  So Halcyon Blue was my vision for this piece.  I applied one coat of ASCP Old Ochre and then a coat of the Halcyon Blue.  Ug!  The Halcyon Blue is way brighter than what I envisioned!  What to do?  I'm thinking a wash of a toned down blue would soften the look...so let's test it out on my trusty paper plate.

Yep!  I'm liking the look of the ASCP Duck Egg Blue as a wash over the Halcyon.

I had a couple of options for the fabric on the stool & knobs for the drawers..  The fabric on the pillow pictured here was one option along with the knobs pictured here....

But my Facebook family voted on a paisley fabric (thanks, Mary & to everyone else who weighed in!).

And the customer who adopted the vanity voted on glass knobs:

They didn't need the stool or mirror, so I still have those two pieces....but they loved the color, fluting detail and refinished top.  Their floors are hardwood and they had been looking for a blue desk with wood top.  I used the Minwax Dark Walnut stain, and the entire piece received the General Finishes High Performance Poly Top Coats.  I really like that product!

So there you have it....a wash in a softer, more muted shade was perfect for toning down the brightness of the original blue.

Thanks for stopping by!

Robin

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