Guest Bedroom Update – French Decoupage Furniture!

Did I mention in my last post about the Guest Bedroom update that I would have it completed by the time the leaves fly?  I did and well, the furniture is done and in its place, but I still don’t have the bedroom completed!  Now the fun starts because it is time to decorate!

Here is the way she looks today!

This picture was from August!  These pieces of furniture have a BIG story behind them and I will get to that but let me share what they looked like and how they look today, 7 months later.

They were in great shape with a few minor flaws to the tops on the dresser and nightstand.  I knew they would be so pretty painted and glazed!

Now, for my never-ending tale of the Guest Bedroom Furniture.  I found the set on Craigslist back in February.  We needed to drive an hour to go pick them up, so I was hoping they were as nice as they looked on Craigslist.  We borrowed a friend’s enclosed trailer because they were calling for snow in the forecast.  The last thing we did as we pulled out from the house was looked at the forecast, we figured we could get a jump on it and back home before the snow hit.

We made it to the house and the snow began to fall.  In the 45 minutes that we were loading the bedroom furniture, 2 inches of snow fell.  Mr. DD had to shovel the ramp on the trailer in order to shut it.  It took us 4 hours to get home.  Big heavy trailer, front-wheel drive, and a major snowstorm do not mix.  It was the most intense drive I have ever been on in a snow storm.  There were many times that we were going 8 miles an hour and praying that she did not stop.  This was all the car could do with icey conditions, front-wheel drive and a heavy trailer.  We knew if she stopped, we would be stranded on the highway because she would not be able to start back up.  We finally made it home and my prayers could stop.  Mr. DD did get her stuck in the street as he was trying to back the trailer up into the driveway, at least it was our street we were blocking.  My garage was full of other furniture, so these pieces had to come into the house.  They are the heaviest pieces I have lifted, this was not an easy task lifting and carrying up the stairs with 2 90 degree turns.

I started with the headboard first, so I could play around with color.  I liked how it turned out, but it was not what I was envisioning for the space, especially after I painted the walls a dark gray.   The headboard sat like this for a few months until the room was painted.

I covered over the center with French Paper and decoupaged it and changed the posts to be all white, to get rid of how busy the headboard looked.  I started painting the dressers with a particular paint line and was very disappointed with the results.  After 2 coats, I still was not getting enough coverage and it looked very streaky.

Paint Couture to the rescue!  I ordered Arctic White and Calm, I loved how the white was covering.  After the white was complete, I started painting with the calm and realized that is was a cool blue and not a light gray that I wanted.  UGH, yet another set back with my guest bedroom furniture.  Paint Couture to the rescue again.  They sent me the dream (light gray) that I was envisioning.

The dressers were finally all painted and sealed, now I was ready to glaze with Black Chiffon Glaze Couture.  I really like this glaze and it is one of the easiest glazes that I have used.

I was originally going to stain the tops of the pieces in a black stain but did not want to sand and create dust in my house, so I decided to decoupage the tops with the French wrapping paper that I found online.  I am so happy how they turned out.

For a brief fleeting moment, I thought about making the inset panels a darker gray and making the top edge black so it brings out the black in the paper, glaze, and hardware.  Like I said it was fleeting because I just want this room done before March, a year after starting it.  Who knows, I may still do the black on the top edges.  Stay tuned….

So here is my updated list of what still needs to be completed.

Repair ceiling stain

Remove wallpaper border

Paint walls and ceiling

Clean carpets

Change out electrical covers and switches

Replace fan with new lighting fixture

Strip and polyurethane 3 doors (Thanks to Mr. DD)

Paint dresser, armoire, and nightstand (Hallelujah, it’s done)

Repaint headboard (long story and I sticking to it!)

Purchase new mattress

Purchase comforter and bed accessories

Purchase blinds or shades (purchased them yesterday, now to wait for shipping)

Clean windows

Make window coverings

Decorate walls and room

The list is getting smaller, but not small enough.  I am not allowed to start another project until this one is complete, so I will be getting to it as my list is long for my next home projects!  Time to go mattress shopping, do you have any suggestions, I have not purchased a new mattress in 13+ years.  We are getting the new mattress and moving ours to the spare room.  Shh, don’t tell my guests.