Tuesday 13 March 2012

Refurb Project

 

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend!

Thanks for all your comments on my last few posts - you might be pleased to know this is another rare cushion-free post!


 

The weather here was glorious for both days at the weekend, so we spent the best part of the weekend  in the garden tackling some of the many jobs that need doing.



We also picked up a dresser top that I won on eBay for £27 last week - that is a good price for around here, where any dresser or dresser top usually has lots of local bidders - I was up against three other bidders for this and as I was prepared to pay more than what it went for I came out on top for once.

 I have bid for and lost so many dressers and dresser tops in the last year, only finally winning a kitchen dresser a few months ago which is still awaiting  its makeover!

But now that Annie Sloan has a new pale dusky pink out, I have a few ideas for that one .

(NOT the whole thing in pink, heaven forbid! My husband would not be happy with that, but he won't mind the insides pink, like I have already painted the insides of the kitchen wall display cupboards!)


 
Anyway, I won this dresser top - it was in a barn when we collected it, covered in thick dust, cobwebs and grease - not very appetising - but it is quite a good quality one.

After a thorough clean up it was put in place on the old Ikea dresser base we have had for ages, which I had already painted in Annie Sloan's Country Grey a while ago, although it hasn't yet been waxed.

The photos make the greys of both top and bottom appear similar, whereas in fact they are not and both dresser top and bottom will need to be re-painted.

And even though it looks as if the grey goes well in the dining room, with the oil cloth, in real life the top looks too gloomy and dark for the room as it has poor natural light except in late afternoon, so it needs something a bit lighter. The base looks an ideal colour at the moment, but I know it will go darker when waxed, and be too dark for the whole dresser.


 

The dresser top is supposedly in a Farrow and Ball grey, but it is a dark dreary grey which I dislike and will change once I have made up my mind what colour to change it to.



I knew what colour I wanted to paint the back boards, and yesterday I gave it a couple of coats of Duck Egg blue ( Homebase's own brand as I already had a pot) and I am so pleased with the result.


 




The true colour is more like that in the above photo, as some of my photos make it look more blue than it is, and the room is quite dark hence not very good photos.

 



The above photo shows the difference in greys - see how much lighter the dresser base is


 


 


 


 


 


 

So, the question is, what colour for the rest of the dresser?

I'm thinking a lighter, less beigey grey, more like the one of my hall table in the first photo, which goes well with white walls and is a light and elegant, but not gloomy, grey.

I love the colour combination of duck egg with pale grey, and I have a couple of little jugs that I love in that colour way, but the current dresser top colour is too much of a muddy beigey grey - see the photo above for a more true colour.

Or I could go for an off-white as it's a quite a dark room? White always looks good.

Decision, decisions!

Perhaps you can help me here - what do you think?


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19 comments:

  1. Well done Gill on your ebay win!

    I did the same last year, however my dresser top is still standing against the wall waiting for it's makeover!!

    I love the duck egg blue. I always love mushroom & biscuit beiges and creams with duck egg blue.

    Enjoy choosing!
    Fleur xx

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  2. Wow Gill! I absolutely love it! I am oh so jealous, I really want a dresser but we just dont have room!

    I think an off white would love lovely with the blue, especially if you say the room is a little dark!? xxx

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  3. Hello Gill:
    £27 seems a very reasonable sum to have paid for the dresser shelves and what fun it is deciding how to paint it. It is always the case that things look so very different when a new paint colour is applied.

    The Duck Egg Blue background is very attractive and should we think provide a pretty contrast to other decorative items which are placed against it.

    We use Farrow and Ball Lime White as if it is going out of fashion and so you might like to give that a try from a tester pot. We find it gives a slightly dirty vintage white look which sets off any other colour very well indeed.

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  4. What a difference with the blue- it looks gorgeous! My vote is for light dove grey- I think it will stand out more from the wall than would off-white, and look so fabulous with the blue! Your blue lampshade is just perfect beside the dresser top :)

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  5. Lovely dresser top Gill and as a huge fan of duck egg blue, I love your choice!!
    I would say very pale grey or off-white, keep it light!
    Vivienne x

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  6. You did well on that bid! I think pale grey is lovely with duck egg too, but if the room's a bit dark, I'd probably go for an off-white - I suppose grey would be the French option, and cream/off-white the English look!
    Jane x

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  7. Farrow and Balls colour chart is so full ofgreat colours....difficult choice but I also have a cupboard similar which needs sprucing up...I am thinking maybe..CORNFORTH WHITE or SHADEDWHITE... I also love FRENCH GRAY....like you say ..decisions ....decisions

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  8. Its gorgeous and your things look lovely on it. Good luck with deciding a colour thats the fun bit ;-) dee x

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  9. What a great ebay win. My dresser is blue so I am a big fan of the colour you have chosen for the back. Difficult to say what colour to go for but light grey does sound good.
    Lisa x

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  10. Thank you for dropping by my blog and cngrats on your ebay win. I love dressers. I think the combination of duck egg, pink/red goes well with off white. Pure white is too glaring, I think, and, as you say, grey can be too dark. I think one has to be very careful with grey. Any time I use it, I always end up changing it.

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  11. Hi Gill
    It looks great I envy you being able to buy great stuff on ebay we are too far away for most of the good stuff to be sent.
    I love the Duck Egg Blue and would probably combine it with Annie Sloans Old white then wax it using cler wax on the blue but a mix of clear and dark wax on the old white!
    Livx

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  12. Your dresser top looks really nice Gill. You paid a good price! Looking forward to see what colour you will give it. I have to say I like the combination of grey & duck egg blue.

    Lieve groet, Madelief x

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  13. Lovely dresser top, and such a bargain! I have just painted a dresser in F&B All White and love it....but duck egg and grey are so lovely too. If the room is dark though I'd go for off white probably!
    Enjoy your choosing!
    Helen x

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  14. I love your dresser top, Gill! F&B is my choice too, always good.
    Have a wonderful weekend ahead xx

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  15. What a gorgous piece of furniture! I like the duck egg blue chosen and I think white would look lovely or perhaps cream? xxx
    Leah xx

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  16. Excellent score, well done! As for color, I think a nice "greige" goes with almost everything. A warm pinky taupey creamy gray. Oh dear, I am of no help whatsoever. :D

    Good luck--I know whatever you choose will look wonderful!

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  17. My own humble dresser is cream and brown and I still like it after 12 years! Yours is lovely but don't talk to me about Ebay! Have been bidding on kilns for a month now and keep losing! Am sure there's a knack to it which I just ain't got! Let us know what colour you decide on! xC

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  18. pretty post....and I never mind the cushions

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  19. The grey and the duck egg blue are a definite goer but I would also paint the drawer knobs in the duck egg blue too to balance it out??

    Love your excellent photogenic begonia too!

    B x

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Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment - I love to read them!
Gill x