Sets of bedroom furniture can cost a lot of money and won't look very personal. Hand-me-downs are budget-friendly but won't always play nicely together, visually, in a space. Renter Jenna found a happy medium by painting four pieces of freebie bedroom furniture a single shade of blackish brown.
One dresser was a light brown French Provincial, another was white wicker, and Jenna says the lot was a "mismatched mess." By painting her furniture, all of which are pretty classic but differing styles, she could affordably get the cohesive look she wanted. A little bit of gold leafing on one table and some new knobs on the wicker dresser help tie things together.
Another way Jenna reinvented what she already had was by dying her toile curtains (Image 1). Now that they're not standard white, the fabric shows a cool, more modern twist on the traditional print.
More Info: JWK Style
(Images: JWK Style via Little Green Notebook)
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The post title & opening comment drew my attention. But when I got to the bit about all four pieces being painted the same color, I *almost* backed out of this thread thinking, "How is this different from an impersonal set?" The artist in me forced me (against my will) to keep clicking for fear of missing a moment of inspiration although I confess...I expected it to be b.o.r.i.n.g. Now I just gotta say...BEAUTIFUL JOB, JENNA!
Definitely not my style BUT that in no way prohibits me from appreciating your creative genious. This is one lovely room, lady. You should be proud of yourself. Well done.
I love this mix of styles and textures. Nothing more boring than a "bedroom set". I'm surprised they still sell them. Great job!!
Heh, I've been doing the same thing. No hand-me downs but I've been thrifting for my four poster bed and beautiful dresser (and one day mirror and two night stands) which I'm painting the same glossy black, it looks intentional without being boring!
Love the way the curtains turned out. I would never have thought to dye toile. It looks great!
I love this! But I have a DIY question - I have a full set of light brown French Provincial bedroom furniture that was given to me - long dresser with HUGE mirror, chest of drawers and two end tables (with marble tops!) - but my bed is a country style white washed slat bed. I would love to pain the french in an "antiqued white" - but honestly am not sure how to do this. Some of the surfaces of the set are quite polished - would I have to sand the entire thing? My goodness - that could take weeks and weeks! lol
Any ideas folks?
I would try Annie Sloan's chalk paint- it comes in 3 shades of white and you don't have to prepare or prime anything first. Good luck!
http://www.anniesloan.com/
I will agree that the dyed toile is really nice!
I would love to see pictures giving a whole room sense of the new set; I am creating my own bedroom "set" out of different pieces by refinishing them, and I'd love to see how somebody else's whole room works together who has done something similar. I love the gold leaf work!