I had the pleasure of working on making over a vintage Thomasville gentleman’s chest recently.
Blogger 101 fail . . . I forgot to take a before picture of the chest, so this is the picture my client provided.
This chest had belonged to my client’s mom, and was now about to become a focal piece in her first nursery, isn’t that fun?
I can remember putting together the nursery for my first son and how fun it was to decorate and plan for his arrival. Of course, that sweet, clean, orderly nursery turned into the scene of diaper blowouts, teething cry-sessions, and milk-soaked burp cloth piles pretty quickly, but let’s just remember the good times 🙂
So anyway, back to the chest–This was from the era when, for whatever reason, furniture was made out of concrete. Not really, but it sure felt like it was!
Those doors alone weighed, like, 30 lbs each and were 2 inches thick! Why it was necessary to make furniture that could withstand a nuclear fallout, I have no idea. But I guess it made for a nice and sturdy piece for me to work on.
My client wanted this piece to provide some contrast to the rest of her mostly white, nursery furnishings, so she chose Fusion Mineral Paint in Ash–the darkest gray of the collection.
Ash is a great color to paint–the coverage is fantastic and the paint glides on smoothly.
The only issue I have with the color is that I feel it is still a little too matte and so tends to show fingerprints and dust easily. But that’s a problem easily solved with a little Wax Finish added on top on the final coat.
It’s amazing how a dark color like Ash can create such a luxe look. A little bit of mild distressing–just along the detail points–and now the chest is ready for my client’s nursery.
What do you think?
There was some concern over whether or not the hardware would look right once the piece was painted, but I think it works really well with the new color.
I am always honored when someone entrusts one of their furniture pieces to me, but even more so in this case! Knowing that her first child was on the way and that this chest was going to be in my client’s nursery, I did my best to turn it into a fantastic, show-stopper.
She loved it, and I hope you do too!
Melanie, that looks really stunning! Love the colour, and your decision to keep the hardware was a great one; it looks perfect! I have to, have, buy some Fusion Ash. Love that colour!
Thanks Elisabeth! I know several Fusion merchants in Australia, are you already connected to one?
I am so glad I found your blog! Your tips on opening an antique booth have been the best I have found and have given me the confidence to start my own. I love the painted finish on this chest. I see furniture like this in thrift stores a lot and wonder what to do with such heavy pieces. You made the chest look “happy” in it’s fresh coat of paint!
Thank you Angie! This was a super-heavy piece, both in actual weight and in just it’s visual presence. Somehow, the darker color on it makes it feel less heavy. So glad you’ve found some of my other posts helpful. I wish you all the best in your booth business!
It looks absolutely fabulous. I love the color and the original hardware… Just great!
Thank you Nikki 🙂
It looks wonderful, and I think the hardward is perfect. What an amazing transformation.
Thanks Peggy! I love how the hardware looks with the new color too.
I love what you’ve done to this chest! A question I have though: I haven’t used Ash, but when I checked the colour image online, Ash looked considerable darker than here in your photos. Would you say that your photos are truer to the colour? Thanks!
Thank you Lisa! I did lighten up these photos some to make them brighter, so you’re right in noticing that this Ash seems brighter than other colors. It is a very, dark gray, and the sample photos shows it pretty true. I painted another piece last year in Ash, and you can see it’s a little darker in that photo:
gorgeous just gorgeous xx
Thank you Chris!
This doesn’t even vaguely resemble what you started with. It is truly amazing what a simple coat of (amazing) paint can do to change the whole look of the piece. Now it really does look like it belongs in a nursery instead of being cast off to the basement. Great job Melanie!
Thank you June 🙂 I so appreciate your comment.
It looks great Melanie. I can see how beautiful it will look with lots of white.
Thanks so much Mary!
Showstopper is right! That piece is gorgeous. It changes the whole feel and look of it and now it is perfect in the nursery.
Did you use the ‘tester’ camera for these photos? Cuz they are looking pretty fabulous. And the chest looks pretty fab too. My mom has one of these massive. heavy looking gentlemen’s chests, but I suspect she would never let me paint it. My mom is firmly planted in the ‘never paint wood’ camp. Too bad for her, because clearly they look 100x better painted!
This looks beautiful, Melanie. You did a great job.
What a great job. The color is prefect and I am so glad that you left the handles that were on it. It just added so much to it. I have never used Fusion Mineral Paint before, but am going to see if I can find it and use it. I love the color of gray. I just can’t say enough about what a great job you did on it, so professional. I know you put a lot of thought into it and it shows. What a beautiful piece for her new born.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, and gorgeous.