Fairest one of all...
My mother always said her grandmother loved to whitewash everything. I guess giving things that fresh look made the decor brighter, adding some novelty to the mix. Whether I am channeling my great grandmother or just in need of a little something different myself, I love how things look new when spruced up with a bit of paint!
From older, darker and dated...
To bright, fresh and new! I used four different methods to achieve similar, but different results on our wall of mirrors in the dining room.
Method one... On the left is the original gold I spray painted on this antique frame about 16 years ago. On the right, I simply layered it with one thorough spray of ivory satin-finish spray paint, allowing the nooks and crannies to remain defined with the original gold underneath.
Method two... After spray painting the sconces with ivory satin, this time instead of just leaving them, once dried I used fine steel wool to softly rub off the ivory paint to slightly reveal the gold on the raised details.
Method three... Using a dry brush, simply skimming on a very light layer of latex eggshell paint in a cafe-creme color, the raised patterns receive a washed coating of color brightening the surface while maintaining the original carvings.
Method four... I painted the surface with an even coat of paint. For these, I used the latex eggshell in cafe-creme again. After it dried completely, the raised relief pattern was rubbed with fine steel wool. Using both light and dark wax, first I dabbed dark wax onto select areas of the surface to give an aged, worn appearance. After letting them dry for a bit, using a clean cloth dabbed in clear wax, some of the dark wax was rubbed away, leaving enough in the crevices to create that worn look. These tiny frames have the most surface interest with both hints of gold from the original finish and depth from the waxing.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, what's the fairest one of all? xoxo-Sonya
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