The Princess Bed

Awhile back, I was contacted by a very special friend, Nora, who wanted me to paint a bed for her daughter. Nora's family is very near to my heart as their family has been affected by cancer too. Little Abigail is three and a half, and up until now, has shared a bedroom with her big brother. Her little brother is now big enough to move from his crib and thus, Abbie is getting her own room!

What started out as a very ho-hum dull bed has been transformed into something so, so sweet. An older maple twin bed, missing the spindles, pretty scratched up and looking yucky! The only perimeters were in needed to match the colors of her bedroom. The colors in the bedroom are brown, pink and one other that I keep forgetting. Abbie's request was for hot pink (which I love) but I wanted to paint the bed so when she finally tires of hot pink, her bed will grow with her. Hmmmm, how do I do that?

Perusing Pinterest for color ideas, I came across the GORGEOUS bed painted with Coco, Antoinette and Old White. So, off to the mixing room (AKA the kitchen) to make my own custom colors.

I made a mix of about 2 parts Antoinette to one part Coco (kinda looks like melted Neapolitan ice cream) and painted a coat and a half. Then I made a color wash of Antoinette and slapped it on, let it sit for a few minutes and wiped off the excess. The look is amazing! I topped it with one coat of clear wax.

 But, the bed needed a little something. So, I used a little Miss Mustard Seed Antique wax in the crevices. Now, if you wonder why I didn't use AS dark wax, it is because MMS antique wax allows a little more precision. Still, it wasn't done. I mixed Old White and Clear Wax and used an old rag to hodge podge the bed. Still....it wasn't done. It was looking pretty good, but needed a little shimmer for our very precious little princess, so I used a fine paint brush and applied a silver gilding wax. Perfect! It will get one more coat of clear wax and a good buffing to give it a high shine and then, it will be perfect for Abbie!