Transformation Tuesday #2

Have you ever held in your minds eye the exact colour you’d like something?

I have done, countless times. When painting our lounge diner, I could visualise the exact blue that I wanted and eventually after weeks of trawling the internet and a dozen swatches painted on the wall, I found it.

So when I picked up the sideboard for our lounge and conjured up a vision of a glorious green, gold details and beautiful exposed wood grain for this vintage, highly polished mahogany number by Strongbow Furniture, I had really set myself a challenge. 

Eventually, I came across the perfect green, in a picture of the library of Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire. Harley Green by Little Greene. 

Sanding the top was a days work. I hate sanding. There were times when I considered giving up and just painting it all, however, when the true wood grain started to show through, I knew I had to keep going and it was totally worth it. Each night I applied a coat of Danish oil and each morning I’d feel smug. 

My favourite part of this project was reviving the original hardware. I used Barkeepers Friend to remove the old tarnish and added a touch antique gold lustre using Daler Rowney’s Goldfinger for a bit of extra glamour.

My least favourite part? I had planned to have chevrons across the front, to match the oars we have on the opposite wall. It took 3 days to get them perfectly right. 3 days to then decide that it would look better all painted green. So out came the sander again….

Overall my favourite piece yet and worth the labour of love. What do you think?

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