she likes ’em french.

Published on by Quandie

You’ve all probably seen me mention that I don’t do custom work.  For the most part.  As a general rule.  Most of the time.

But I do make exceptions.  After all, rules are meant to be broken.

When I blogged about the chair that I purchased at the Bryn Mawr neighborhood sales, one of my good customers sent me an email and asked if she could have dibs on it (always worth a shot if you are so inclined).

Bryn Mawr chair

It is totally her style, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it jumped out at her.  She likes ’em if they look a little french.  After all, she is the proud owner of this dresser …

french dresser title

And this bed …

Bed painted white.

So I asked her if she had a ‘look’ in mind for the chair.  She responded with some ideas and some photos of chairs she liked, and since her thoughts pretty much meshed with exactly what I wanted to do with the chair anyway … voila!  A custom job was born 😉

I had visions in my head of using milk paint on this chair and getting a deliciously chippy finish.  That being said, I should have known better based on experience.  Here’s why.  I was painting over existing paint.  Since I wanted to see some wood where the chair was distressed (and not that weird mustard yellow that came on parts of the chair), I sanded the existing paint job pretty heavily.  Down to the bare wood along most of the edges in fact.  That heavy sanding helped the milk paint to stick and not chip.

So, it was a trade-off, no chipping in exchange for not seeing mustard yellow.  I can live with that.

frenchie chair 1

I painted the chair in Miss Mustard Seed’s Linen milk paint.  Then I sanded to distress and added a protective layer of MMS furniture wax.

The details on the back of the chair look amazing.

frenchie chair back detail

Ken cut a new seat for me and I upholstered it in some faux grain sack material that I purchased via Decor Steals.

I added a French stencil in black.

frenchie chair seat

All this chair needed was just a little time and attention to bring it back to its full glory.

french chair back

french chair 2

I think this chair is going to be right at home with Jen’s other fabulous french pieces, don’t you?

french chair 3

Sharing at Friday’s Furniture Fix and Making Broken Beautiful.

16 thoughts on “she likes ’em french.”

  1. Stunning! I love it! I always love those faux grain sack items you replicate with stripes and stencils. And I love the lines of this piece the shape of the chair the raised carving on the back and the tapered leg. I’m thinking I could live in this client’s home.

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  8. I second the idea of a house tour…especially since I fell in love with all the stuff she bought from you!!! Ask her if we can see her house!!! Please!!

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