the french peony bed.

Published on by Quandie

My neighbor, nnK (that stands for ‘new neighbor Karen’ because when she moved in across the street we already had a Karen next door.  Granted, that Karen died a couple of years later and now there is just one Karen, but nnK stuck) found this bed free at the curb for me sometime last year.

I’m not a huge fan of waterfall style furniture, plus I always find that it’s rather cheaply constructed.  I think waterfall furniture was the IKEA of its day.  Inexpensive and mass produced.  But the price was right (ie. free) so I decided to see what I could do with it.

Before I started with the fun part though, Ken had to cut some replacement trim pieces for the bottom of the foot board.  He made quick work of that (that part was already done in my ‘before’ photo, see arrows in photo above).  Then we also worked together to re-glue the foot board because the sides were coming apart.

Next came the fun part.  I did my usual prep work and then painted the pieces in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth using my new favorite paint brush.

This is Dixie Belle’s Flat Medium synthetic brush and it costs $25 on their website.  I’m going to be honest with you guys, I’ve tried a lot of different paint brushes in a lot of different price ranges and so far none of them have particularly impressed me.  I like many of them for waxing, but not necessarily for painting.  But I really love painting with this brush.  I don’t know if it’s the ‘highest quality Dupont synthetic blend filaments’ or what, but I think this one is worth the money.  It just makes the paint flow smooth like butta’.

Anyway, next I taped off some 4″ stripes and painted them with Dixie Belle’s Sand Bar.  If you want more info on painting stripes, check out my more detailed how-to post.

Once the paint was dry, I added portions of two different Prima Marketing transfers, Somewhere in France and Lavender Bush.

The headboard got the lettering section from Somewhere in France and a little flower accent from Lavender Bush.

The foot board just got some flowers from Lavender Bush.  I cut out three different groupings of flowers from the transfer and overlapped them a bit to create my design.  I just wanted to point that out in case you are looking at that transfer and thinking ‘why do I not see that particular grouping of flowers?  Is this really the right one?’

I’m not at all sure why this transfer is called Lavender Bush.  I don’t see any lavender (to be specific, I mean the plant and not the color, but there is that pretty blue-purple color that could potentially be called lavender I guess).  I am thinking that some of those pink and white flowers are peonies though, so it seemed apropos to stage the photos with some real peonies from my garden.

I’m so glad I did because I took these photos last Sunday and since then the peonies have all fizzled out.  They come and go so quickly!

Initially I wasn’t planning to go quite so feminine and pretty with the design on this bed, but in the end I think I made the right choice.  It really turned out sweet, don’t you think?

Once again, as with most vintage beds, this is a full or double sized bed.  You could easily modify it to fit a queen bed with the extenders available at places like Rockler.  I do have the metal side rails and wooden slats that go with the bed, but I didn’t pull them out for the photos.

Thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint for this project and to Prima Marketing for providing the transfers.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing transfers check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Dixie Belle Drop Cloth or Sand Bar, you can shop with them directly online or find a retailer near you.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a pretty French peony bed, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

31 thoughts on “the french peony bed.”

  5. You’ve outdone yourself on this one! Love the makeover…very fresh and feminine looking. The stripes are a great, unexpected touch especially with the flowers. Just beautiful. Well done.

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  8. Not was a fan of waterfall furniture either until I saw what you did with this. Love the colors, love the
    addition of the transfer. I’m sure it’s sold already. And thanks for the review on the Dixie Belle brush.
    By the way I got interrupted as I was trying to go thru the Ikea stool post. Omg how dang cute!

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    1. “Not was”???
      Should be was not…
      Note to self cool down from working in yard in 90+ temperatures before composing a comment.😳

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  10. Love your work. I Have just started following you and I share your taste in colors and paint treatments. I noticed you used Fusion mineral paint in this post. Can you tell me where you purchase that brand…thanks

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    1. Hi Dee, and welcome! I didn’t use Fusion paint on this bed (I used Dixie Belle chalk paint), but I did use it on the dresser in my linked tutorial on painting stripes. There are a few different Fusion retailers in the Twin Cities and I have purchased paint from all of them. The shop where I sell on consignment in Stillwater, Reclaiming Beautiful, carries the Fusion paint. If you are looking to order online, check out their ‘where to buy’ page here.

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  11. WOW!! Never will I look at Waterfall furniture the same again. The stripes and transfers make this piece stunning. Night and day transformation.

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  13. Oh wow! Such a beauty. I could see this in so many places with so many different bedding options. Someone is gonna snap that right up! And what a makeover for a drab piece of waterfall furniture! A real up style for sure!

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  15. Pingback: How Paint a French Peony Bed - Dixie Belle Paint Company

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