goldilocks and the 3 grays.

Published on by Quandie

I purchased this sofa table at the Goodwill nearly a year ago.

I struggled to get a good ‘before’ photo of it.  You can’t really tell, but the top is that sort of yellow-ish, shiny wood finish that was popular in the 90’s and the base is a dark forest green.

I’m not really sure why I grabbed this piece, except that the price was right and I figured it would be a quick makeover.

I knew I wanted to strip the top, and that’s a summer job for me.  I prefer to avoid stripping pieces in the house during the winter.  So I set this table aside for a few months.  Then last summer I stripped the top.  After I had it down to bare wood, I decided I liked the pale color but it was still a bit too golden.  So I white washed it using Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth (check out this post if you want to learn more about white washing).

After white washing, I added a top coat of clear wax.

I loved how the top turned out, so next I moved on to painting the base.

I thought it would work well to stick with the pale color scheme, so I painted the base in Dixie Belle’s French Linen.  Normally I like French Linen, but for some reason it didn’t work on this piece.  It just looked strangely washed out.  I thought maybe the piece needed more contrast between the top and the base , so I pulled out the Gravel Road next and re-painted the base.

But you know what?  I didn’t like that either.  It was too dark.

So I did what I tend to do in this situation.  I threw a drop cloth over it and used it to stack stuff on out in the carriage house for a few more months.

Flash forward to a week or so ago.  I had ordered some more Gravel Road from Dixie Belle, but somehow they sent me their Hurricane Gray by mistake.  At first I was slightly bummed by this mistake, but then I realized that the Hurricane Gray might actually be just perfect for the base of this table.

Here’s a comparison of the these three shades of gray.

That’s French Linen on the left, Hurricane Gray in the middle and Gravel Road on the right.  If the French Linen was too pale, and the Gravel Road was too dark, maybe the Hurricane Gray would be just right.

So I pulled the table out of ‘storage’ and repainted the base once again.

Perfect.

I staged it up with a few of my favorite things.

I think it works to balance the cool tones of the black & white photo and the Hurricane Gray  with the warm golden tones of the lamp, clock, books and old wooden crate .

A little bit of paint gave a fresh new look to a rather tired, dated looking piece, don’t you agree?

Hopefully the neutrality of this piece will help it sell quickly.

Speaking of which, if any of my local readers are in need of a sofa table, be sure to check out the details on my ‘available for local sale‘ page.

As always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the products used for this project.

21 thoughts on “goldilocks and the 3 grays.”

    1. Perfect! And the perfectionist in you shows when you will paint a table over and over until you get just the right shade! Good for you – nothing wrong with wanting things to be at their best. Great makeover, someone’s gonna appreciate your efforts bigtime!

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  2. Wow! The table looks awesome! My old kitchen table was the same color as the before picture. If I still had it I would be doing what you did to this table.

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    1. I think I’ve only ever used the color once before, and I did like it. I’ve just been more drawn to the darker Gravel Road lately. It must have been fate that I received the ‘wrong’ color and it worked perfectly on this table!

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  5. That is spot on! I love sofa tables because they are so versatile. This color scheme is so fresh and works with both sides of the spectrum! A good call going with the middle!

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  6. So as usual Q you are spot on with color trends. By using the Pantone color Grey with staging of gold brass pieces it is delicious perfection. And inspiring as always. And the best part of the process that you went thru. I do the same thing. It’s nice to know that I follow my mentor to perfection!!

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  7. I like it Miss Quandie! And I always love your staging (-; It’s funny—we’re interviewing the architect Giannetti (the one who built and lives at Patina Farm) this week cause we’re finally building a house…….But it may kill me. We bought this property twenty five years ago intending to build. My older son was little and my second son was born soon after we moved in and I was so busy with them and their lives that, UGH, I did not want to pack up again and lease some place while we built. And I just kept not wanting to do it because this house could take a lot of hits from the boys and their friends (like skating inside etc.) and it was making for a happier childhood. Now, after all these years, I’m so attached to it and all the memories here…….I’m the bump on the log! I could live here forever and be happy.! But now that the boys are grown we DO need more room for their future (hopefully) families and they and my husband want to do it, so……..but it may kill me…….

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    1. What?! Isn’t that a funny coincidence. And I must admit that I’m a little green with envy at the thought of building exactly what you want, especially if it’s anything like Patina Farm. Then again, I know how much work is involved in doing so, and I’m not sure I’d have the energy for it!

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  8. Oh Miss Quandie! I just now read your last post because I, too, was doing all those other things that you listed! Wow! You make me feel like a million dollars! I’ve been Quandified! You’re a doll and thank you sooooo much! It’s a true gift to be able to make someone else feel happy and you’ve got it in spades (- And, yes, I sound like a stalker!!! Hahahahaha!

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    1. That’s awesome. Quite honestly, simply making people happy, inspiring them in some way, or helping them feel like they can tackle a project they’ve been putting off are all the reward I need for writing this here blog.

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