How to transform timber furniture into beautiful light and elegant pieces with chalk emulsion paint.

Our lounge room was quite bare for some time, and having the urge to start a labour of love, I had decided to bid at a furniture auction on two large cabinets that would fit perfectly in this room.

These two reproduction elevated bookcases in mahogany, nicely varnished, were the exact size and style I was looking for!

But the colour wasn’t…

The prep work

I began the arduous task of sanding back the thick varnish, optimistic that this job would be finished within a week… a month had gone by and I was still sanding.

Applying Chalk Emulsion Paint on Furniture

This labour of love was becoming more of a labour than a love. Once the shiny varnished had vanished, the rich red of the mahogany shown through, and the love began to grow.
Add the chalk emulsion paint (two coats) a good massage of wax over the paint, and the finish I desired came through.

I added wallpaper panels on the back of the top section and two recessed LED lights on top of the bookcases, changing the timber shelves to glass created a diffused light through the shelves.

The concept was drawn 3 years ago as a motivation “tool” and to get it out of my head, so that I would find these bookcases!

And voila, we now have extra storage and an incentive to collect more items… which could prove dangerous.

The roman blind was custom made so was the cushion on the window seat, the chairs upholstered by Anne Resplendino Interiors, we specialise in custom made soft furnishing, curtains and blinds, custom made lighting.

The colour of the chalk emulsion paint on the timber bookcase: RUBBLE by Porter’s Paints
Wallpaper: LYREBIRD by Catherine Martin from Porter’s Paints (2011)

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Contact: info@arinteriors.com.au