Blue Painted Furniture – How A Photo Changed My Mind

Hey Friends! So today’s post is a fun one that was brought on last moment (last week) by this Instagram picture I shared of our bedroom. I have really enjoyed all the neutrals in our home but for some reason when I kept looking at this photo it felt desperate for an anchor of sorts. My eye kept going to the foot of the bed and I was craving something that was a little bolder. I didn’t want to go and buy something brand new as this bench is wonderful but I also knew it needed a change. And that change was blue, rather navy blue!

And here you can see a pretty similar shot with the updated bench and change that I had been craving. While the white bench works beautiful and there is not one thing wrong with it (again in my opinion ;)… this bolder bench really draws your eye across the room and makes the white linens pop. More over I have said this before, but I am having such fun mixing ALL the neutral tones together – white, cream, black, navy etc… They really make a pleasing composition when put in the same place.

Here is how I came to this exact blue and it was not love at first sight (or paint stroke – lol)…

I ran one afternoon to grab this chalk paint with a craft coupon. I knew that I wanted something of a darker blue, more of a navy and this was the closest I could find. I thought I would just throw a coat on and go from there.

Well let’s just say my kiddos walked in from playing outside to this on the floor and they were ecstatic. They said it was the prettiest blue and they were SO surprised I was using color, haha!

It confirmed my decision that we needed blue, but it also confirmed my decision that this was not the blue I had envisioned. It is a pretty color just not as dark as I was needing. I usually can stay pretty calm through the artistic process of things but this time I will admit I was a little nervous I was going to be able to pull the color out that I wanted.

Back to the drawing board, I ran again to the craft store and got a rich black paint. I knew that I could mix that in and it would mute/darken the blue to the proper tone.

And sure enough it did! I would say I mixed about half of the blue with not quite maybe 1/3 of the rich black paint to arrive here. I mixed little by little until I found this color. The second coat was on in less than an hour.

Making this such an easy project with big impact.

I finished the bench with a soft varnish and called it good!

I purposely chose to leave the bench and not take it a step further with distressing or sanding. So it is kinda fun to see how chalk paint looks this way instead of weathered.

This whole project gets me excited for blue and the idea of blue painted furniture. It is such a wonderful feature color, but if you aren’t ready for that it is perfect as an accent as seen here.

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you at The Inspiration Gallery tonight!

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12 Comments

  1. Annie, you made such a valid point and I couldn’t agree more. I LOVE an “anchor” to a room and you “wowed” it-BEAUTIFULLY!! (Not that I am surprised) Have a blessed day and thank you SO much for sharing. There have been countless times I’ve started something and had to transition mid-project to end up with the result I intended, so I absolutely understand the “oh dear” moment you expressed. 🙂

    1. Hi Kimberly, thank you very much and yes those mid project moments can be interesting, but it just goes to show how important it is to not give up ;)… I am really glad you think so as well and thanks again! Have a wonderful weekend ~

  2. The before room was lovely but it was floating away, lol! The dark bench is perfect for giving the room that element it needed to stay earthbound (giggle). You’ve got the wheels in my brain turning now. Normally, I’d go to black as my choice for a grounding color. Blue isn’t a color that I gravitate to but a deep, deep green? In chalkpaint? THAT’S a definite possibility!

    Oh, and you’re definitely not alone in the ” this doesn’t look like I envisioned it” moment when you’re mid project. I find myself in those moments pretty frequently as well.

    Bedroom looks just wonderful!

    1. Thank you so much and I am glad to hear I am not alone! That deep green would be beautiful too! Thanks again and for taking the time to visit – I always appreciate it ~

  3. Love it! I’ve been dying to paint something navy but so far all of my attempts have failed. So hard to get a good navy on smoothly!

    1. Vicky thank you, I appreciate that! It can be tricky but mixing the blue and black really helped and this paint seemed to do the job! I am glad you stopped by!

  4. Gorgeous home and your dining room is a jaw dropper. Im so jealous . I’m curious about your bedroom blind. I have replaced ours twice because at night you can see in. I haven’t found one yet that is private. I was wondering if yours is and where you purchased it?

    1. Beth thank you! These are actually for Lowes and we love the coverage they give. They are pretty thick in fact. Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by!

  5. Annie I too am going through my “blue phase”. Al thought mine is a bit brighter. You can never underestimate the power of paint and how even just one small piece of furniture can transform a room. Your space looks fantastic and also very calm and soothing. Sharing and Pinning!

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