My painted hutch brightened up my space!

 I don't get much personal time these days with the day to day operations

of our shop, Maison Decor.  But that doesn't mean the ideas don't stop flowing.

I purchased a large french provincial china cabinet for our dining room

The main reason was to use it as our bill paying and paper filing center.

With the business generating tons of paper work, and my husbands side business

running an excavation company, we have lots of papers and bills and it was

taking over our dining room table.  Since we already have a smaller china cabinet

in the room, I thought this might be a good solution for us, and so far its been 

working out great.  It might not look as pretty as if it would had it been filled

with pretty china, but form must meet function, and this is the compromise.

As soon as we put it in place, I knew I would be painting it.  The large wooden

piece darkened up the room immediately and it ruined the feel of the space.

Here is a rare shot of that end of the room, rare mostly because I avoid taking

pics of things I find ugly. Glad to have it though, because its fun to compare

the afters when you have a good before shot.

Louis Blue Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan to the rescue. 

 I just painted in place,

opening drawers a touch and getting the edges, 

swinging open doors and painted the edges

and then closing them when they dry, in about 10 minutes. 

 I like to do a fairly light coat~

and this color happens to cover exceedingly well. 

There was zero prepwork involved, 

I just grabbed my Annie paint brush and began.  

 In an hour I was almost finished! 

I will be taking down the wallpaper behind the cabinet

as it is no longer viable as a feature wall with the 

large cabinet in front of it. The color palette

in my living room and dining room is mostly white

 with soft blues and greens and shades in between.

 An hour and half later the first coat was finished! 

 I was very happy with the lightened look.  

My plan is to do another coat, but this one will be using Pure White 

and dry brushing the white over the Louis Blue. 

When you want a lighter look but a finish with depth,

layer two colors together, starting with the darker one first.

When completed I will update with a finished photo. 

 But for now, I am very happy with how much prettier and brighter the room is!

I have been working on my living room as well.

Really have the bug. The redecorating bug.  Maybe its springtime...

not really sure. But if you are looking for some real decorating tips with 

tons of beautiful ideas, get the latest issue of Southern Living's Style Guide.

Its a special edition, and the cover won me over.  See how I copied the pair 

of chairs in the layout just like they show on their cover?  

I adored the color palette too, as its close to mine, 

although their is more vibrant and mine is more muted.