Stage one of overhauling our bed was hacking the top off, opening up the lines of our bedroom again and giving me less things to bang my head on in the middle of the night.
Stage two involved sanding as long as I could be bothered (not long), inhaling yellow dust (I know because when I sneezed, it came out of my nose), wiping the sanding dust with a teatowel which really shouldn’t have been used for that purpose, all to get it ready for the paint (which I got on the carpet). There’s a reason I usually let Barry do all this.
After carrying out quite a bit of research (Googling, checking out other blogs, asking friends) I went to B&Q with the intention of buying some white Rust-Oleum Chalky Finish paint and Finishing Wax for the bed. I bought a teeny tiny pot of chalk white for the nursing chair I’ve been meaning to paint for two years, and then for absolutely no reason bought a huge pot of “Belgrave” after dithering at the Rust-Oleum display.
It’s a kind of vintage-meets-peacock-meets-Airforce-blue. I think I was scared the white would bore me, but blue in this shade has never been a part of any of our plans. Barry was equally surprised.
The first coat went on quite well, covered most (but not all) of the original yellow of the bed and Barry came up to glare. Paint on the carpet didn’t help, to be honest.
It dried even better, with a chalky finish. I can see why this kind of finish isn’t for everyone, as it dries so that you can see individual brushstrokes, giving a bit of a shabby effect. This was fine by me and the coverage versus the little prep needed was a winner for me.
I left the first coat to dry as long as the tin said (four hours), then sanded any places with a buildup of paint. Barry warned me to be careful and quick with the second coat because it might strip some of the first coat off – he was right (so wise!). You have to be a painting ninja to get that bad boy on the second time.
After the second coat had dried, I rubbed the Finishing Wax onto the whole frame – this dries in no time. I painted two coats and waxed it all in one day – we woke in our yellow bed and slept in our blue bed that night. Barry’s begrudgingly admitted it’s ok, but thinks it doesn’t sit well with our other bedroom furniture, which is true. We’ll just have to get new bedroom furniture! That’s at the end of a very long list, though! Next stop: Ashley Thomas bedding: I’ve fallen in love!
The only issue left with the bed is the large holes in each of the four posts. I’m looking around online for bedknobs to cover them, but I’m not having much joy so far. Another option would be to fill and paint them, but the ends are quite raw and I’d rather cover the whole of it to be honest, so the search goes on. What do you think?
End of stage one
Drying after one coat
Second coat
Waxed and finished
