Apologies in advance, but this post is not exactly a step by step tutorial on how to make this finish. I wish I had registered my process with videos or pictures but the truth is, this was a crazy experiment I decided to do and there wasn’t much planning before I started. In fact, I was psychologically prepared for a complete failure, in which case I would just play safe and start it over in any other style I’ve already mastered.

All I had in mind were some inspiration pieces and a rough idea of how to do it, but once I started, the whole process was a just a sequence of brushing and blending a bunch of colors, until I was happy with the result. And I have to say, it got very ugly before it got pretty.

My inspiration for this piece was Dionne, the artist behind “The Turquoise Iris”. If you still don’t know her, please stop reading this right now and run to her website http://www.theturquoiseiris.com

Are you back? Well, if her work hasn’t inspired you, I don’t know what will! Even if that is not your style, or something you wouldn’t have in your home, isn’t it a delight to see how she uses pieces of furniture as blank canvas to create her beautiful art? I adore her work. Not only she is talented, she is also a sweet and generous person and shares everything about her techniques and tricks on her FB live videos and YouTube. I spend hours watching her painting and I can’t get enough of it.

Now, back to my project.  I finally took the leap and decided to try to #DoTheDionne (this is the hashtag she created to be used on social media whenever you post something inspired by her style).

I bought this old cedar chest for a bargain from a local antique shop that was closing down. It had been painted black, and it looked really nice, but I had other plans for it and they didn’t include black.

Most pieces I’ve seen in Bohemian style had bright, bold colors, and were very artsy and fun. I chose blue as the predominant color (what a surprise!) but I also wanted many other colors to be present in it. I looked at all the paint I had in my cabinet, and realized I was going to need to buy more bright colors.

I din’t want to spend a fortune on paint that I would rarely use later, so I went on Amazon and bought the most affordable chalky paint I found in several colors. The brand was Americana Decor, and I have to say, it is a pretty decent paint. Very easy to work with, good pigment, and beautiful colors.

I will try to make a list of all the paint colors I used for this project. It was basically everything I had in my workshop, plus the chalky paint I bought. (This list contains a few affiliate links*).

• Annie Sloan – Duck Egg (that was the base color I used on the entire chest before I started blending the other colors).
• Country Chic Paint – Midnight Sky
• Annie Sloan – Antoinette
• Annie Sloan – Barcelona
• Americana Decor – Primitive
• Americana Decor – Delicate
• Americana Decor – Legacy
• Americana Decor – Keepsake
• Americana Decor – Romance
• Americana Decor – Victorn
• Modern Masters – Gold Rush
• Modern Masters – Bronze
• Modern Masters – Venetian Blue

I sealed this piece with clear and dark wax by Annie Sloan.

Dionne’s technique consists mostly of blending the colors using a lot of water. You must always have a spray bottle with you and whenever you notice the paint is getting dry you spray a little bit (or a lot) of water on your piece and just keep adding colors and blending them with your brush. You are not looking for perfection. On the contrary, you have to play with the colors and allow the water do its thing. She also does a lot of distressing using a putty knife or a wet rug, but I skipped that. The process is a lot of fun and the results are gorgeous.

I highly recommend that you watch at least one of The Turquoise Iris’ videos on Facebook or Youtube so you will understand what I am talking about.

And here are the pictures of my first Bohemian Style piece! Let me know what you think. Are you inspired to try it?

Thanks fro reading!

Patricia.

I’m sharing this post on these awsome link parties!

To Grandma’s House We Go!

Sweet Inspiration

Silver Pennies Sundays Link Party

Make it Pretty Monday

*When you buy an item via my affiliate link, I receive a small commission from Amazon. There is no additional cost to you.