From 70's oak to romantic European country

I neglected to take before photos. The china cabinet was 70's oak.

I painted the exterior in an off white (with a beige cast rather than creamy...the client did not want it to go yellow), then layered on a couple coats of a brown glaze. I then highlighted some of the moulding with antique gold, sanded some of the paint off to simulate wear, and finished it with a couple of coats of wax applied with superfine steel wool. The interior was painted with a soft coral in a strie finish to show off the white china and to co-ordinate with coral accents in the adjoining formal living room. This armoire from a local import store had a dark, natural acia finish. While attractive, it was too dark and masculine for the tween daughter's small room. I gave it a Swedish country finish to blend with the walls and create the illusion of more space. For fun and color, I painted the ceiling pale lime green and added random polka dots in a silver wash. Finally, for a little grown-up glam, I finished the crown moulding in silver and added the silk panels to widen the window and dress up the existing Roman shades. This was a compromise. The girl actually wanted green and silver walls, but I felt it would completely close in the tiny (11'x11') room. The off white walls (Sherwin Williams natural choice----a great soft white...it's a linen color with no yellow....in fact in person it reads as the palest possible green, but also go gray in low light) open the space and blends with the white furniture. Keeping the walls and major furniture pieces the same color really disguises the lack of floor space.

I originally had a sleeker, more modern finish planned for the armoire...I was planning to do a tone on tone overall damask stencil in the wall color and a slightly darker shade. However, as I began priming the piece, the rustic nature of the wood (not noticable with the original dark finish) became much more apparent. Since the roughness was too wide spread to hide, I decided to embrace it, and take the finish country. Because the room, and the rest of the house, is fairly sophisticated, I had to be careful not to let the piece get too country, too distressed, or too cute. That's when I decided that a Swedish look would be best....casual, light, but still a sense of elegance.