Farrow + Ball - Find It, Paint it, Love it

The lovely team at Farrow & Ball reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in a Flea Market challenge. First of all - upon seeing Farrow & Ball in my inbox I did do a little "gasp" as it is really, the top paint manufacturers. My Mom's home is all in Farrow and Ball, and she has always swooned over the names that the paint colours have. Mole's Breath, Apple Green, Drawing Room Blue. Perhaps it was also the British Connection (my Grandfather was born in England, my Dad studied at Oxford, and he and Mom lived there together for awhile) that made our family love this line - but if ever there was a paint line that I identified with - it was them. I've never used the line myself - so getting their e-mail, I really was excited. Farrow and Ball invited me to find a piece of vintage furniture, and pick any Farrow and Ball paint colours to make something over. You know me and painting furniture. Match made in heaven.

I found a really beaten up side table outside of Toronto and really felt that it was the piece that I was going to make over. It reminded me perhaps of a table in a thatched roof cottage outside London.

Prior to painting I filled a lot of the holes and cracks with wood filler and then sanded it down to remove the excess and, the chipping paint that was already there. I then primed the whole piece and set out to paint it. 

I picked Dix Blue and Churlish Green. I normally don't go all crazy with two tone furniture, but I was inspired by some of the pieces that Farrow and Ball had done in the past and I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone a little. Painting with the line was - well - luxurious. There really isn't any other way of explaining it. I used a brush and enjoyed seeing the paint cover the old wood.

The "dipped" look has been done but I felt that by doing something different to the piece it added some visual interest - especially if you have a home like I do where everything is white. A simple piece all of the sudden becomes pretty amazing.

Not original to the table are the two handles I installed on either side of the table. Although they are new, I picked them as they looked as though they could be original to the piece. They just add that extra visual interest that I think can bring a simple piece to be a stunner. And last, but not least  - I wanted to add in brass rollers on the feet but the table was rather damaged and the rollers were going to be expensive - so instead I sprayed gold at the very, very bottom to give a nod to where rollers could have gone.

Here are Aubrey and Oscar helping me drill holes into the table, and attach the "new" hooks. A pop of colour via a really inexpensive piece of furniture can add a lot of interest without a lot of investment.

Although many will likely take away from this post the inspiration (hopefully!) to paint your own furniture maybe in fun colour combo like I did - I want to really point out that painting with Farrow and Ball for this piece was truly luxurious. The finish was stunning, doesn't feel like it's going to chip - and a little paint went a VERY long way. I highly, highly recommend.

Paint Used: Farrow and Ball Dix Blue, Churlish Green
Other Links: See my table and other's over on Pinterest! 


Disclaimer: I was provided the paint and $30 to buy a piece of furniture. The opinions are my own.