Metallic French Provincial Nightstand Makeover

So many times over the past few years I have thought, “If I only had a little girl . . .”

Not that I don’t love all my boys! I really do.

But when I paint these pretty, little, feminine pieces of furniture, there’s always that moment when I think that I like the final piece so much I just may keep it . . .

But then I remember that I have no little girl’s room–not even a guest room–and there is literally no space in my house for a piece as girly as this.

Sigh…

Way too much testosterone going on in here to have a fancy, metallic french provincial nightstand anywhere!

The Before

Here’s what I started with–

Look at those sassy, curved front legs!

The Prep

This was a great find at the local flea market and was in decent shape overall.

To prep the piece I gave it a good scrub with Simple Green cleaner, then scuffed up the whole surface with a 180 grit sandpaper.

I had no plans to distress this piece, so I wanted to make sure my paint adhered really well in all places.

I took the extra 10 minutes and did my prep really well–always better safe than sorry!

I had been inspired by a piece posted on my Facebook page by a reader a while back.

It was a bow front dresser that had been painted in a basecoat of Fusion’s Cathedral Taupe and then top-coated with a few coats of Fusion’s Champagne Metallic.

I loved the subtle, pink shimmer the Champagne metallic gave the piece and knew I wanted to try the same technique when I found the right piece–and this little nightstand was the perfect candidate!

There are 6 metallics in the Fusion line–Brushed Steel, Bronze, Pale Gold, Copper, Pearl, and Champagne.

All but the Pearl and Champagne are pretty opaque, but I have found those two colors need lots and lots of coats to get full coverage.

That’s where the basecoat of Cathedral Taupe comes in!

It’s a complimentary color and helped the Champagne not be so translucent.

If you want to try a piece in the Pearl, I would suggest you do the same thing by using one of the Fusion whites as a basecoat.

The Painting Process

I painted on 2 coats of the Cathedral Taupe, and then 3 more of the Champagne. The last coat was more of a touch-up–some spots already had good full coverage, but a few places were still a bit streaky.

Had I been more careful I could have probably painted a better second coat of the Champagne and been done there.

PRO TIP–when you’re working with the metallics, do your best to apply the paint only in one direction.

Don’t wipe your brush back and forth. This will cause the metallic pigments to reflect light in different directions and end up looking streaky.

I also avoided finish sanding the metallic paint (which is something I usually do with a fine grit sandpaper), since sanding would also mess a bit with the reflection of the metallic pigments.

So this piece isn’t quite as smooth as I prefer . . . But it sure does look good!

After Photos!

Can you see the subtle bit of shimmer from the Champagne?

I feel like this piece has just enough glam to make a little statement, but not too much that it draws all the attention in the room.

A perfect amount, in my opinion 🙂

Have you tried any of the Fusion Metallics yet?

You can see 2 other projects I’ve done with the metallics here, and here.

I hope you enjoyed this cute little makeover today! And please, somebody with some little girls in the house take this sweet piece and love it in your home!

As always, if you don’t have a local Fusion Mineral Paint retailer you can shop all of the products I used in this post in my Online Shop.

Thanks!