Painted Desk in Varnished Ivory

Behr sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine.

In my life, I’ve painted more rooms, more houses, and more pieces of furniture than I care to remember!  My dad owned a decorating company and I worked for him during college summer breaks. I learned about oil paint, acrylic paint, latex paint … and then there were wood stains to consider. I even tuck pointed an historic church in Geneva while he power washed it. Then when I married, I started painting furniture. I’m extremely picky about my paint so when a product makes an impressive claim, I’m curious yet skeptical at the same time. I heard about BEHR MARQUEE® Interior Paint & Primer and decided to give it a go.  The result is a beautiful painted desk in Varnished Ivory.

You might remember this desk from my fall home tour, only it looked a little different just a week ago. Hubby found the desk out by the road for the trash man to pick up. He saw it was solid construction and dragged it home as a surprise for me (he’s always proud of his finds!).

 

Here’s the “before” photo of the desk. You can see the front is pretty scratched up. The wood has a beautiful warm hue so I decided to leave the top untouched. I suppose I could’ve refinished the wood finish, but I’ve always wanted a piece of painted furniture with a natural wood top.

 

When painting furniture, you want to remove all hardware. Yes, you could always paint around it but I wasn’t going to attempt that with the curvy nature of the desk’s drawer pulls.

 

Using a fine grain sandpaper, I lightly sanded the desk, applying slightly more pressure where there were rough spots. After sanding, I wiped off the dust with a slightly damp cloth.

 

I grabbed my favorite paint brush and opened up my can of MARQUEE Interior Paint & Primer. I chose an eggshell finish which has a very slight sheen to it. Matte is flatter while semi-gloss has more sheen than eggshell.  That was another thing I learned while working for my dad … the difference between paint finishes, and when and where to use them.

 

It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the paint is a yummy off-white shade called Varnished Ivory. I love choosing colors and it often takes me a long time to decide upon the perfect shade. I’ve found that when I’ve rushed the color-making decision I usually regret it. So I take my time!

 

The texture of this paint is wonderful! I didn’t have to thin it with water, and it didn’t drip while painting. I learned from my father how important it is to check back over your work for any drips. But if you apply the paint evenly and not too heavily, you lessen the chance for dripping to occur in corners and creases.

 

The next day I replaced the hardware. If you look at the “before” photo you’ll notice I turned the hardware upside down when putting the drawer pulls back on. I thought the original position made them look like bats.

 

I have to say … I love this paint! MARQUEE Interior Paint & Primer lived up to its reputation. Normally when I’ve painted wood, the stain bleeds through the paint and I have to give it a couple coats. But this wonderfully, creamy paint covered it in just one coat!  It was so easy to work with that I’ve decided to paint a few more pieces with my leftover Varnished Ivory.

 

I decided not to distress my painted desk like I typically do when refinishing furniture. I love the color and it matches my Fall baby boo pumpkins perfectly!  Wouldn’t that be a cute name for a paint color?  Baby Boo.  If I ever switch careers, I think I’d like a job naming paint colors!

This post is brought to you by BEHR. Color that’s True to Hue. If you feel it, you can find it. Visit True to Hue.