Restoration Hardware Inspired Antique Daybed Makeover

Hello all! This is project I've been making slow progress on for a few months now. Between away rotations, interviews, research and more I've only been able to work on my DIY projects in short spurts. 

One of our family friends was redesigning and wanted to unload this daybed. It was her mother's before that. Over the years I think it has had a few coats of paint and the cushions were down to feeling like lead weights, but it was clear that there was potential for a high "cuteness quotient".

  

The design on the front would not be appreciated because of the black paint so when I saw it I knew my first step would be to paint it a lighter hue. My end goal was to achieve a Restoration Hardware style finish with lots of warm depth.

 Montpelier Ashlar Grey (Left, Base Color) & Agreeable Grey (Right, Dry-Brushing Color)

If you've seen some of my other projects you know how much I love these little tester paints - only $3 a piece!

Here is the daybed after 2 coats of Montpelier Ashlar Grey. Isn't the difference amazing?!?! You can see the detail so much better in a lighter color. 

The next step was to dry brush to further highlight the details. I ended up choosing the color Agreeable Grey which is several shades lighter than the base color but not as harsh as straight white. I used the brush above which I found at Lowe's. I found a wonderful video by Shades of Blue Interiors which taught me how to dry brush. It was pretty easy - just make sure you dab off most of the paint from your brush before brushing.  Here are some pictures to show the effect; I think the difference is most noticeable in areas of detail.

 

The next step was to replace the cushions. We have a friend who gets new south cushions every six months (?!?!) so I happily accepted her free barely used cushions. The back cushions are polyfill and the seat cushions are super comfy with springs and down. 

The cushions weren't exactly the right shape so I cut the back ones shorter and added the extra polyfill to the front and back of the seat cushions, wrapped the fill with fabric and sewed it down. You can see below that the gap in the front is now filled. 

I chose 4 yds of white medium-weight denim fabric over linen for it's ease of cleaning (hello bleach!)  Next, I made cording - lots of cording - like 20 yds worth and sewed the cushion covers together with hidden zippers in the back and bottom. The bottom cushions are a tiny bot loose but will tighten up after the first time I wash them. 

The next step in creating my Restorations Hardware-esque finish was adding a layer or wax. I used Briwax in Clear and Tutor Brown and experimented on sample frame.  I didn't want a muddy look (like on the sample) so I combined the two waxes to create a lighter result.  Shades of Blue Interiors also made a wonderful video for dark waxing, which I followed except for applying an initial coat of clear wax because I didn't use chalk paint. 

Note: Wax is typically applied with a wax brush over chalk paint but I haven't bought into the chalk paint hype (and crazy cost). I tried using a wax brush but ultimately I chose to use a cotton rag to apply the wax because the friction created by the brush pulled up the paint below it and I found it easier to apply with a rag.

Below you can see how the dark wax created a much warmer finish (top of the picture) compared to the areas without wax (bottom two rungs on the picture).

Here is the whole daybed after one coat of wax:

Here is the finished project! I'm excited with how it turned out and it was fun to try some new faux finishing techniques. 

Thanks for reading! Sign up with your email up on the right to be notified of new posts!

My apologies for the less than stellar pictures. These pictures make the final finish look a bit muddy but thats bot really how it looks in real life. The daybed is currently serving as a couch in the basement bedroom which doesn't have any natural light. I hope to update with better pictures when it moves to a better lit space.