My dining room and a painted cabinet

Our dining room serves double duty as the place where we pay our bills
as well as where we eat most of our meals and entertain.  Since Mr. Maison Decor
and I both have home businesses in addition to all those household bills, our
paperwork has been difficult to contain.  I came up with the idea of using
a large china cabinet as our home office.  Its the best way I could think of
to keep on top of it all, but not have to constantly hide it or have it scattered
all over the table top.  Its working out fantastic!   I have little labels inside
the upper cabinet on the back wall of each section which lets us know at a 
glance what goes where. You can put your finger on what you need in a flash
now.  I am figuring out if I want to put fabric or decorative paper behind the wire
doors to hide the paperwork, but that will be for another day.  For now,
just getting this beast painted and embellished and waxed was a triumph
for me, as I rarely have time home to focus on these projects.
This is the before photo.  I had a decorative wallpaper on this wall which I 
had to remove once the large cabinet went in place.  Next was to figure out
how I wanted to paint it....I chose Louis Blue Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan.
I toned down the blue by dry brushing a mix of the same blue with Pure White.
After that I added some graphics using a transfer method to add a bit of subtle
detail on the bottom of the cabinet.  I chose some French graphics that I found
on Graphics Fairy.com.  
She has free graphics and you can print out what you
want using a laser jet printer, then apply with our Artisan Enhancements Transfer Gel
that we sell online and in our shop. Let the image dry onto the piece overnight,
 then remove the white paper with a damp scrubby sponge and the graphics are revealed!
The graphics float on the gel base that you used to "glue" the paper in position.
 Its pretty easy and the results speak for themselves.
 I used some French font for the drawer faces and then a
 decorative image and more font for the center two cabinet fronts. 
 Lightly distressed and soft looking was my goal.
 Highlights of Silver Gilder Paste around the edges add a touch of glimmer.
 This room has a mix of silver and gold and different shades of blue. 
My purple transferware collection is kept in this room 
and some of it adorns the walls. 
 The beaded sconces are new and I just threw them up there, 
but I plan to remove the plate above each sconce and
 raise them as the position now is not ideal.
 Lovely faux florals include the lavender found at HomeGoods.  
I gravitate towards French style florals of course, 
and these are perfect in my home. An antique looking mirror from HomeGoods
 anchors this wall display. The large pillows, also from HomeGoods,
 sit on our antique lidded box/trunk that we use to store
our household recyclables.  Like you, I am sure you need
 to find storage that works, and has both a purpose as well as looking pretty.   


 Annie Sloan has a new Home Fragrance Collection, and I am in love
with Antibes.  If you like the smell of fresh cut grass, this one is for you.
Thank you for reading my blog.  I hope my painted cabinet
inspires you to look at old pieces with a new eye for design and 
how you can make these pieces work for you and your home.
Our French Library Cabinet has made our 
dining room a place of order once again!
Thanks Annie Sloan!!

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Note: This post is partially sponsored by HomeGoods as part of my participation in their Designer program on their Pinterest board, Happy By Design

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