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Anthropologie Inspired Bed | A Bedroom Makeover | Dixie Belle Paint Ideas

How to paint your bed to look like the Anthropologie bed from a magazine! For our bedroom makeover we knew we wanted a boho vibe full of color and texture, and for our master bed it just had to be special and unique- like us! Our walls are going to be painted this Dixie Belle Paint Company dusty pink called Tea Rose and our adjacent walls will be a custom rich and bold teal made from Antebellum Blue and Palmetto. There was some texture from the original paint finish so this will be an old world finish, full of depth and dimension!

Bedroom Before and After

The end result gave us exactly the dream bed we had wanted, without the large price tag...


Bedroom Furniture | Furniture Flip

Supplies you will need for this project:


To Prep:



To Paint:


-Silk All-In-One Paint in Hampton Olive - https://dixiebellepaint.com/hampton-olive-silk-paint/?aff=258



-Chalk Mineral Paint in Holy Guacamole - https://dixiebellepaint.com/holy-guacamole-chalk-paint/?aff=258


-Chalk Mineral Paint in Tree Frog Green - https://dixiebellepaint.com/tree-frog-green-chalk-paint/?aff=258




-Wide Flat Synthetic Brush "Scarlet" - https://dixiebellepaint.com/scarlet-brush/?aff=258


To Create Age or Grunge:




For The Added Mouldings:


-(2) Woodubend "Hinges" Applique X1002 - https://dixiebellepaint.com/applique-x1002/?aff=258



For DIY Finials:




To Seal:




Our Wall Color:




 

This is we started at, I guess I was going for a chalkboard look like 10 years ago! ...





To get started, I prepped by cleaning with White Lightning and then rinsed super well with vinegar water. (1 part vinegar to 3 parts water).

*Yep that's paint coming off after washing... clearly a stellar paint job I did way back then!




I chose Dixie Belle's Silk All-In-One Mineral paint in Hampton Olive, because it has a built in primer and I didn't want the original black chalk paint bleeding through. I applied one quick coat of the Hampton Olive and let it dry an hour or so, before I started in with the color Limeade. Using a dry synthetic round brush, I dry-brushed all the lines and creases, then shot it with my heat gun so I could move on to my next step without blending the colors together.




Ok, I so I knew I wanted more of a bright olive color, and to me the Hampton Olive looked pretty brown, so I decided to and some Holy Guacamole! I grabbed my favorite brush, the synthetic wide Scarlet, and began layering the avocado green color. (use a light pressure when going over the limeade so as to not completely cover it)











Then to give a more brilliant, multi-dimensional green, I went back to my dry round brush and dipped it in half Tree Frog Green and half Limeade hitting those corners!





Now back to our Holy Guacamole, on the Scarlet brush to layer just a tad bit more over those grassy green areas. I didn’t want them to blend, not at this point anyway, and since I like texture, I went in all different directions with my paint brush. (This cross-hatching method is great because you don’t have to worry about brush strokes, you just embrace them!)

Be careful not to use too much paint, so you still get some of the Limeade/Tree Frog Green to pop through! I used a tad bit of water because my paint was drying on me quicker than normal due to the heat in the room, so if you find it starting to pull go ahead and mist lightly. I deposit most of the color on the main areas and then dry brush and feather out over the other colors that I'm wanting to pop through still.


If you cover up too much of your color underneath, just grab a shop towel, wet with water, and distress your top layer back rubbing with light pressure. This quick weathering method is called wet distressing!












Remember when you’re doing layers that you want to end with the color you’re wanting to see the most! I wanted Holy Guacamole to be the most seen, so that is the color I ended with leaving it heavier in the middle, and towards the center of the headboard.

Dixie Belle Paint



Now it's time to pick some Woodubend Moldings to add character. I ended up going with two of the Applique X1002, which reminded me of hinges on an old gate when I turned them facing in towards each other! To apply Woodubend Mouldings, you start by heating it up with either an electric griddle, blow dryer or heat gun, which is what I use. You will then warm it up until it starts to get a little floppy. Next you use a quality wood glue to adhere to your surface, (I use Titebond Wood Glue), covering the backside completely by spreading quickly with your finger or a small brush. Once placed where you want it, simply press and hold for a minute then shoot it with your heat gun/blow dryer on low heat for a few seconds, to warm it in place a final time! (careful not to hold the heat too close or long to bubble your paint!) Press and hold again for a minute while it cools. (You can use a shop towel or a toothpick on its side to gently remove any tacky wood glue that seeps out)

Woodubend Mouldings Applique



After my mouldings were applied, I painted them just like the bed, adding more Holy Guacamole in areas that needed better coverage. I then drug some Tree Frog Green down, misting with water, from my creases into the middle more to add more of the brilliant contrast I was going for!

Best Chalk paint



I then thought it needed some highlighted areas to add even more dimension, so I misted it slightly, then went back in with straight Limeade, randomly in center and middle of posts! Now that’s what I was looking for!

How to blend chalk paint














Finally, I added Best Dang Wax in Black to all the creases and over the moulding, wiping it back, to reveal the exact amount of age, grit, and grunge I was wanting. (I used the “La Petite“ pointed wax brush to apply)

Yup, there’s all the feelings I get when I see the romantic look of grunge you guys!!




Ok, now the fun part...I decided I wanted to remove those tall posts that came on the original bed and put little wooden birds instead! You know the kind you see with branches etc on those Anthropologie beds and dressers for thousands of dollars?!


So naturally I googled them only to find that carved, wooden birds were pricey! Hubbs to the rescue, finding some resin ones on the Hobby Lobby website that were much more reasonable, so off I went! While wandering around, I ended up finding a pair of resin birds that were on sale and came in two styles, win/win!

(I wanted a more authentic/artisan style, not a factory look, that’s why I chose two different styles of birds for each finial!)

Once back to the studio, my husband drilled into the bottom of each bird using a tiny drill bit and working up to the size of the hardware rod! (this gradual method avoids cracking the resin)




Once the holes were drilled, we removed the hardware out of the original post by simply unscrewing it and putting the end into the attached bed post. Next, we used JB Welding Epoxy to adhere the bird to the top end of hardware and let that dry for a couple of hours. (the epoxy is super strong smelling, be sure to open a window while applying!)




When the epoxy was set, I could then unscrew the bird finials as needed. Since they are resin, they needed to be coated with Slick Stick for adherence. I cleaned with White Lightning, rinsed, then went in with a thin coat of Slick Stick and let dry fully. I layered the paint like the headboard using a dry brush, then applied the Best Dang Wax Black and wiped back with a shop towel revealing the cook carvings on their wings- Voila! 💚


 

Meet “Nightingale Harlow”


We are super excited and so happy with how this turned out! 💚 Our four poster/canopy bed from Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1990 something, now looks like the $3,000 Anthropologie beds I see in the magazines!


Dixie Belle Paint Ideas | Chalk Painted Furniture | Anthropologie Hack | Bedroom Makeover




WATCH MY LIVE TUTORIAL ON THE INITIAL BLENDING BELOW:





*Some of these links may be affiliate links and I may earn a small credit for those orders, this blog/video is not sponsored by anyone.



Happy Painting

💚meleah💚

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