ARLES Chest

I want to introduce you to Annie Sloan's ARLES. It's a rich buttery color, presumably the namesake of a well known city in the south of France. Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888-1889. He produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there, including Cafe Terrace at Night.

Cafe Terrace at Night depicts the warmth of a cafe in Arles.

I've been wanting to refinish a piece in yellow for quite some time now. It's a tricky color though. A little bit of yellow goes a long way. I felt like I'd found the perfect test subject when I came across this boxy chest of drawers at a garage sale last summer. The edges of the drawers were pretty dinged up but I brought it home with me anyway. Once in awhile my search for furniture is less about finding a buried treasure and more about rescuing a few stray dogs.

I waited nearly five months for a SNOW DAY before I found the motivation to tackle the project. The wind chill factor was 37 degrees below zero so I had to sand everything inside. Ughh...cough, cough, cough! Not smart but I still have all of my fingers and toes so I guess it was worth it.

After I got the piece completely stripped, I stained the base with Dark Walnut and applied a couple coats of Semi-Glass Spar Urethane to highlight the wood. Then I refinished the drawers with ASCP Arles and clear wax. Finally, I added some new oblong knobs.

Here's the final product...

I paired it with my NOW IS ALWAYS THE PERFECT TIME sign.

What'cha think?

It's no Van Gogh but it's my master piece for the week.

I love yellow.  Period.

It's the color of the sun and it warms my heart.

 

It's my happy color.

I'm going to spread the joy and make my husband really happy, too, 

because the piece is FOR SALE!!!

The chest of drawers is $70.

 

I'm asking $110 for BOTH the chest and the sign.

Sorry...I'm not interested in selling the sign alone.

If it doesn't sell with the chest, I'm going to be selfish and keep it for myself.

As always thanks for reading 13CCF! I hope this post has inspired you to rescue a few stray pieces and cover them with your happy color.

~Wendy