Balayage Inspired DIY Painted Furniture

Country Chic Paint, favorites, Featured, media console makeovers, tutorials

Balayage Inspired DIY Painted Furniture

2.03.2017

Balayage hair is beautiful and it's been trending for awhile! This Balayage Furniture Painting Technique was inspired after hair! We went from full paint coverage and gradually distressed this converted media console for a unique rustic paint finish! Learn our painting technique with this easy DIY furniture tutorial!

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Disclaimer: I received paint from Country Chic Paint to complete this furniture makeover.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure policy.

I'm WAY overdue for a hair style change so I've been looking at different women's hair styles lately and I'm finding myself gravitating more and more towards getting some blended balayage coloring. "Why, you've already got chalk paint in your pony?" Ha! You're so funny... ;)

While I'm busy finding a really great hair stylist I thought I'd try my own hand at a little balayage furniture painting. ;)

Balayage Inspired Painted Furniture

What Is Balayage? | ba·lay·age balāˈyäZH/ noun. | Balayage is a technique for highlighting hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect.

Hmmm, I wonder if its hard to do? We're going to take the concept of balayage highlights and by its very definition try and apply it as a painting technique for furniture. We're calling this project The Winchester Console.

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Look at this before picture. The poor little soul that sold us this piece had already sanded it part way before he gave up on it. Sanding furniture is not for the weary friends! We were beyond thrilled.

Not only did we get this piece for a really low "get it outta of here" price tag but a good chunk of the hard work had already been done for us! In just a few short hours, we had the rest of the piece sanded and cleaned up.

Converting A Dresser To A Media Console

Before we could try out our balayage ombre painting technique we wanted to convert this stately Thomasville dresser into a media console. To create the shelves for T.V. components, we took out the top two drawers and removed the drawer rails.

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Then, we took measurements for the bottom inserts and sides and cut our wood. We used wood glue and finishing nails to secure them in place.

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Once secure, we gave the inside one last coat of fresh paint using Country Chic Paint's in Liquorice. General Finishes in Lamp Black would also work!

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How To Get A Balayage Inspired Painted Finish

The idea behind a Balayage painting technique for furniture is that there's a gradual transition between colors or in this case (a lack there of). A Balayage finish is different then an Ombre finish.

When you're using the Balayage technique you leave dark pieces of hair at the bottom. In the hair world, this creates dimension and a more natural sun-kissed look. We wanted to see if we could get that same sun-kissed look on furniture!

Before you start, mentally divide your piece of furniture into thirds. The top third will have lots of color, the middle third will have less color and the bottom third should have almost no color.

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Balayage Furniture Painting Instructions

1. I personally think it's easier to start with a sanded down piece of furniture. It doesn't have to be completely sanded. But, at the very least the bottom half of your piece should be sanded thoroughly with additional various areas throughout the rest of your piece. It's much easier to get the Balayage look by adding the paint color then taking it away via distressing and sanding.

2. Start at the top of your piece and paint for full coverage (mostly). Leave areas here and there where the original wood peaks through. This helps tie in that gradual look.

3. (Top third section) As you work your way down your piece. Take your freshly dipped paint brush and start your brush stroke at the top of your piece then sweep it in a downward motion so that the bulk of your paint color stays in the upper region of your piece.

(Middle third section) Put less paint on both your paint brush and this section of your furniture piece. Take a rag and rub the paint into the wood (like you would a stain). Be sure to overlap with your top section and leave areas near the bottom third section untouched to preserve the distressing.

4. Then, take your paint brush and dry brush paint in various areas along the bottom of your piece to bring some dark color back into your furniture.

5. Lastly, take a damp rag and wet distress heavily along the bottom of your piece. Gradually get lighter with your distressing as you go up your piece.

Here's what we got! I think it turned out pretty darn neat!....

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Grab a drink, put your feet up and watch us work away on this Balayage painted furniture piece!

If you have time for one more furniture makeover, this Restoration Hardware Inspired Dresser Makeover might catch your eye! We hope you've been inspired to try something new this week!

If you enjoyed this tutorial and furniture makeover, we would love it if you'd share it on Pinterest or Facebook!

Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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Thirty Eighth Street

Carrie is the owner and author of Thirty Eighth Street, a blog dedicated to furniture story telling. Filled with tutorials, tips and lots of furniture before and afters, Thirty Eighth Street was created to encourage and inspire her readers to see the full potential in unloved and unwanted furniture. Carrie's work has been featured at HGTV, The Huffington Post, Hometalk, Annie Sloan, Country Chic Paint, Redbook, General Finishes and has been published in BH&G Magazine. Carrie has been a judge for The Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest ™ and is a regular contributor to Country Chic Paint and Pure & Original.

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