Rosebud

My oldest daughter is Rose Catherine, named after my favorite flower and one of her grandmothers. This year she moved into an unfurnished apartment at college and was in need of a desk. Lucky for her finding furniture is what I love to do!

My very favorite pieces of furniture are secretary desks. I remember being at my grandmother’s house and seeing the one they had in the dining room, the kind with a glass top- and seeing their wedding topper on display behind the glass. I love how functional they are, drawers and tiny drawers and secret drawers and how it all folds up and you don’t have to see the “mess” of work or mail or whatever else you are working on. I especially love the mahogany Maddox 1920s secretary desks, with their curved drawers and claw feet!

Back to my daughter… I found her a secretary desk, a smaller one that was in pretty rough shape. But all good furniture has the potential to shine and together she and I came up with a plan to make this piece something special for her.

First we started with the paint colors… she was drawn to blues and I showed her several colors before she decided that Halcyon Blue. This color is a Milk paint, made by General Finishes, a beautiful light shade of blue.

Next we went to find her something beautiful to make this piece truly special, this is where IOD transfers come into play! After looking at all of the beautiful options we chose roses of course!

Once the dresser was painted, and we started to look at the placings for the roses I suggested to Rose that she let me paint white under where the rose transfers would be placed- that this would give the dresser a little more drama… she agreed to go along with my plan 🙂

I love this part of the process! Cutting and placing and figuring out just how you want the transfer.. and then getting to create the look you really want.

The white paint went under the areas where the roses were going to be placed. The entire inside was painted white. For another personalized detail Rose made a tiny mold of a bee, this represents the “house” she is a part of for her Honors College Program. The final detail came with painting the hardware gold.. and the results.. well, just beautiful, just like my Rose.