tallulah; the original bad girl.

Meet Tallulah.

I wish I had a warm, fuzzy story to share with you about how wonderful she is, but really, she is a total pill and has given me nothing but problems for two weeks straight. I also wish I could tell you the "secret ingredient" was love, and moan how I wish I could keep her. But her secret ingredients are resentment, hostility, sweat and tears and I can't wait to see her go. But just so I'm not completely negative, I will pay her a compliment. She is insanely gorgeous. So at least she has that going for her.  She's a nasty, difficult, wicked witch, but...totally gorgeous.





Funny how some projects come and go so easily and others just give you problems every last step of the way. I won't bore you to death with all the problems I encountered, but let's just say, I had to put her in time-out for a few days to take a breather.  I came back when I summoned the courage, patience and fortitude to finish the job. When I shared the ordeal on my facebook page, I was still trying to name her - you guys chimed in with name suggestions for such a gorgeous but poorly behaved lady. The name "Tallulah" kept coming up. I admit I had no idea why, so I did a quick google search using the keywords "bad girl Tallulah." (you know, instead of asking you guys why and appearing like I didn't know or something.) I got a ton of information on Hollywood's "original bad girl" Tallulah Bankhead, aka; The Black Widow. When I read her quote "Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it." I knew it was kismet and this lady had a name. So we forged on and finished the job. Hallelujah for Tallulah.

As far as the color choices and ideas for the piece - I've been feeling super autumnal lately despite the thousand degree temps here in Orlando...I am just so eager to put on a sweater and play outside with my boys without secretly praying for death. I've also been painting with bright summery colors and a beachy palette for a few months now, and I am ready for some different shades. I mixed up a shade of green that is slightly olive,  kinda avocado-y...I like it because I think it's a bold choice but still neutral, know what I mean?



I painted two coats of the olive shade, and then drybrushed a creamy shade all over it to accent the edges and fabulous details. I sealed it with polycrylic, then distressed it. My concept was just like when using wax products - you need to seal the piece first with clear, so that the dark wax stays where you want it after distressing and doesn't stain the paint you just applied. So, poly first, then sand/distress, then dark glaze. I needed to get down past the previous orangey finish to reveal the pourous wood, so I sanded with a heavier grit paper and using a good deal of pressure when sanding.  (Which by the way, I always distress by hand because I am not a fan of the squiggily lines a power sander makes in the finish.) I worked the glaze in much like dark wax - apply, wiggle into all the crevices, then wipe off. Let dry, sand lightly with a 320 grit so that Tallulah feels like butter.  Lots of work, but every step totally worth it.








I love her top. I love weathered wood. I love when it's uneven, and greyed. I mean, LOVE.
And how pretty are these leaf accents on the tips? Lovely.




Tallulah also needed new hardware for an updated look. I love the greenish-brown tone to these glass knobs.




And seriously, I'm going to toot my own horn for a second. I love the way the drybrushing highlights all the details, and the dark glaze accents the recesses of the carving.




Did I fail to mention her drawer interiors are cedar? That she is solid wood? Has dovetail construction and drawers that glide like buttah? Tallulah really is a fine piece of furniture. Side note; I left the cedar drawers unpainted, since I am sure someone somewhere would fall over dead if I revealed that I painted them.

Hmmm. Talking about all her positive attributes has me thinking maybe this lady isn't so bad after all....what do you guys think?

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