Pink to sandstone: an armoire makeover...

You have a plan, it all works in your imagination and then the reality is, well, not quite right. That's what happened with my armoire makeover.
The original "before" picture is directly below ~ just whitewashed wood. My original plan was to paint the armoire pink to go in my still-in-progress pink living room and replace the hardware. I found some lovely hardware and went ahead with my pink plan. The results of that are below.
It's not that the pink armoire by itself was bad, exactly. It's that it was bad in the living room, where it had to go. As you can see from the bottom photo, there was simply too much pink (though it pains me to admit there is such a thing). It also struck me as too girly, which is not the look I am going for. Casual feminine elegance, yes; girly, no. There's a fine line I am riding in having a pink living room. (As a side note, the floral couch is not staying; it's just something to sit on while I hunt for a new sofa.)
So less than 48 hours after I had painted it the first time, the armoire went back for another re-do. Since my living room is basically going to be pink with white and gray (read more about my plans here), I decided to go with something in the gray family for the second re-do. I chose a color called Sandstone Cove that I've since fallen completely in love with ~ in person it's a sort of warm gray, if there is such a thing. It's a beautiful, refined color; not beige and not gray, exactly, and yet it is. It's so lovely, in fact, that I repainted my big round coffee table from glossy white to Sandstone Cove. I've got a couple of fab old wooden end tables for the room that are going to get a coat of it as well. I think it will be a unifying color that won't compete with the pink, a complement to the room.
As you can see from the photos above, the armoire came out beautifully this time. I wish you could see it in person; the photos really don't do it justice. Sandstone Cove, how I love thee.
On a different note, I've been so busy I only just realized that I missed a couple of important blog milestones: My blog is 3 years old now and I've done more than 400 posts. I also discovered earlier today that I've crossed the 100,000 page view mark, which really astonishes me. Thanks to all of you who keep reading and sharing your comments. Blogland really is a wonderfully supportive place.
Wishing all of you a beautiful weekend...

If you would like to see more photos of my messy, still-in-progress pink living room, visit my other blog here.
I am linking to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully