Ombré means “shaded” in French, and the gradual blending of colors on pieces of furniture seems to be a crossover idea from the world of fashion, where hair or clothes are dipped into a dye to change their color. Furniture painted in this way is sometimes also called ombré or dipped, and refers to pieces where the color changes gradually from one to the other. It’s usually the legs of the piece that are treated in this way, since they lend themselves easily to the technique.
The colors should merge seamlessly, so choose colors that work well together when they are mixed. I chose two colors near each other on the color wheel to be sure they would look good when blended. Many people opt for a color with white, so that the color made in between is a pastel. Some color combinations are less successful, however. Choosing, say, blue and yellow means you’d have a band of green in between, which would be distracting.
This little table is fairly featureless, but I thought I would draw attention to the legs, which are sweetly pointy. Although the technique looks easy, it was quite difficult to achieve on this particular table because the legs are angled. Rounded legs would have been easier to paint.
YOU WILL NEED
• Chalk Paint® in Amsterdam Green, Provence, and Old White
• 2 medium oval bristle brushes
• Clear wax
• Large wax brush
• Clean, dry, lint-free cloths
1Paint the lower half of the table legs with Amsterdam Green using one of the oval bristle brushes.
2Paint the other half of the legs with Provence using the other brush.
3Blend the two colors where they meet in the middle of the table legs to create a mid-tone. To blend, stroke very gently and, if anything dries, alternate the brushes with the two colors.
4Paint the top of the table in Provence and wait until the paint is almost dry before you blend. I added some Old White to the top of the table to lighten it and create a cloudy effect. Once the paint is dry, apply clear wax to the table with the wax brush. Remove excess wax with a clean cloth.
