A Grain Painted Picture Frame

This was one of those "one thing leads to another" kind of projects. 

When we bought the poster bed from Marketplace in October, we had intended to store it to be used in a future guest room.

But when I saw it, I wanted to use it in our bedroom (at least for now), and Ron agreed. 

But the picture we had over the bed looked too big between the bedposts. 

Too big and too high!

Ron really wanted to keep the picture. We had seen one in a Cracker Barrel restaurant a few years ago and it had rekindled a childhood memory for him. He believes that it was hanging in his grandparents' house. Our son-in-law Andrew tracked it down online, and Ron had ordered a colored print and made a frame. 

So we cut the matting down and Ron made a new frame. 

Then there was thinking/planning time . . . and the holidays . . . and some plain old procrastination.

But in February, I determined to get that frame painted and I wanted to try my hand at colonial grain painting. Although I was able to find examples of grain painted frames online, I was unable to find any real "how to's," so I just jumped in and tried to replicate a simple design. 

I painted the frame with two coats of barn red. Then I did the design in burnt umber, using the beveled edge of a foam brush to dab the little lines. I finished with a coat of Briwax stain.

Ron had already had a piece of glass cut at Lowe's, so he quickly put it all together and we (finally) hung the picture over the bed! 

It looks so much better than our first try! The proportion is right, and, as a bonus, I think the colored frame suits the colored print more than the plain wooden one did, and it complements the other colors in the room. We think it was quite worth the do-over!