New life to old pieces

I've been a fan of Rachel Ashwell (of Shabby Chic fame) for a long time, but my husband doesn't share my enthusiasm and complains that all Shabby Chic does is paint things white. Recently we bought a maroon bedside table from a garage sale, and I discovered a similar style old maroon chest-of-drawers in our garage that used to belong to my husband's grandparents that my husband was using to store nails and bolts in. I suggested to him that we paint both pieces white and put them in our bedroom. We had a lovely few evenings sanding and painting and even he agrees that the Shabby Chic/provincial look works. An easy way to turn dated maroon furniture into something nice!