HOW TO: Annie Sloan dark wax

These two night stands and coffee table (ironically I only have one halfway picture of it... because I was painting a million pieces that weekend and wasn't thinking!) are for my mothers formal sitting room! She wanted them to match a hutch she had in the room already!

So, I did a terrible job with taking before and after pictures for this set! But I must say I am happy with the results! I did a Home Depot color match to get the paint I used to mix the chalk paint, and used Annie Sloan DARK WAX over the top. So if any of you were wondering if ASCP products would work with your DIY chalk paints... the answer is YES!

Here are pictures of the three pieces before I applied the wax! As you can see, they are a very deep buttermilk color.

Per the advice of the girl at the boutique... I added the clear wax and then proceeded to apply the dark wax. Both using a linen cloth.  

I tried to use as little dark wax as possible... which to me takes serious skill! I love the way the dark wax looks on this set... but I can't decide if I would ever use it myself!

HOW TO: achieve the "chippy" look with milk paint

First, let me start out by saying, these piece are still not finished... they are in my master half way done. This is because I wasn't pleased with the color. So I plan to strip them down and start over. BUT I would still like to go over the step by step for anyone who is considering doing a piece in MMS (Miss Mustard Seed milk paint) and would like to achieve the "chippy" look.

First, I started with the undercoat of a darker blue (Flow Blue by MMS) I would hoping to duplicate her technique using Vaseline to have the darker colors show through like natural distressing.

I only painted the pieces of the dresser I planned to apply the vaseline, because I cut corners from time to time and really I didn't have enough paint.

Then, because I like to jump around a bit, I sanded the tops.

Once this coat dried, I applied the light color (French Enamel by MMS) WITHOUT the bonding agent to the pieces of the dresser I wanted to chip. It began to react very quickly, as you can see below.

You can see the color difference below, halfway into my adventure, I realized I didn't have vaseline. A perfect example of why you should check for that kind of thing in advance. I attempted to use Vicks... don't. Didn't work.

After I was completed with that, I added the bonding agent to the paint and proceed to finish the top coat of the night stands. The color appeared thin... so I attempted to paint a second coat with a new batch of paint.

At which point I quickly learned that I did not add enough bonding agent to the second coat, and the dresser began to chip rapidly. I could not apply the wax fast enough! I ended up needing to peel back a good portion of the paint and reapply.

Quite disappointed to spend so much time, only to have them not match! ): The french enamel is much brighter and more "aqua" then I anticipated. I was hoping for a "french blue" that was more ashy.

Stay tuned for the new color I have picked out!!

HOW TO: using paint stripper

Bought this bad boy when I lived in Phoenix. I put an ISO out for a "federal style" tall boy dresser for my sons room, and a good friend reached out to me and informed me she had one in storage. She had drawn over the top of the paint with chalk, and even with out it... who ever painted it in the first place did a very poor job. The primer they used shows through the black and the black was very uneven.

I started by stripping the original paint, in hopes that the paint I used would chip and display the dresser underneath.

If you haven't used stripper before, its really not that bad. Use a brush to apply the stripper over the paint and let it sit. When you see the paint start to ripple like the picture below, take a scrapper and follow the grain of the wood.

You will probably need to repeat it once or twice. If you don't wait long enough to remove each coat, you will need to do more. Once you have remove enough of the original paint, you can sand anything remaining.

After seeing the original dresser, I almost talked myself out of painting it! But I did anyways...

I decided to use MMSMP for this piece, which was my first time! I picked the color "typewriter" because I was so in love with the desk that Miss Mustard Seed painted with it.

I started by painting the parts of the dresser that I hoped would chip because the paint didn't have a bonding agent. However, because their was no finish left on the wood from the stripper, the paint didn't chip at all!

Over all, I am pleased! The milk paint went on smooth, and has a beautiful even finish. It distressed very easily. After distressing, I waxed, added the knobs and voila! 

My buffet makeover

Okay, so moving to Virginia we sold most of our furniture. We knew we would be with my parents for a few months, and nothing we had was really worth the cost of trekking it across the country and storing it! So when we finally found the perfect place for us, I started hunting craigslist and local Facebook groups for some fun pieces to add character and functionality.

That's when I found this buffet! I immediately fell in love! At least 100 years old, and only $100!

The piece definitely needed some TLC, but it was perfect! and to top it off, it would be my first project using DIY chalk paint.

First I repaired the veneer in the drawers using wood filler.

Once the wool filler dried, I sanded the surface so it wouldn't be visible when painted.

Then I mixed the chalk paint and began painting, finishing all but the drawers before calling it a night.

I love that I can paint indoors so I can do touch ups in-between cleaning and getting other things done around the house.

The next day I finished the drawers and sanded down the top to stain. The top was in very poor shape so I had to sand A LOT.

The drawers would not slide on the tracks with ease, and the top drawer would push to far in on the right. So I removed the tracks and added this metal tab to keep the drawer even.

After staining the top, she is as good as new (personally I think BETTER then new) 

Wouldn't you agree??