Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan

This post has been a long, long time in the making.  I have been wanting to try my hand at Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan for quite some time and when we were contacted us about featuring Chalk Paint® in a post I jumped at the chance.  I have an antique wash stand that belonged to my great grandmother and I have been tossing around the idea of painting it since we have been in our new house, but just never bit the bullet.  This wash stand was passed on to me right after I got married and since that time it has always been in one of our guest bedrooms.  

It used to have the stand and mirror part with it, but the mirror got ruined in one of our moves and I never replaced it.  I love the detail and the beautiful carving on this piece and I just love antique pieces passed down from family.  Because it is an antique I guess I was nervous about messing it up by painting it.  However, I really wanted to use it in a more prominent place in our home instead of having it hidden in a guest bedroom, so I decided to dive into duck egg blue for this project.  

It was was a painless process and I could not be more pleased with the final product!  

Isn't it gorgeous?!?!  I'm seriously so in love with the way it turned out and I can't believe I waited so long to paint it.  Using Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan was pretty straight forward.  There are a ton of tutorials online and the Annie Sloan website has some great videos and tips.  I watched some of the videos and read some other tutorials and got to it.

I painted the piece in my garage and made sure to put a piece of cardboard under it for drips.  I removed the hardware, wiped it clean and painted it with two coats, which took some time because I wanted it to dry completely in between coats.  I also had decided to leave the top natural, but there were a lot of gaps and spaces that needed filling so the Mr. taught Little Mama how to use wood filler.

After everything had dried we moved it outside so the top could be sanded and stained just a tad darker than the original color.

This is also when I took sand paper to the edges of the piece to distress it a bit.  I was very nervous about this part. I had just spent what felt like all day painting it perfectly only to scuff it up with sandpaper?!?!  I kept reminding myself I love that worn, chipping paint, farm house look though so my sand paper and I got busy.  I tried to sand parts that would naturally get worn over time and I love how it made the details on the doors stand out even more.

Lastly, I sealed the paint with a clear wax and my girls loved the idea of helping so they were the official buffers of the wax.  Then I attached the stand part and was absolutely giddy over how it looked.

I contemplated using the Chalk Paint® for the hardware because it says you can even use it on metal, but ended up just spray painting the old brass hardware a dark brown color and after reinstalling those handles and the knob I declared this project done!

I mentioned that I wanted this to be in a prominent place in my house and it certainly is now.  You enter our home from the front doors to a wide and very open foyer.  On one side of this space I have an area I have loved for a long time complete with a monogrammed burlap runner, huge family picture and some other special/meaningful things, but the other side of the foyer remained empty for 2 years...

...until now!  I finally have something I love on the other side of this space as you first enter our home.  And not just something that I threw there to fill the space, it is actually something that has a lot of meaning to me since it is a family piece and something that I'm so proud for everyone to see!

And I guess now you could say that I'm hooked!  I jumped on the Chalk Paint® bandwagon and now I am full speed ahead. I have a bunch of other project ideas floating around in my head and I can't wait to get started on them, too!  I am really amazed by the before and after of this piece and know that the possibilities are endless for other items I might want to transform.  A little paint and a little time and effort can really make an amazing difference.  

In case anyone is wondering I also painted the wooden initial in duck egg and will be sharing all about that part of this project on Monday so be sure to check back!  

I'm curious to know...have you used Chalk Paint® before?  What did you transform?  Are you like me and have ideas floating around in your head?!? 

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