Custom Painted Built-in Cabinet

Nancy and I were recently hired by customers at Loot to paint this freshly made, built-in cabinet that sits in a corner of their newly remodeled kitchen.  

Before

The cabinet started out with unfinished wood.

After

Our customers chose Versailles Chalk Paint for the exterior and Old White Chalk Paint for the inside of the cabinet.  

The customers wanted some dimension, so we distressed all the edges and then applied Annie Sloan clear wax, followed by dark wax.  Instead of applying the dark wax over the entire cabinet, we used a small artist brush to paint the dark wax into all the grooves and edges. We did this same dark wax technique on the painted beadboard on the inside of the built-in.

Our customers were thrilled with their newly painted built-in cabinet!  These two Chalk Paint colors look absolutely perfect against the pale, creamy wall color and also tie in with the warm tones in the hardwood floors.

Henrietta Chalk Paint® Bookcase

A client recently brought this me this bookcase and asked me to paint it for her daughter's bedroom.  I was excited when she asked to have it painted in Henrietta Chalk Paint® because I had not used this pretty hue yet.  

The bookcase started out as light pine, complete with tacky decals.  To prevent the knots in the wood from eventually bleeding through the paint, I applied a coat of shellac to the bookcase before applying the Chalk Paint®.

I painted the inside with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint® and the outside with Henrietta.  This color is so soft and pretty.  The whole time I was painting, I kept daydreaming about eating berries and cream.  I guess that is what Henrietta reminds me of.  

I used Annie Sloan Clear Wax to seal and protect the paint followed by a touch of dark wax along all the edges and grooves to add depth and enrich the color. 

I am happy that, after being a Chalk Paint® user for three years, I can finally share a Henrietta piece with you!

Grey-Washed, Oak Chest of Drawers

I found this solid oak dresser at the Santa Cruz Flea Market recently.  It had a worn, orange finish, but beautiful hardware and lovely details.

I love painting oak furniture with Chalk Paint® because its open grain looks beautiful peaking through the paint. The technique I used on this piece is called dry brushing.  I applied one light coat of French Linen Chalk Paint with one of Annie Sloan's fabulous, natural bristle, oval brushes. Using very little paint, I worked it in and blended it with the brush to get a very thin coat, allowing the wood grain to show through.  In the past, I have used Chalk Paint® thinned with water (a wash), to get this effect, but I prefer dry brushing because sometimes the wash is uneven and does not adhere as well to furniture with a shiny finish.

One Coat of French Linen, Before Waxing

After letting the paint dry, I applied Annie Sloan's Clear Wax and then Dark Wax to enrich the color.

After Applying Clear and Dark Waxes

I also dry brushed all the hardware and applied dark wax over them for a beautiful patina.  The paint and wax really brought out the details on the drawer pulls.

This finish is easy to achieve, and although simple, it really accentuates the beautiful craftsmanship of this well-built piece of furniture.

Old Violet Console Table

 

Old Violet is a lovely shade of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® and one that I chose for this antique console table.

 

 It had an old, dark wood stain and graceful lines before. Please excuse the blurry, night time, phone photo of the table before painting.

 

I dry brushed one coat of Old Violet over the existing finish and blended the paint with cheesecloth as I went. Dry brushing is a painting technique using very little paint on the brush and allowing the finish beneath to show through. 

 

 

 

 I rubbed off more paint along the edges to accentuate the graceful curves.

 

After allowing the paint to dry, I applied Annie Sloan's clear wax followed by dark wax.

 

 

 Old Violet Chalk Paint® turns into a very pretty, slate blue color once it has dark wax over it.

 

 

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Emile Dresser

 

A Loot customer brought me their dresser for a cottage makeover.  They chose Emile Chalk Paint mixed 50/50 with Pure White to create a pretty, soft purple.

 

The vintage, maple dresser has great lines and just needed some new hardware and Chalk Paint to complete the cottage makeover and update the look. 

 

I painted two coats of the Emile and Pure White mixture of Chalk Paint®. I distressed all the edges and then finished the dresser with Annie Sloan clear and dark waxes, making sure the dark wax stuck in all the grooves.

 

Replacing the hardware, with these oil rubbed bronze cup pulls, gave this piece a whole new look. I love the way the oil rubbed bronze bin pulls tie in with the dark wax along all the edges of this dresser.

 

We sell these classic, flat finished, cup pulls at Loot for $4.99 each.  I can also ship them, so feel free to contact me to purchase what you need for your next project.

 

 

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Graphite and French Linen China Cabinet

 

A customer at Loot traded me this beautiful china cabinet for a desk I painted.  I love the simple, clean lines and the doors remind me of paned windows.

 

The veneer was damaged in places, which I repaired with Gorilla glue and wood filler.

 

 

 

I painted the exterior of the cabinet with Graphite Chalk Paint.

I applied both Annie Sloan clear and dark waxes to give the Graphite an aged appearance.  I only painted one coat of Graphite Chalk Paint on the moldings and details, so the wood showed through on the details after I waxed the piece.

 

The interior of the cabinet is painted with French Linen Chalk Paint. 

 

 

The clean lines and color combination created quite a sophisticated look.  This cabinet is one of my most masculine makeovers and reminds me of an old doctor's cabinet or an apothecary.

I love horses and I found this ceramic one at a rummage charity sale last week.  He was cracked and chipped everywhere and was falling off his little stand.  I had to rescue him from his fated future at the dump.

 

I filled all the little cracks and chips with wood filler and reattached the horse to his base with Gorilla Glue.  I painted him with Coco Chalk Paint followed by a Graphite wash.

 

He looks regal now, atop the cabinet.

 

 

 

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Annie Sloan Craqueleur

I love using Annie Sloan's Craqueleur for achieving an aged patina.  I picked up this white, ceramic madonna wall hanging at an estate sale because I thought it was kind of cute.

It was plain, white, and boring, so I added some depth and character with a little Chalk Paint, Craqueleur, and gilding wax.

I love the Chalk Paint palate and whenever a customer asks me my favorite color, I am stumped because I really love them all. I painted the crown in Louis Blue, the hair in Coco, the skin in Country Grey, the cheeks in Scandinavian Pink, the clothing in Old White and Antionette, and the base in Paris Grey.

It looked soft and pretty after I painted it, but I wanted to achieve an authentic, aged patina.  I applied step one of the craqueleur, let it dry, and then applied step two.  I used a blow dryer on a high heat setting after applying step two.  Every time I use the Craqueleur I start to think it did not work because the crackle is very difficult to see before using the dark wax.  After thoroughly drying step two and having a little faith that the crackles, although invisible, were indeed there, I rubbed the entire surface with Annie Sloan's dark wax.  The crackles magically appeared, giving the madonna and baby a glorious, patina! For a finishing touch, I used an artist's brush to sweep a bit of gold gilding wax over the wall hanging.

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Arles Chalk Paint Buffet

One of my customers at Loot told me to keep an eye out for a buffet for her new home.  A couple weeks later, I found this long dresser at an estate sale and I though it would make a perfect buffet for my customer.

Before

 It is a solid maple piece with tons of drawers and storage space.  I figured that if my customer did not like it, it would be easy to paint it and sell it at the shop. I pictured this piece painted with Arles Chalk Paint and I was excited because I have not used this vibrant yellow color yet.  Coincidentally, when the customer came by to see her future buffet, she told Nancy that she would like it painted with Arles.  This dresser's fate was decided!

After

 After two coats of Arles, I used Annie Sloan's clear wax to protect the finish and the dark wax to antique it. I love the dark wax over the Arles Chalk Paint; it looks like a fine dijon mustard.

I had just enough oil rubbed bronze bin pulls in stock for all the drawers and I painted the existing knobs with Graphite Chalk Paint and a little dark wax to match the pulls.  I love the contrast of the dark hardware against the bright yellow.

I distressed all the edges lightly, before waxing and made sure the dark wax stuck in the grooves.

My customer was so excited when she picked up her new buffet and she told me that it was just what she had pictured in her head.

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