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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Leather Topped Table: Chalk Paint Makeover

We have had this leather topped table at Loot for a while.  Several months ago, Nancy set a hot tea pot on top of the table, which left burn marks on the leather inset on the top of the table.  One of the reasons I love Chalk Paint so much is that it sticks to everything, including leather.

Before

After

I love this round table with its new look and I can picture it in its imaginary new home, in the center of a grand foyer, with a floral arrangement on top.

 Even without the burn marks on top, I still prefer the painted version to the original, but that is not surprising. After all, I am a woman that loves painted furniture!

I painted the top of the table with Graphite Chalk Paint and the base with Old Ochre.  I used Annie Sloan clear and dark wax over the Old Ochre, and a dark wax glaze on the top to deepen the Graphite. 

The Chalk Paint adhered and covered the leather table top flawlessly.

I have used this color combination before, and I always think it makes the piece of furniture look elegant and sophisticated.  I also love the way the Old Ochre Chalk Paint looks with dark wax over it.

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Graphite and Pure White Console Table

 This long, narrow console table came from an estate sale I attended recently.

The curving lines of the table give it a French provincial style, while the existing wood finish made it look straight out of the 1980's.  

The original, dark stain on this table masked the carvings.  After painting the table with Pure White Chalk Paint, I used distressing and dark wax to make the lovely details and carvings stand out.

My initial plan for this table redo, was to paint the whole thing with Pure White, but after finishing it that way, I decided it looked too uninspiring. At that point, I made a change and painted the top with Graphite to make this table more appealing to me.

I applied Annie Sloan's clear and then dark wax to the Pure White table base.  I also used clear wax on the top and finished it with a dark wax glaze, made by thinning dark wax with unscented mineral spirits.  I love the way the dark wax glaze deepens the Graphite Chalk Paint, making it appear almost black.

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Striped Pedestals

Last weekend, Nancy and I had a booth at Goat Hill Fair.  It was a fabulous event, as usual,  with so many talented vendors and enchanting treasures. We sold Chalk Paint and did a few paint demonstrations at our booth.  

I brought these two, old pedestal tables to Goat Hill for one of my paint demos.  I loved the darling shape of these pedestals, but they were a little too beat-up and dirty looking before.

I cleaned the dirt and dust off and then painted them with Versailles Chalk Paint.  They looked  kind of plain, so I added Old White stripes to the top.  This is what they looked like with a fresh coat of paint, before distressing and waxing.

After distressing them all over, I applied Annie Sloan clear wax, followed by a little dark wax to antique them.

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Graphite and Napoleonic Blue Coffee Table

Like most of my pieces of furniture, I picked up this coffee table at a yard sale.  I love the simple, primitive style of this table and the two drawers.

The finish was not bad before, but it was scratched all over.

I decided on Graphite Chalk Paint for the top and I wanted a slate blue color for the base. 

 I thought that Aubbusson mixed with Old White could work, but when I went to mix the paint I realized we were out of Abbusson.  I went with Napoleonic Blue with a Paris Gray wash and it came out close to what I was visualizing.

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Coco and Duck Egg Dining Table

I picked up this boring, light wood table with a matching bench at a yard sale.  I see this kind of table everywhere, but I decided to buy this particular one because it was so cheap and it came with the bench.

Before

I painted the tops of the table and bench with Coco and the legs with Duck Egg blue Chalk Paint.

After

Because this is a dining table, I applied two coats of clear wax to the tabletop for extra protection.  I distressed and applied a little dark wax along all the edges of the tabletop and bench.

I painted the legs with Coco before painting Duck Egg as the top coat. Then, I heavily distressed the legs, so the Coco base coat and natural wood showed through.  I finished the legs with clear and dark wax for an antiqued finish.  

This was an easy way to transform a plain and inexpensive kitchen table and bench into a stylish set.

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Restoration Hardware Coffee Table Update

Back when Mr. Rubbish and I were both full-time teachers and had money to spend, I bought this pricey coffee table from Restoration Hardware.  It had a dark espresso finish with lovely column legs.



Before

I was getting tired of the dark finish and all the scratches on the top.  I decided to give the table an updated look and sell it at Loot.

Here is the new look for my old table:

After

Before

This is a really rough "before" picture because I had already started sanding the finish off and there is dust all over the top, but at least you can see the old finish and all the little scratches.  When I showed Mr. Rubbish the before and after pictures of this table, he accused me of being like the plastic surgeons who use good lighting and cosmetics to enhance their "after" pictures, while taking horrible "before" pictures.  I suppose he is kind of right, but it is mostly because I am so excited to start working on a piece that I just snap some quick pictures and get right to work.

The wood underneath the dark stain has natural distressing and looks like a reclaimed, farm table top.  After sanding all the finish off of the top of the table, I used Annie Sloan clear wax to protect the wood.  A friend of mine let me borrow her electric buffer and used it to buff the wax finish, both on the table top and base.  The electric buffer hardens the wax and gives it a beautiful sheen.

Once I finished the table I fell in love with it again and I decided to keep it instead of selling it.  Many times it becomes difficult to part with pieces of furniture that I relove, and every once in a while, I give in and keep one. 

I did not want to deal with removing the dark finish from the table base, so I used French Linen Chalk Paint over the original finish.  I painted one coat, which left some of the wood grain showing through. Then, I used Annie Sloan's clear and dark waxes over the paint to give it more depth.

The wood has tiny holes all over and I am not sure if they are man-made or come from tiny worms or insects living in the tree that this table came from.  Either way, I like the character they add to the table.

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Vintage Night Stands

I just finished this gorgeous, pair of night stands for a client.  They are family pieces and she had them in her room when she was growing up. They were painted with a glossy, cream, oil-based paint when she brought them in.

I added some pure white to lighten the French Linen Chalk Paint for these night stands.  Because Chalk Paint adheres to oil-based paint, I did not need to primer them first.  I just sanded down the places where the paint was peeling and then applied the first coat of paint.

The transformation is complete!  I used a petite brush to add white accents to all the carved details of the night stands.  When they were one solid color, you hardly noticed all the pretty detailing on the drawers.

The drawer pulls started out a dark brass color and they needed a makeover.  I started out by whitewashing all the hardware, but when I put the knobs on they looked too bright and out of place on the gray drawers.  I toned them down by applying Annie Sloan's dark wax over the whitewash.

The dark wax over the white created an almost champagne color.  I love the subtle contrast of the hardware against the painted background now.

Of course I love anything on caster wheels!  Aren't they adorable? 

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