You see, it all began when my hubby and I had a spot in our apartment that desperately needed some sort of sitting set-up. We happened to stumble upon these horrible-looking chairs (they literally had gold pumpkins painted on them) and figured what the heck, let's see if we can fix 'em up.
Here's the before shot:
Horrifying, right?
So we took them to my parents house because I figured my mom would be able to help us work some magic. She's painted a whole host of furniture pieces with Annie Sloan's paint (it's become a slight addiction... I can now understand why) and has become quite the expert.
We picked a soft, neutral color called 'Old Ochre' which we painted the chairs with first. Since they were black originally, it took three coats to completely cover the existing finish.
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| The Old Ochre color swatch |
Now here's the fun part... Annie Sloan has waxes that you can use to spice up your project. There are endless options as to what you can do with the wax, and it comes in a couple different colors. The most basic is the clear wax which gives the chalky paint a soft, but shiny finish. I chose the more non-conventional option, the dark wax, which makes your piece look a little more aged and adds some fun texture.
Here's a basic video tutorial that shows the technique:
In the video, they're a little more aggressive with the dark wax... I chose to use less because I didn't want it to look too antique-y.
Here's the finished product! If you look closely you can see the streaks of dark wax on the seat and in the crevices of the wood.
If you're going to take on a project like this, I also suggest investing in some of Annie Sloan's brushes. They make a huge difference.
And here are the chairs all set up in our new space:
Tada... I just love it! I have a feeling there will be many more furniture painting projects in our future.
To find a store that sells Annie Sloan paint near you, click here.
Happy crafting!
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