It’s been a while since I’ve shown you a good furniture makeover. We’ve been busy traveling, building tables (you’ll get to hear from Matt on Monday!), and purging this house.
It’s out of control.
I’m hoping to have us back to “normal” this weekend, and the project floodgates will open! I have a list a mile long that I can’t wait to tackle.
But until then, I wanted to share with you the before and after of the chest we made over for Lauren’s Nursery.
She’s in a little trouble, right??
Lauren had sanded it down quite a bit…I hated so badly to tell her that since we were using chalk paint, we wouldn’t even have had to. It sure didn’t hurt, though, and bright and early that morning, I got to work on this piece.
I didn’t take truly proper after shots, but you definitely get the idea. I painted it with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Arles, one of my new favorite chalk paint colors.
I then distressed it with a fine sanding block, using a circular motion on all the flat areas, and hitting the edges, legs, and corners pretty hard. Distressing the flats (as I like to call it) really toned down the color a little.
Afterwards, I waxed it with a coat of Annie’s Soft Wax in clear. I’ll probably be doing a post on this in the future, but I’ll tell you, if you’re having trouble with wax and not using Annie’s wax, you really should try it. It’s the best one out there I’ve found, from application to the way it dries and hardens to protect your finish.
I chose to leave the wooden knobs on the chest, this being a happy accident. We put one on to open a drawer, and BAM. I love the way they pop off the front, and how they tie into the rest of the design.
You can see a little better in this picture the way the flats looked after distressing…kind of faded out in places. This really left for an authentically old paint finish-I loved it!
As a matter of fact, we have these dark wooden knobs on our coffee table, and I’m just thinking…
🙂
So, go on! Link up your projects!!! And thank you for all your submissions to be guest contributors to perfectly imperfect! I’m making my way through them, and hope to know something soon.
Grab a button to point folks in this direction, and show each other some love…I’m telling you, I’m craving inspiration. I can’t wait to see your projects this week!!
Love the colour. Cannot wait to see what everyone links this week.
what is the brand of chalk paint that you used?
It’s Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Denise. Link is in the post. 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions.
🙂
shaunna
You did a wonderful job on that dresser and the knobs stand out perfectly!
I can’t wait to try the chalk paint!! It looks perfect! Love your work Shaunna 🙂
Beautiful color and distressing on the dresser!
The nursery is spankin’ ridiculous! BEE-U-TEEE-Ful! (umm….no,no,no…I am not advocating anyone to spank anything…just FYI)
How many times can I “like” that crazy-gorgeous Anthropologie-inspired Chair? Maybe I’ll make up some Alias’ cuz I’m over the moon about it…
It’s gorgeous! I especially love the way those knobs pop off the yellow, just like you said. We have a can of Arles – now you’ve got me wanting to break it out!
Thanks for hosting, Shaunna! Have a fabulous weekend.
I need to get some of this chalk paint. I love what you did and LOVE the wooden knobs – I always gravitate to glass or crystal, but love these.
I keep read about this amazing Annie Sloan Chalk paint and I’m dying to try it on a French inspired console I picked up. Feeling envious because the paint doesn’t seem to be readily available in Canada. Not anywhere near me anyhow! Beautiful dresser makeover- I love the colour!
The dresser turned out great! Love the nursery decor too! I just linked up my first furniture project! Thanks for hosting!
Oh, I love that color and it does look so pretty paired with the dark, wood knobs.
Amanda
I am on my husband’s laptop so I’m getting caught up on your posts! I found the problem on my laptop, it’s getting hung up on that add at the top of your page 🙁 My husband’s laptop gets hung up for about 10 seconds but then manages to open the page. I’ve got to check my software that’s running on my computer….it’s probably old! The laptop is kind of a dinosaur!Anyway, this little chest for your friend came out great! What a gorgeous room. You are such a great inspiration for kicking me in the butt to paint a piece 🙂
You did a beautiful job on the chest! I love your choice of the darker knobs against the lighter paint color.
Thanks, too, for hosting the link up party! 🙂
All the best!
This dresser you did looks great! I just used ASCP for the first time last week and I think I am in love. It is actually pretty fun to use. But then I love to paint anyway!
I love how you rescued that sweet piece.
Thanks for hosting the party.