Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Since we have moved into our new home, I have been struggling with getting my studio space organized. I have lots of cabinets, however they are not very deep. For awhile I had a small table in the space, but it just turned into a "dumping ground." When I am working, I tend to just work at my desk area, and I rarely used the table. Maybe because it was full of stuff all the time. One of my goals for this year was to get myself organized. I am lucky to have my own space to work in, and honestly I hated going in there sometimes. The older that I get, the more clutter seems to annoy me. I didn't want to buy any furniture, so I did some pondering. We had been given this light wood dresser over ten years ago. It served it's purpose in my oldest son's bedroom for some time. Eventually he inherited our nice dark wood furniture once we got some new pieces. Honestly, I am not even sure why we kept it. However, it functions well, fit perfectly on my studio wall, and has deep drawer storage. It was a winner, and it was FREE! Now what color was I going to paint it? It is really hard for me to think outside of the aqua color scheme, but I have been recently enamoured with shades of kelly green. So, I decided to try the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint color called Antibes green. Worst case scenario, I'd paint over it if I didn't like it.

My favorite thing about using this paint is that there really is no prep work. I just wiped the piece down with a wet cloth to make sure that all the dust was removed.(it had been in the basement for a while) No sanding necessary :) When I am painting using this product I like to apply thin coats. I do this because the paint dries fairly quickly this way. I was able to get two coats in before I had to pick my boys up from school. The next morning I applied the last coat, so three coats total. By that evening I applied the clear coat wax. This was a two day project for me. I am so pleased with the results. I decided to use a collection of knobs. I loved some knobs from Anthropologie, but they were $8 each. I was going to need sixteen, so you can see how that can add up quickly. I found the other knobs at Hobby Lobby, and luckily they were 50% off. :) So I got the remainder of the knobs for between $2.50-3.00 Which is much more reasonable when you have to buy so many. I really like the collection of knobs, it's perfectly imperfect.

The first layer going on.

one coat on

What a difference a little paint and some new knobs makes :)

The Anthropologie knobs

knob from Hobby Lobby

knob from Hobby Lobby

I love having a place to display my vintage typewriter.

My vintage suitcase, perfect for additional storage.

I also collect vintage tins which I use for storing things.

Peony from my garden :)

Voila' the finished product in my studio with my inspirational wall above it. If you live in Louisville you can purchase the Annie Sloan Chalk paint from Vintage Style and Designs. Hope you feel inspired to create something special for yourself. And never underestimate the beauty in an old piece of furniture ;).
XO~
Gretchen