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

Painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Have you heard of Annie Sloan Chalk paint? Well, it's this really amazing paint that is super easy to work with, and you get a lovely result! No sanding required before using this paint :). This was my first time using it, and I was really pleased with the result. The piece of furniture that I used it on, was this lovely buffet I found antiquing nearly a year ago. I knew that I wanted to paint it, and put it in our new home, but I wasn't sure about what color I wanted to go with. So finally, after deciding on all the finishes throughout the house, I decided I would paint the piece a combination of Pure White and Paris Grey. So here is the buffet in all it's glory prior to painting. Great piece, with good bones!

I really wanted to highlight all the little details in this pieces, so I started with a base coat of the Pure White. I applied thin coats.

Then I decided to use the Paris Grey to accent where I thought was appropriate, after a couple coats of the Pure White.

Voila' the finished product after I put the Annie Sloan clear wax coating on it!

I staged it, for now, with some of the pretty hobnail milk glass that I have been collecting for some time, and a few other of my favorite pieces.

The pretty arrows came from a boutique called Dress and Dwell in New Albany, IN. The owl came from Kohl's and the rest of the items are vintage finds.

If you would like some more information about the Annie Sloan paint products you can contact Vintage Style and Design

Or you can also look on the Annie Sloan website for ideas and where to purchase it.

I think you will find this paint is really user friendly, and has lots of lovely color options! Best of luck on your next paint project! I can't wait to put this new piece in our new home. 

XO~Gretchen