August 25, 2011

"Old White" for a New Look


This is our first piece of furniture that we painted with Annie
Sloan Chalk Paint. The color that we chose was "Old White" in 
effort to lighten up the dark color of the dresser that we had 
previously painted black and green with a crackle finish. 

oops! I forgot to take a picture of the whole dresser before "we" started painting it.
We purchased it from Goodwill over ten years ago. 

Here you can see a closer look at the green crackle finish we put on the dresser.
I don't know how that scrape happened but the light wood showing  is what the whole 
dresser  looked like when we bought it. 

Remember the Christopher Lowell decorating show?  He had said that black bar-b-que
 grill  paint will stick to almost anything and you don't need to sand or prime...
sound familiar (like chalk paint)?  Anyway that is why our base coat is black...
it's the bar-b-que paint!  

With the heat in summer in Alabama, we like to do as many
 tasks inside (where the air conditioning is) as possible. Consequently the dining room table becomes our workshop.
Not only do we not like to get too hot, we are kinda lazy and just painted the drawers
with all the stuff  still in them.

Here is the dresser with two coats of "Old White".

To add a wax coat we used a combination of the Annie Sloan
 dark wax and plain clear Minwax from the hardware store.
At first, I mixed the waxes half and half .  That is still pretty dark.
In subsequent batches, I put more like 3/4 clear to 1/4 dark wax.

I was surprised that the crackling from the old green finish
 came through two coats of the chalk paint. 
 I like crackling so I was very happy to have it.
The dark wax mix accentuated the crackling. 

You can see the big difference between the drawer before (lower) the
dark wax was rubbed on and after (top).

I was too cheap to buy the wax-applying brush.  On the large surfaces we just rubbed
 it on with an old sock.  To get it into crevices and corners, we used a Q-tip.

I won't even tell you how long we dragged out getting this dresser done. Here is a shot
 of the waxed dresser drawers haphazardly pushed back into the un-waxed base.  

I had pulled the hardware off to re-finish it so we got good
at pulling the drawers out by their edges with our fingertips.

The original hardware was not bad looking in my opinion.

This is the hardware with a coat of "Old White" and then sanded.
I thought it looked too white.

Then I rubbed the dark wax (straight out of the can...really dark)
over the "Old White".  It's not fabulous but it will do for now.

Here are some of the interesting areas on the dresser
created by bar-b-que paint/crackle medium/green paint/
"Old White chalk paint/dark and clear wax.






Painting the dresser with the Annie Sloan "Old White" chalk
paint definitely changed the dresser for the better. The chalk
paint was easy to use and covered well. My biggest mistake was
not "diluting" the dark wax enough at first. It took time to rub the
clear wax back over the "too dark" dark wax areas...almost like
an eraser. In the end, we are very happy with the chalk paint. 

35 comments

  1. 3 words: FAB-U-LOUS! This is a really super makeover. I love everything about it. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Well, it worth however long it took because it is just wonderful. I love the look of it and that the "crackle" came through! Great job! xo Diana

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  3. Love it! The crakle is just beautiful.

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  4. You did a fabulous job...it looks great!

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  5. OH my gosh! Your dresser looks amazing!

    I just saw that you left a comment about the free printables and I wanted to point you to some different sites. The site in the post that you commented on is awful now.

    There are two different links in this post that are much better. Hope you find what you're looking for!

    http://thethriftyabode.blogspot.com/2011/04/kitchen-gallery-wall.html

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  6. It might have taken you a long time, but this turned out fabulous. You must be so pleased, never mind having your underwear close at hand, lol.

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  7. This piece turned our to be fabulous! It really has a lovely finish!

    Hope you will bring that paint can or another of your great projects over to my first Potpourri Friday Party nest week!

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  8. I really like the crackle-y finish! It looks great.

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  9. I am loving that the crackle shows through! The dark wax really accentuates the crackly goodness! Beautiful! Thank you for the dark wax tip! I'll be trying it out on the sideboard in my garage next. I'm following you now. Can't wait to check out your other posts. ;)

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  10. Stopped by via Redoux linky party. Really like how your dresser turned out, including the crackle. Nice job and way to save a 10 year work in progress!

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  11. Love the crackly finish! Who needs new furniture when you can create works of art like this?!

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  12. Love the dresser, and I love your blog! Just found it and I am now your new follower! I love your concept and don't want to loose track of you. We'd love having you to follow us too. Come on over and have some fun with us. We're always having a ball. Can't wait to see what you come up with next! Hugs! Loretta

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  13. I love how this turned out. Gotta love the wax grabbing all the cool little details for you!!! Thanks so much for coming by my little place. I so appreciate it!

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  14. Love the finish! It looks great!
    Debbie

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  15. love the crowns!!
    jealous!

    thanks
    the miller's
    prezidential life

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  16. What a great makeover!!

    Coley @
    www.whatyoumakeit-coley.blogspot.com

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  17. It looks great! I'm contemplating painting the black pedestal of my dining table to bring more light into the room, which is shady. I love how the dark wax 'antiqued' the piece, that's a tip I may copy. Thanks for visting me earlier and leaving a nice comment!

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  18. This piece looks like a lot of work but holy cow it is awesome. I love the crackles and that you used a Q-Tip. Thanks for sharing it:)

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  19. That look so much better now. Even with the texture of the crackle.

    Thanks for sharing this at Wednesday's Bunny Hop Party!

    xoxo Bunny Jean
    @ Bunny Jean's Decro and More!
    (my MAIN blog)

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  20. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! And you are right, the name of my blog does have to do with moving from a big city to a small town! That and actually 'making' things... kinda a double meaning :)

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  21. I am so glad to see that I am not the only lazy one. I leave stuff in the drawers, too or take out as little as possible. Love the crackle. I think the only way to get rid of crackle is to sand. So glad you are happy with it. Thanks for joining WOW.

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  22. That looks amazing! Thanks so much for linking to Thrifty Thursday....I'd like to feature this next week! :)

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  23. Love how this turned out. BRAVO!

    I wanted to let you know that I've got a great giveaway that ends Friday. It's for $100 to wallquotes.com, and trust me they've got something I know you'll love!

    Stop by and enter ASAP. I'd love to see what you would do with their products! See you soon!

    Artie
    http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com

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  24. The texture is so beautiful. It fits well in your room.

    We have a link-up party going on - Tea Time Thursdays @ Kreative Korner. I would really appreciate if you'd link up some of your awesome posts there. Hope to see you at the party.

    http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/2011/08/tea-time-thursdays-4.html

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  25. This wonderful post totally contributed to the blog party's success! Thanks for linking up at Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop :)

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  26. Looks awesome! Thanks for linking up
    Emily
    domesticdeadline.blogspot.com

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  27. Love the close up shots you took and posted of the finish.
    Kristy @ 4 the love of WOOD

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  28. I have a dresser just like this I wan to paint just like you did. Thanks so much for the directions!

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  29. Hello! Just found you via Pinterest. :)

    I love your finish. I abhor giant, white glue cracks. I also (sorry) dislike the bright white of old white.

    What you did here toned it down so nicely and the aging is so subtle.

    Very nice!

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