Ta Da! After over a year of pondering, I finally got out my paint brush and painted the secretary in the family room…
My daughter and I painted a dresser for CC’s room, which gave me courage and confidence. The dresser orginally matched the nightstand below
A couple of coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint, French Linen, and Old White on the drawer fronts and Voila!
We changed out the knobs, and chose crystal to match the lamp, and make it girly~
and it matched the shelf already in the room perfectly
HH was skeptical when we started, you know, “Why would you want to paint a perfectly good piece of furniture?” he asked
Here we go
He’s still skeptical at this point, but doesn’t hate it
I used “Graphite” on the main body, and “Old White” on the hardware. I first painted the hardware Graphite, then when that dried I went back with a fairly dry small brush and lightly painted the Old White on over it. This gave a distressed look in one step
I added dots on each side of the handles and then all around the middle desk top key. Dots are made by dipping the end of a small paint brush in paint and then carefully dotting in a firm, straight up and down motion
At this point I lived with it a few days, thinking about what to do next. I decided to paint the back of the interior cabinet Old White
It’s still wet when I shot these photos, but I could tell it really brightened up the dark corner of this room
Then I debated on painting a pattern in lighter Paris Grey on the back wall…
I did a quick paint “sketch” on paper to try it out
There is a lot of pattern going on it the room already, so I decided against that for now and used a silver leaf paint pen to highlight some of the ridges
By pressing firmly into the ridge I was able to paint straight lines
I know it will be fun to change the accessories seasonally
I have it styled in neutrals right now
so it doesn’t compete with Valentine’s Day
and Mardi Gras in the adjacent foyer
I am really happy with the result, and HH loves it now~
I’m still debating on the back wall of the cabinet though…
What do you think?
Juicy Details
You can read more about Annie Sloan chalk paint here. There are tons of tutorials on blogs and on YouTube full of great tips
You can paint it directly on to anything without stripping or sanding first. It dries quickly, and doesn’t smell. You might think it’s expensive but a little goes a long way. I used a little over 1/2 of a quart to paint this large piece. Soft wax is applied after painting to finish the piece and add a soft patina to the paint. The wax is pricey too, but again, a little goes a long way and it’s wonderful stuff~
I used Annie Sloan “Graphite” and “Old White” and finished it with clear wax
I used a Krylon silver leafing pen from Amazon.com here
The crystal knobs on CC’s dresser came from Lowe’s
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