Chalk paint is a type of paint I have been wanting to try out on a piece of furniture for a couple of years now and I think I’ve found the perfect piece to transform…
When I was little my father would paint thrift store dressers and stain and build shelving for each of us kids for our bedrooms
each time we made a military move.
He would also paint pieces and shelving for he and my mother
to house all of their paperback and travel books
which were many.
Every time a piece was refashioned with paint it was an amazing and exciting process to see how a sweet piece of furniture that was not so exciting to start could become loved again just with a little elbow grease and a bit of paint…
Last year I found this little nightstand at Hobby Lobby and loved all of of its wooden appliques and the “shield” on its little cabinet door. The small footprint it has is a perfect size for extra storage in our little Prairie Home on wheels and has that French and Old World elegance I so love.
I needed a free standing piece of furniture in our living room and this nightstand is tall and has a good size cabinet underneath and a small drawer ~ a good place to store some of my decorating
things and I am able to decorate the top seasonally.
🙂
After checking out some bloggy friends’ posts on how much
they really like working with chalk paints I thought I’d give
this tall nightstand a new look for fall…
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| One of the nightstand’s fall 2017 tableau dressed with a French linen towel and our little maiden. |
Now I’ve kinda come to enjoy black a bit more as a color on furniture but my heart really loves furniture with a lighter color.
 |
| From a post from last fall talking about English candy boxes. |
So I thought I’d try to make this simple piece look a little more
Old World European French ~ more in my color pallet.
This little nightstand was the perfect piece for me to get
my hands dirty with chalk paint!
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| This first chalk paint is Annie Sloan’s Aubusson Blue ~ a really beautiful rich French blue! |
After reading a post by blogging friend Cindy Blackenburg of the gorgeous blog Edith and Evelyn on creating her
Louis XV French Buffet out of an old 1950’s dresser just by
layering different chalk paints ~ I was itching to
try her techniques!!!
🙂
You start with choosing your paint colors by figuring out what base color you want to show through the most then layer complementary
colors as highlights and lowlights.
These are done in a series of washes and dry brushings to create
the final look.
Here are the paints I used:
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ~ Aubusson Blue B906032
ASCP ~ Provence (another lighter blue) B909074
American Decor by DecoArt ~ Yesteryear ADC27
*close match to ASCP Parisian Grey
FolkArt Home Decor chalk paint ~ Sage 6351
*couldn’t find ASCP Duck Egg blue so this was a
close match to a photograph.
ASCP ~ French Linen B903051
Liquitex Acrylic Basics ~ Burnt Umber
Here I’ve pretty much used Cindy’s recipe of Annie Sloan chalk
paints but swapped out a couple of colors with close matches to save a little money and also when I couldn’t find the right color.
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| The original paint job was flaking off badly every time I cleaned this little nightstand so I don’t feel badly giving this sweet piece of furniture a makeover. 🙂 |
This is just the beginning and after adding all of the layers
up to French Linen for highlights ~ here is what this little
formerly dark cabinet looks like now:
I am really happy with the overall look but may wash over some more with Aubusson Blue a bit in places to bring that color
out more.
The original black is coming through in places and gives a
nice additional depth to this little nightstand also
which I really like!
The Burnt Umber will go on for shadowing next and then
I am going to try a little
Rub ‘n Buff Gold Leaf and Silver Leaf by Amaco and
see which looks better on this piece as the final paint layer before adding a clear wax coating to protect this nightstand’s
new look.
Check back soon to see how this little nightstand
finishes up!
the nightstand turned out.
Sharing with
A bientôt, 🙂
I guess, many people consider old furniture very appealing and it really is. I also have some old drawers and a bed at home. They look so beautiful that I don't even think to sell them. And, as for me, the black nightstand was better than the blue one.