Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Hello Stranger!
It's been far too long but its been crazy with the in-laws in town! Always good times but busy! I always think I'm going to have so much more time when they are here because I have babysitters but it never seems to work out that way. We stay busy doing so many other fun things.

Just before my in-laws arrived I picked up a couple pieces of furniture to refurbish while they were here. I though I would finish them in no time with all that free time I had planned. Ha, ha, silly me. Three weeks later I'm just getting to it. I did get one thing accomplished - new paint! On one of our day trips up the Leelanau Peninsula we stopped at a sweet little shop, Sensible Pearls in Suttons Bay. My aunt clued me into this little gem so I had to take a peek. The shop is a stockist of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. After roaming around all the beautiful painted things, it didn't take much to talk me into paint, wax, a book and fancy new brush.

I took some time to read over my new book which was super inspiring. The book highlights the many different techniques in using the paint and waxes. There's both a clear and dark wax available. Both can be buffed to a desired sheen. The paint does come in a more limited color palette than a latex would but its meant to mix to give you custom colors as needed. I feel like the limited colors and the freedom of the paint pushes you to be more creative than you would with latex. I kinda like that.

My first piece is an old dresser I bought at our local Salvation Army. It's a solid dresser with a cottage type look to it. Nothing too fancy. Here it is as I bought it. It had a lot of bumps and bruises but I like that sort of stuff.

The dresser had a stained, glossy finish. I got my orbital sander out and went to work. My plan was to refinish the top and drawers with a similar stain color and paint the rest in ASCP, pure white. Here it is after a good sand.

Looking better already. Next I stained the top and drawers in Early American from Cabot.

I liked the wood knobs so I decided to paint them white. They will get another coat of paint, distressing and wax. Here they are before. I screwed them into a box so I could paint them easier.

Here's the dresser as it is now with one coat of chalk paint on the frame. It will get another coat of paint tomorrow and then two coats of clear wax to finish off the paint and stain. I'm planning on distressing the paint.

I'm looking forward to posting the finished product soon! In the meantime I'm coming up with a plan for this  mid century console. Originally I was thinking of a high quality latex paint, white, with a high gloss but now this chalk paint has got me all sorts of curious so may have to stick with it. XO Kelly