September 29, 2011

Annie Sloan Primer Red Dresser



Making over furniture is my favorite kind of project. I searched and searched for an affordable dresser to put in my entry way that I could paint and distress to my liking. Finally I came across this one.




Sorry it's missing the drawers! I had already painted them before getting a "Before" pic!! You'll understand how I could let this happen in a moment.... So while this dresser didn't have the long skinny legs that I long for it did have great measurements. Especially the depth, only 17 inches! And it was tall enough to get all the way to the top of the wainscoting behind it. 

So I took it home and lived with it for a few months. The color of the wood was pretty nice, although beat up. But the drawers were just hideous.  This is why I SO wish I had a picture with all three drawers. That upward arrow type wood grain also went sideways on the middle drawer and then downwards on the top drawer. It was incredibly distracting. So eventually my birthday came along and the hubs agreed to some Annie Sloan chalk paint as my bday present!! Of course I also would need clear wax and dark wax and 2 wax brushes....quite the present. Thank you sweets!!! 

So after months of daydreaming about trying chalk paint the day had arrived. I drove to a warehouse, picked it up, raced home, and IMMEDIATELY grabbed a drawer, took it to the basement and painted it! Who could bother with a before picture when there's Annie Sloan chalk paint in the house?! 


I definitely enjoyed using it. I loved the coverage and the lack of sanding needed. Also the fact that it doesn't leave brush strokes. Brush strokes in latex paint drive me nuts, nothing says "did it myself" like terrible brush strokes all over a piece of furniture. I chose Primer Red because it would go nicely with my rug and pillows and things in my living room. But honestly my style is more of a soft and muted pallet. I like the way the color turned out though. I used the dark wax all over to darken the color a bit to more of a maroon than red. It worked perfectly. I think it looks great for fall too.  Oops! Almost forgot to say that I also used a gel paint remover to take off the old stain on top. Then I sanded it and restained it with a jacobean colored stain. Then I polyed the top with 3 coats. Hope you like it! :)















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I did it!

Well, I did it. I made a blog. I'm only a decade or so behind the times. I'm not a writer, not at all. But I'm pretty good at talking, so maybe there's some hope for this new adventure ;)  And as long as I don't tell anyone about it for awhile hopefully I can get some practice in before anyone sees it!


I've started this blog mainly so that I can start joining in on all the linky parties I enjoy so much on other blogs such as perfectlyimperfect and The Lettered Cottage. I hope to feature all of my furniture adventures as well as some of my cooking and basically anything else in life that brings me joy, hence the name ;) So wish me luck!