Reimagined Monday: A Diamond in the Rough

Stop in at any thrift shop, and you will likely find at least one of those boxy, outdated end-tables that is a throw-back to the heyday of chunky, oversized furniture.  Most people would pass it by without a second glance.  Others, however, ferry it home with excitement from the aisles of Sally Ann, or from their parent's basement, or from a neighbour who is tired of looking at it or a friend who just can't use it anymore.

And what separates the passer-by from the person who sees it as a diamond in the rough?  In our world, that would be Chalk Paint™ and Milk Paint!

Today's Reimagined Monday project is the perfect example of seeing past the cosmetics, but also a lesson in how easy it is to go back and make changes if your tastes warrant it!

This was Marguerite Velthuizen's end table:

...and this is her experience:

"A few weeks ago, a friend of mine gave me some old furniture that she no longer had room for.  It had some great bones, but I wanted to give it a fresh look.  My on-line search led me to Annie Sloan chalk paint, which, in turn led me to Apple Box Boutique. There is only so much you can learn from the internet, and  I so appreciate all the helpful advice I was given by your super-friendly staff."

"For my furniture, I wanted a  look that was somewhat antiqued, to bring out the detail, but not overly distressed.  This is what I ended up doing:  I cleaned my night table with TSP, and rinsed well. I knew I wanted new hardware, so I  removed the existing hardware, and filled the holes with a wood filler. I sanded the filler flat, and wiped off the little bits of filler. I gave everything two coats of CoCo paint, using a cheap chip brush from Home Depot.  Since I wanted to minimize brush strokes in the finish, I diluted my paint; roughly 4 parts paint to 1 part water.  The paint went on beautifully, and gave great coverage."

"Next I clear-waxed everything.  I was glad to have invested in a good wax brush. I wiped off the excess wax with a lint- free cloth.  I then applied and wiped off dark wax in the same manner, and hated the dark blotchy results!  On went two more coats of paint, and one more coat of clear wax. Next I mixed my dark wax with an equal amount of clear wax, and applied it with the wax brush, immediately wiping off the excess as I went along. Much better!" 

"I found some great hardware at Home Depot, and after 24 hours, buffed the living daylights out of the cabinet.  I love how it has turned out."

The finish has a gorgeous sheen, and I have noticed it has become nice and hard over the past week or so.  I can't wait to finish the rest of the furniture!"

"Thank you so much for your help. I know I'll be back for more paint."
  

It is our pleasure, Marguerite! Thank you for sharing your fabulous project with us... we can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the pieces!

We wish Marguerite good luck in this month's Reimagined Monday Draw!

Don't forget to enter our monthly contest for your chance to win!

Here's the info:

Reimagined Monday Draw

We would like to highlight more customer projects!  Send us your before/during/after pictures and tell us about your creative process using Chalk Paint™ or Milk Paint and you'll be entered into our monthly Reimagined Monday draw.

Each month we will give away a different item like paint, brushes, books, supplies, gift certificates and more. You don't have to be featured to be eligible... the month you enter is the month you will be included in the draw. 

Send your name, pictures and story to:

info@appleboxboutique.com for your chance to win!

♥, 
Apple Box Boutique

_______________________________________

We'd LOVE it if you shared our blog:

Reimagined Monday: Chalk Painting Fabric (Wow, It Works!)

Today's Reimagined Monday is short and sweet but OH SO FABULOUS!

Just when we thought there couldn`t be a single thing left to make us love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) any more than we already do, along comes...

Painting on Fabric

Yes, it`s true.  You can paint on fabric with ASCP so all those great colours we know and love can coordinate in our rooms with the furniture and decor we`ve already reimagined or aspire to create.

The following are examples of two very different looks with one great paint...

Amber and Brad of Shades of Amber stenciled onto dropcloth pillows:

"We reupholstered the bench cushions using a large drop cloth and made pillows out of burlap and the leftover drop cloth material."

"To add interest and to help break up the monochromatic theme, we Chalk Painted the pillows using various stencil designs. We used French Linen, CoCo and Graphite on the pillows. Yes, you can use Chalk Paint on fabric! Because the paint is so highly pigmented, it just fades ever so slightly each time you wash it. This fading only adds to the beauty of the look."

"For an even softer tone on tone look, we used Old White on this pillow below."

And Teresa Decker loved this headboard, but not the dusty rose tufting:

Her answer?  Paint the silk with ASCP in Old White, then finish with clear wax: 

"To answer some questions..yes, i did water down the paint a bit, then hand brushed it with a small brush moving in the direction of the pleating. it took two coats, but not that much paint. I then applied soft wax with a soft cloth getting into those pleats. It is soft to the touch, it does not crack or flake if you push into it. As far as how it will hold up...only time will tell, but it feels quite durable and shows no signs of cracking. I think a coat of clear wax now and again will keep it supple. thank you again for all of the complements, and mostly, thank YOU Annie! I am quite flattered that you responded and liked what I did with your magical paint! :-)"

How could anyone, including Annie Sloan, not love a result like this:

I`m already "shopping" the studio for fabric to try this on.  Or I may just skip out to pick up a dropcloth to stencil!

Fabulous.

Thank you to GraphicsFairy for this image.

Here is how to share your reimagined paint project at On the Apple Box:

Send us a description of how you used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to get from your vision to the reimagined piece, before and after pictures, pictures of your project in progress or a couple of it in its finished state, and you may be highlighted on our blog!