a painting project

so here's a little project i decided to do last week.
have you heard of annie sloan chalk paint? well if you haven't and you need to paint something, you've got to read about this paint. i think it's kind of fun to paint, but what i despise is the stripping or sanding part. but this paint is designed to go right on top of anything--no sanding, stripping or priming! it took me a couple days to gather all my supplies as i was driving back and forth across town to find what i needed. the chalk paint is pretty expensive, but apparently goes a long way. that tiny little sample was $10.95, but i sure didn't want to buy the quart until i knew if i would like it! as it turns out, that little sample pot went such a long way, i think i will just be buying those from now on.
(the colors available are just beautiful, but the color i got was old white which turned out to be a creamy beige once i was finished with everything.)

here's what i decided to do first. i love this bench that my mother in law's neighbor made for us, but it was getting pretty scratched and i didn't really love the color. i would advise starting with something small first so you can kind of get a feel for what you're doing.

this is after the first coat of paint. at this point, i'm getting a little worried, because it sure doesn't look like the pictures in the book i bought!

but then i added the second coat and barely sanded the edges.

i'm loving how old it's looking.
after you paint, you're supposed to brush on the clear wax. it helps to seal your paint and give it that old, distressed look you're going for. then you take a sanding block and just barely go over the areas that you want distressed. (i did things out of order and sanded before i waxed, but it still came out good.) after you sand and put on the clear wax, you dab on dark wax and starting working it into the wood.

here's the finished product!
i think it turned out great for my first piece!
for the dark wax, i got briwax ($16.99) from a local hardware store. i was trying to save a little money and not get the annie sloan dark wax($27.99). honestly though--i should have just bought the annie sloan wax because i didn't like the briwax too much. or maybe it was the brush i was using. i bought the annie sloan brush ($24.95) for the clear wax, but again was trying to save a little and just bought a gesso brush for the dark wax. but i think it would have come out a little better if i'd gone with the right brush in the first place! lastly, the annie sloan clear wax is definitely worth it. it is so creamy, but not liquidy and really goes on well.

here are some close ups of the sanding and the wax.

i just love the look of old furniture and am really excited about this!
next on my list is a little bedside table and then a dresser for one of the guest rooms.
i'll post pictures of that when i'm done too.