After a little hiatus, ok a year and a half may have been too long, I have been feeling very inspired to share again. A lot has transpired - mostly good! A new baby, a new house, and new inspiration. Being in a new home has breathed life into my creative side (ie. the side I should have probably pursued instead of that business degree. I digress.)
Over the past year, I've slowly been decorating my new and much bigger home. We sized up times 3 in space. I say this not to brag but to provide you with an idea of the tiny space we came from. Hence we had a lot of furniture shopping to do, and in this household that job lays
squarely and
thankfully and
happily in my lap. There were easy decisions and additions to make like upgrading to a King bed and getting a big screen TV (ahem) or
two (thanks Black Friday online deals). But then there were the grey area purchases which I will call, "I love it
but". These are the hem and haw decisions that keep you up at night because the stars are not perfectly aligned - 4 out of 5 items are
but one isn't. Enter the nightstands below. Perfect in shape, storage space, price and vintage style,
but what a truly awful color for my vision of a white, cream, and serene bedroom.
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| Before |
So I bought them at
Nadeau Furniture (great value import place) because everything was perfect except for the color, and truthfully I was sick of reaching to the floor for my water bottle, my ipad, my phone, a tissue, etc. It took another 6 months for the clashing color to disturb me sufficiently enough to do something about it when lo and behold, I stumbled across chalk paint. No priming, no sanding, no prepping. It sounded like my kind of diy shortcut. And it was!
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| After 1st coat |
Now diy purists will probably steer you toward the holy grail of chalk paint -
Annie Sloan, however I found it hard to find. I went to Lowe's and bought
Valspar's equivalent chalky finish paint and waxes. I selected the color "Woolen Stockings" which will shock no one who has seen my very grey house. Separately I purchased an inexpensive
stencil bristle brush
on Amazon because that's what all the YouTube demonstrations used. (Fyi:
this is not the greatest brush in the world as some bristles did break
off, but I felt better about brushing those off than paying another $20
for a professional brush.) After the 1st coat above, you can
still see some of the salmon showing through, so I did end up doing a 2nd coat (below).
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| After 2nd coat |
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Then I waxed. There are two wax options. The clear soft wax deepens the color and seals the paint; the dark wax highlights the wood grains and creates an antiqued look. I chose to bypass the sealing wax for the antiquing wax because I wouldn't be putting a cold glass of water on the nightstand ever, and well sometimes I'm a cheapskate. If a paint brush could whisper, I put that amount on the brush and then still dabbed some onto my towel before putting the lightest layer down. Use the towel to wipe off any areas that get too heavily painted.
Tip: try the wax on the furniture's back first. On my first swipe, I put way too much wax on my brush and couldn't wipe enough wax off with my towel for it to look good. Thankfully no one will ever see the back.
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| Items for waxing |
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| Super light layer of the antiquing wax |
Here is the finished look! I am so happy with the outcome. I wish I would have done it sooner because it really was very easy. Chalk paint people! It will transform your furniture without breaking your back or the bank. My room now truly evokes serenity and peace.
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| After |
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| After |
