Anne Slones Graphite Chest of Drawers

Had a great night last night went to the American Idol performance,  It was really good I thought all the contestants were exceptional this year and the concert showed that.


On to my project of the week, I found this at a garage sale earlier in the summer, it really is a NICE and large chest of drawers.

It had some problems though.  As you can see in one of the photos the top trim piece was off -center hmmmm.  It looked like you could just give it a tap and it would slide back to center but NO  not gonna happen.  Had to take it off and reapply.  Thanks to Mr. Sensible it was no problem.  Also a couple of the drawers would not slide so they had to be addressed as well.  If you notice the top also had some of the veneer coming off.  I left that area alone, imperfections add interest I believe. 

I painted this with AS Chalk Paint in Graphite.  I was really surprised, although I should not have been,  but it's not black, grrrrrrr.  Graphite means Charcoal you see, I had forgot that, plus it is the darkest color, so I assumed that it would be black.  The paint covered really well much better than the antique white did in my mind.  It sanded off amazing like the antique white did.  I was so pleased with the distressing part, but the color is VERY different.

  

Yes I looks very blue black.  It is interesting and the girls at the shop thought it was a really different color.  That usually means they don't like it right?  But are trying to be nice...... 

This is a picture of the chest after I sanded it down.  It got real light  was scary!!

Below is a picture of the drawer, The right half of it has clear wax on it the left side does not.  As you can see the color comes back when the wax is applied.  I kept the original hardware but took all but one of the "Keyhole" thingys off.

The piece had two holds on it by the weekend, but surprisingly three weeks later it is still in the shop.  An interesting color but one that has to find a particular home.  As it is not true black in any sense of the word and can't be added to the room as a black piece. 

Have a great week.

Linking to All Things Furniture Party #6 

Cute Foyer table

This is a client piece.  They had me do their dining room table and chairs a year ago and brought me this table to paint like the others.

It was painted my go to color Crisp Linen from Sherwin Williams except I have it color matched at Home Depot, in the Behr Premium Ultra with primer in it.  

 I distressed the finish with the mouse sander and put a colored wax on it, being careful to not get to heavy handed with the wax they wanted it just slightly aged.

They of course were in a hurry for it!  Party on the weekend and all.  Glad I could finish it for them on time.  I must say I am starting to like the brass on the white again.  What do the rest of you think?

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Polka Dots Again

There is something about Polka dots that just says Happy!

I have done Polka Dots in the past  here .

A client actually wanted this from the above post minus the wet poly on the top :/  It was too big for her space. 

She waited a few months till we got a piece of furniture that would work in her space and would take.... to having polka dots all over it......

This is what she found.

This is what we did with it.

They could be a matched set!!!

Not real exciting but the client was happy...

Which makes me a happy girl indeed!

My First Attempt at Chalk Paint

I have joined the Chalk Paint Brigade my order arrived yesterday.  I had a Jewelry case I got from a garage sale last week.  I thought I would give the paint a try on this jewelry case.  Not an easy thing to paint, probably should have thought that through a little bit more...  It was not a quality piece by any means so I thought no problem.  It's interior and drawers had mauve/pink fuzzy lining so my options were white or black.  I figured white since its summer and everyone is doing cottage colors.  I apparently don't have a before picture, that happens a lot I am so excited to start painting I forget the picture.  It was a medium oak pressed board - cheap if you know what I mean.

 

Here she is....  I found that the paint went on rather thin not very good coverage, of course with all the drawers and side doors and top opening it was hard to paint anyhow.  The second coat went on better and I let it go at 2 coats.  Still not real impressed, perhaps that is because it was white, the coverage wasn't as good.  That happens with almost all the whites I use except the Behr paint with primer. 

My opinion changed greatly when I started working on it.  The distressing was amazing.  I used a fine sponge sanding block.  Just gently rubbing and the paint came off like magic.  So different from the Latex paint I have been using.  Then I used the sanding block on the flat surfaces not so much to distress but to just smooth it down.  Let me tell you it felt like glass after just lightly going over the surface.  That was really nice and somehow unexpected.  I put a clear wax on it and buffed it out and called it a day.  

 I painted the knobs and all the hinges as well. The paint stuck to those really well too!  I hit the knobs with the sanding block just a bit and they distressed great too.

It was a very interesting start to my chalk paint experience.  Stay tuned for more to come!

Hope you are having a great day,

UPDATE:  I took it the the store. Treasures Resale Consignment Store in Roswell, Ga and it sold the second day it was there!  I was surprised to say the least, I really didn't think it would be a popular item.
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