Annie Sloane and Me, all alone in my basement.....

I'M NOT TRYING TO BE 

DIFFICULT.....

But, rather than show more of my cabin today, 

I want to reveal the table I just painted.

I WILL CONTINUE WITH MY CABIN ON SATURDAY.....

A couple of weeks ago, 

I went to an Annie Sloane Chalk Paint workshop at Maison Decor....

I loaded up on a bunch of different colors, 

and gleefully carried my bounty home.

This is the end table I painted.

It's style is Renaissance Revival.

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According to About.com

Attributes of the Renaissance Revival style are turned and fluted legs, raised or inset burled panels, heavily carved finials and crests, inset marble tops, and cookie-cut corners. Many pieces are further decorated by black and gold incising, marquetry inlay and bronze or brass mounts. These pieces were often gargantuan - ideal for the Victorian "more is more" philosophy. The preferred wood was walnut, as it had been in the 1500s - and that was the most accurate thing about this revival style, which also borrowed heavily from the 17th-century Baroque and the earlier Gothic periods.

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I found this table 6 years ago at an auction with my bidness partner , Kris.

It 's been sitting in my basement ever since, waiting to be painted.

It was pretty beat up, but was begging for a soothing coat of paint,

 to rejuvenate it's battered hide......

Since it was made out of walnut,

 it was close to a sin to paint the wood...

But for something that would work in today's styles,

a lighter look was needed to sell this baby.

Also, 

it's more fun to paint than to refinish!!!!!

First I painted a coat of Lois Blue....

Then I painted a thin coat of Old White on the top,

and wood grained it.....

and I freehanded  a white stripe around the outside edge....,

I used these tools, for the woodgraining.....

While I'm showing you my tools.....

let me show you my fancy smancy workspace in my cellar.....

And these are my fancy smancy painting sneakers!!!!!

This way, I don't track paint around my house.

The red scrunchy is to keep hair out of my projects.....

It's amazing how much time I spend down in this dark hole

 on nice summer days.....

Any way.....

back to the paint job.....
For the body, I needed to add another coat of Old White, as the way I painted the first coat, it didn't cover the blue enough.

I added some combing details on the table's apron...

and other places.....

And a little white stripe around the curly parts.....

And then started the fun part!!!!

Distressing!!!!!

At this point, it was time to wax.

With my lose of memory and lack of attention,

I couldn't remember what the process of waxing involved.

Now, Amy had been thorough enough to send us home from her workshop with printed out notes on the steps we needed to take for a complete project.

BUT I'M A BABY, AND I WANTED HER TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!

So I kept calling her, 

at each stage,

 to ask what to do next!!!

I put a coat of clear wax on,

IMMEDIATELY followed by a light coat of dark wax.

The dark wax adds the aged look, and you need to be careful how you put it on, so it doesn't look too fake.

SO HERE'S THE FINISH!!!!

I carried it up to my living room, so I could get some shots in natural light.

I LOVE THE WAY THE PAINT SHOWS IN LAYERS!!!!!!

And finally.....
I wanted to show it with the little footstool I did last year.
When I painted the stool..,,
first I sanded...
then I primed...
then I painted two coats of the color...
then I distressed...
then I waxed.

Soooooo...
campers, that's the story of my first experience painting furniture with 
Annie Sloane Chalk Paint.
It was fun.
There's a learning curve......
Latah Gatah

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