Annie Sloan to the Rescue

So I have these monstrous-sized built-ins that flank my chimney and mantle in my family room. They strolled right out of 1994 and set up camp to stay awhile. They were glaringly WHITE. I mean, shield your eyes and put sunglasses on the dog white, and they filled nearly one entire wall of the room. I really wanted to do something different with them but they were daunting. Lots of crevices and decorative edging that looked pretty but I felt sure would eat a paintbrush right out of my hand.

So I looked and I loathed but never made a move to change them. They sat there smugly, like they knew they'd won the battle. Until I saw a friend's Facebook post about a very cool type of paint called chalk paint, and specifically, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Touted as not needing any surface preparation, this paint would adhere to anything, cover in one coat (usually) and was actually designed to be more messy than precise. Ultimately, it would create an Old World style, antique looking finish that would be full of character. I was giddy at the find and delusional enough to think that I could pull it off.

After researching online, I decided to go with Country Grey (deceptively named since it is really a butter kind of color, not grey at all). And the even cooler thing you can do with Annie Sloan products is add a clear and then a dark wax over the paint to give it an even more weathered look.

Here's the key--the paint itself is applied messily and dries so that you can see the brush strokes. The dark wax you apply settles into these and that's what gives it such a cool look. I was all about it.

I went and (foolishly) bought ONE quart of paint (it only comes in quarts and it is pricey, I'll warn you), one can of clear wax, one can of dark wax and two wax brushes (specialty brushes, worth the investment). We removed all the doors and shelves from one built in and laid them out in my garage on plastic covered tables. I was ready to begin.

I started by painting the doors and shelves, making sure to use sloppy stokes in a diagonal direction. The paint went on super easy and not having to be precise made painting a dream. The stuff dries in about 20 minutes. I moved onto the actual built-in itself where I discovered that a quart of paint wasn't going to go nearly as far as I'd thought it would. After a quick run to the store for more paint, I got the entire thing covered in a single coat. I left it all to dry overnight just to be safe.

The next day was waxing day. I was nervous about this because I'd seen tons of tutorials online and there were a lot of admonitions about how NOT to do it and the mistakes folks typically make. It seemed to be common to apply too much wax which then takes forever to buff down and leaves your piece tacky to the touch. That wasn't going to be me. I put a dollop of wax on a paper plate, grabbed a wax brush and dipped only the tip into the wax and applied to the doors and shelves in a circular fashion, very thinly, and using an old tshirt to wipe off any excess as I went. 

This part definitely takes some elbow grease but it wasn't horrible. After the clear wax was on everything, I next applied the dark wax, using the same method but with a different wax brush. this was the scary part b/c that was is really dark. But you put on what you want and then wipe off with a clear tshirt, leaving only as much as you want to get the look you desire. Big tip--any dark wax that is tough to remove, you can dab clear wax onto, and it's like an eraser to the dark wax, taking most of it right back off with your tshirt.

Looking at a door that was done (left) vs one that was only painted (painted) really shows how much more character the dark wax gives you:

After the arm work-out I realized the wax requires, I thought that I was probably ambitious in taking on such a huge piece of furniture for my first time using Annie Sloan products. But I plowed on, completing the built-in and the following weekend, tackling the second. Along the with fireplace mantle that I painted but did not wax, the difference it makes in the room is astounding and I couldn't be happier.