Giving your furniture a new lease of life with a splash of paint can be very rewarding.
I’ve been painting furniture for a few years now and still remember the feeling of satisfaction when I transformed a pair of glossy pastel blue bedsides into shabby chic white bedside tables. (Below – and please excuse the poor iphone pic quality, but this was a LONG time ago)

I ran out of things to paint in my own home and sourced pieces from here, there and everywhere to satisfy my passion. (See my post on “Where to Find Funky Furniture”)

There is so much possibility in a can or two of paint! And whether you use ordinary latex paint, chalk paint or milk paint, you can achieve a totally new look to a room when you add a pop of colour or transform plain dark wood to white or neutral tones.

Take this dresser for instance. I took it from this:

BEFORE
To this:
AFTER
I didn’t take any pictures of the process I used to get this look, but you can click on some of the links to the side of my blog for more before/after makeovers and how I achieved them.
For this piece, I used Blake & Taylor‘s Furniture paint in the colour Aged White. Blake & Taylor’s Furniture paint is very similar to Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in quality and results – a lovely thick paint that goes on smoothly and requires little to no prep or sanding. Adhering well and covering in two coats, although for this light colour I could have gone 3 coats if I were not adding the dark wax finish.
Here’s a closer look at the dark wax finish I achieved. I sanded lightly all over the finished paint, sanding the edges as I went for a shabby distressed look…
Then I added a coat of clear wax (both Blake & Taylor and ASCP have similar clear and dark waxes and Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint range has an Antique Wax as well as their regular furniture wax which dries clear and a new white wax which adds another whole dimension – another post).
After the clear wax, I added the dark wax in circular and brushing motions until I achieved an aged patina that I was happy with. Buffing as I finished each section or drawer.
Working with dark wax can be a little intimidating at first and it still scares me at times, wondering if I’ve applied enough – or too much! I love the way it stays in the creases or crevices creating shadows and appearing old and well lived.
I just love these pretty knobs that came with the dresser.

 

… and I found this sweet Kaiser craft paper to line the drawers with:

 

Be inspired and find something around your house that could do with a fresh coat of paint!

 

Happy Painting!
~Sharon~