The Great Annie Sloan Paint Experiment

I decided to experiment with the Annie Sloan paints…

so i bought some Paris Grey and some Clear Wax and have been painting everything in sight for the last couple of days…

out in front of The Whistling Elk in the courtyard.

This is actually a before shot….

The bottom legs/skirt etc has  been coated with Annie Sloan “Paris Grey” while the top has an old coat of a beige tone benjamin moore paint on it.

Originally this table had a dark stain on it.  It has been hanging around for a while and was pretty beat up.

When i selected it to experiment with i thought it might be fun because when distressed it would show the dark stain thru the beige…and the Paris Grey.

I also selected this table because it has nice detail for painting.  The top has a raised pattern to it around the edges which

is separated from the center by two circular grooves which i plan to gild. And, the little finial

at the bottom of the leg stretchers is screaming out for gold…

So with my design plan in my head and the brush in my hand, the Annie Sloan paint went on easily and covered well…waxing was easy too.

After sanding the table and distressing it to the level i desired i painted a fleur de lis on top with some antique gold paint i had around

and also put the gold in the round grooves and on the outer edges of the table.

Then i waxed it again…

The next day I sanded it down again, distressing the gold paint and the fleur de lis.

I sanded some spots down to the very dark stain but decided i didnt like what i had so repainted/waxed some spots and re-distressed.

I actually really like the soft beige coming thru the Paris Grey.

I also decided not to distress to strongly overall as i liked the softness of the look.  So, when i was satisfied with what i had i  waxed it one last time.  The next day i buffed it out.

I had these two upholstered chairs so i painted and distressed the chair legs to go with the table!

It was easy – paint, wax, sand/distress, wax….Voila!

So Very, Very Shabby Chic and perfect for  Little Paris!!

here’s what the chair legs looked like before…

So the bottom line is that i am enjoying the whole process and having lots of fun with the Annie Sloan Paints!

Stay tuned because i hateto waste time so have been painting on other little projects which are coming along…