Amy Byrne

Painted Furniture: Sewing Cabinet

Todd and I have gotten really into painted furniture lately. We’ve bought a few beat up pieces, been gifted a couple from our neighbors who are moving, and inherited other pieces from relatives. This sewing cabinet used to be Todd’s Grandma’s. We’ve had it for a few years, and it sits in our foyer landing. As you can see from the before pictures, it was really beat up, and that’s a part of the charm of it, for us. Much of the wood veneer on the legs was missing, and there were a lot of scratches and gouges everywhere.

Last Sunday we stopped by Affordable Antiques in Naperville because I read that a vendor there, DiLucca Designs, carries Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® (not to be confused with chalkboard paint!). We’ve been meaning to stop in, but never had; boy were we glad we did! It’s a huge store with LOTS of antiques and collectibles from every era imaginable for sale. Todd tried to convince me that we needed a strange collection of dead animals, but I wasn’t having it. DiLucca Designs carries the full line of colors for Annie Sloan, as well as many of the accoutrements, and I fell in love with the Duck Egg Blue. (Although it was touch and go for a few tense seconds when I thought I might want Provence, instead.) Todd really liked the Louis Blue, and he got that for a project that I’ll share another day.

If you’ve never worked with chalk paint, it’s a lot different that latex paint. It’s a bit thicker, and dries much faster. We’ve worked with a couple of different brands, and will let you know that price matters, as in: You get what you pay for. Annie Sloan is a little more expensive than other brands on the market at around $40.00 a quart, but it also covers better and there’s a wider range of colors. Something else that’s different with chalk paint is that, after the piece has dried, you apply wax to it. That’s to seal the paint and protect it from everyday living. Annie Sloan has clear and dark wax. We chose clear. You would use the dark wax if you wanted to give your piece an aged, antique look.

I wanted to do something fun with the drawer, and remembered something I once saw on Pinterest. For a pop of the unexpected, I painted the drawer red, and lined it with my very favorite October Afternoon scrapbook paper, Needs Paint from their Thrift Store line. I finished it off with these beautiful cut glass drawer pulls.

Take a look, and I’d love to hear what you think!

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