How to Shabby Chic your dark furniture

Turning this standard kind of new bedroom

furniture with a dark mahogany finish

into a shabby chic set is what this post is about today~

I start with Old White Chalk Paint®.

Well actually, I scuffed it up first with a sanding block

as this finish was super shiny.

Then I wiped it down and started painting.

I always paint around the hardware first if I am going to

paint the hardware~if you are removing the hardware

to keep the original finish you will find it easier~

but in this case I will be wiping away some of the paint from

the hardware when I am finished...so I used a small

brush to get in the nooks and crannies first.

Then I use a nice flat brush to cover the rest

of the drawers and nightstand/bureaus.

Then I go back with a second coat and hit inside the

nooks and crannies again. I use a small foam roller for

my second coat and then finish with a

quick top coat using the flat brush again.

Here is the chest with one coat~it looks like amateur hour,

but remember, thin coats are better than thick coats all day long...

Here is the second coat~nice and perfect looking.

Beautiful Old White! But not shabby chic enough~

so lets get to the distressing~I like a light distress personally.

(See my new alarm system on the wall!!!

I feel much better having this system in place~!)

Here is the distressed finish~I take a damp cloth and rub

off the areas I want removed. This is the beauty of using

Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan™!

You can take as much or as little off as you like.
EDIT NOTE: many asked if I wipe off the paint while still damp. In
this case I did it after it was just dried. You can do it while it is still moist,
just take care to not remove too much as it is easier to remove while
moist than dry. Either way it beats sandpaper in my book.

Then I rub off the hardware until I am happy with the look~

And now it is ready for its

coating of soft clear wax. I will do one coat

on the entire piece with two coats on the top,

and a light sanding in between~

I am still working on the bigger pieces.

Here is the daddy chest....that's gonna be a lot of painting!!

Now it is done with its two coats and I am working on the mommy chest~
all of these pieces will not even use up one can of paint!
So if you are hesitating because of the cost, remember that
Chalk Paint® goes a lot further than latex does!!