chippy shelves

The other day I went to our local YMCA shop & found just the thing I was looking for - a cheap, boring, bog-standard shelf unit to use as display at my next fair. Of course I wasn't to let it get away without being painted within an inch of its life... and of course, I haven't bothered with a before photo, but I'm sure "crappy flat pack pine unit" isn't too hard an image to conjure up.

I thought I'd experiment a bit as it's not for selling. I wanted to achieve a "chippy" paint look, like its been knocking about for years (insert your own joke). So it got two thick coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, first in "Florence" (dark green) and then "Provence" (French-style greeny-blue). After a layer of clear wax, I attacked the top layer of paint with a screwdriver. After that, there isn't much of a method, but I played around with dark wax, watered down white paint and generally building the layers up until I was happy-ish with the look. It was all sanded smooth, finished with a good layer of clear wax and finally buffed to add a smooth sheen.

I prefer this worn out look to just sanding the corners a bit, but I think it's worked better on the edges than anywhere else, but it will be fine for display.

painted patina

So my first (successful) painting project of 2014! I did paint a candelabra before attempting this project, but I'm not happy with it, so it's in the work-in-progress pile. I can't seem to stop buying brass at the moment. I hated it growing up, now there's something about it I really like. Having said that, I decided to paint all over this particular piece! Its a vintage brass candle sconce (is this a "sconce"?). I'm calling it a sconce. I wanted to paint it in a turquoise shade and distress, to look something like patina. It was also an excuse to buy a tin of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in "Provence", a lovely light turquoise just right for the look I wanted to achieve. 

It was lovely at it was, but very yellowy and not very exciting. I started by rubbing over the surface lightly with wire wool, just enough to help the paint "grab" a bit better. I painted over the entire brass surface with the Provence Chalk Paint. Once dry, I lightly sanded back some areas of the paint to reveal the brass underneath, but not so much that the brass gets scratched.  

I rubbed Annie Sloan's Clear Wax all over the sconce. Using a small brush (one of my daughter's cheap craft brushes), I brushed Annie Sloan's Dark Wax into the detailing, working a small area at a time. The excess was rubbed away with a clean cloth and the whole thing had a final coat of clear wax for a bit of added protection.

I could have distressed it more than this, but I wanted the paint colour to dominate, not the brass. I'm really pleased with it and it is available to buy on my Facebook page here!

By the way, I buy my paint from My Little Vintage shop in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire. A lovely shop with FANTASTIC customer service and lots of lovely things to covet. 

Thank you!