Because I am a blogger, I felt compelled to jump into the world of chalk paint. Hey, even we bakers have to leave the kitchen every now and then. Because I was too much of a cheap skate to spring for Annie Sloan, I used one of the many do it yourself chalk paint recipes I found online.
Armed with left over front door paint and plaster of paris, I tackled the inside of my china cabinet.
I left the outside of the cabinet a creamy white, and took a chance by using a soft aqua blue on the inside. I was soooooo scared to use a color like that, but when I was finished, I LOVED it!
It seems like the projects that scare me the most usually end up being the ones I like best.
Anyone else like that?
Because I have never used "real" chalk paint, I don't know how mine compared. I liked the end result, but it was really funky to work with. It kept thickening up on me, and was a bit lumpy, but maybe that is normal.
While I was at it, I also painted a small area on my buffet, which I then embellished with a vintage French graphic.
I used acrylic craft paint for the design.
Because I had a little chalk paint left over and was on a roll, I also painted a mirror that resides in the guest room.
I topped everything off with a coat of dark antiquing wax followed by clear wax. You can see how the dark wax really gets into the grooves to make details really pop.
While I was busy painting, Mr. Enchanted was making us a new/old farm table. My contribution to the effort was to distress it using a hammer, screws, and keys (this was the fun part!), and then staining and sealing it. Mr. E did an amazing job on it, and I am thrilled with the results!
A less glamorous job was repainting all of the trim in the main level of the house. No pictures of that - UGGG.
I moved on to the guest room, where I repainted the walls a creamy ivory and rearranged the furniture.
Amazing what a gallon of paint will do - can I hear an amen?
Next up, was a fabulous/ugly lamp shade I found at an antique shop for $3. It was covered in brown ruffles and could have won a prize for lampshade most in need of a makeover. I pulled off the ruffles and added fringed burlap trim and a few silk flowers, because the shape had a bit of had a millinery feel to it.
And now for the biggest and worst project of all - reupholstering the dining room chairs. My first challenge was to find a fabric that would hold up well, not show spills, and not to have a very obvious pattern repeat. Oh, and it had to have red, green, ivory, and robin egg blue in it. AND, not cost a fortune. After hours of looking on Fabric guru, I found the steal of the century for $7 a yard!
Thank goodness Mr. E gave me a ton of help with this project, and the end result was worth every minute of pain!
No wonder I didn't get any cookies done in January!
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