Décidément Française!! (decidedly French)

I have just finished a cabinet- I bought it from Allegro (like Ebay).  This cabinet was imported from either Holland or Germany.  Here is the before:

It has beautiful carvings on all sides, particularly the doors.  The legs are a lovely cabriolet style and the hardware is in good shape.

But….looking at this picture it looks like your average mass produced oak furniture of days ago  (late 80’s early 90’s) and you can’t really see the details.

Being a stockist of Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint has its bonuses –I have all the colours in store- the hardest part is deciding which colour to paint!  I knew I wanted a colour besides whites or beiges (which are my “go-to” safe colours) and the Duck Egg Blue was screaming at me- use me, use me, use me –Je suis français, Je suis français!!

So…..I painted the entire piece Duck Egg Blue and used Old White on some of the carved details.

I also used a heavy hand when distressing- to give the carvings some added dimension.

Then I gave this lovely lady a spa treatment!  She had a waxing and a buffing.  A very thin coat of the clear wax was first then I added some definition with the rustic wax.

Here are some of the details:

The hinges and key plate are metal and were a very cheap looking bronze-ish sort of colour.  I simply painted them with ASCP and now they look as though they were meant to be there!

I also painted the drawer pulls- they were the same metal as the hinges.In the before photo you don’t even notice all of the carving details –and there are so many on this piece!- the dated oak really hides how beautiful they are.

I also wanted to answer a few questions that have come up about Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint.

How long does it take for the paint to dry?

One coat will dry in about 20 minutes- seriously!  However, if you are in a damper climate it will take longer.  For example, my store is in a prewar building that is made from brick.  I am noticing how damp it is in here- my baseboards are having a hard time sticking to the walls and the doors in my carpenter’s custom cabinet have swollen a bit.  It takes slightly longer for the chalk paint to dry here as compared to my home.

How long does it take for the wax to dry?

See above.  However, if you do a really thin coat of wax it seems to dry immediately.  It is more work but the buffing takes much less time.

Do you sand before or after wax application?

Either.  I personally like to sand before I apply the wax.  I don’t mind the paint dust that comes off but also if I make a mistake, for example, take too much paint off while distressing, I find that repainting in a spot has a better match before the waxing is done.

I also find that distressing after waxing really gums up the sand paper and I like to use sandpaper  till there is almost no grit left on it.

Hope that helps for anyone looking for information about ASCP.  It really is great paint and so worth the extra money.  On the label it says that one litre will cover one piece but I find that I can get about four pieces- probably more with one litre.

On the 13th of October I am flying to Oxford to take Annie Sloan’s day course in her shop.  I am sure I will have loads to report after that!!