The Old Switcheroo! My redo with Maison Blanche Paint!

So here’s how it works with me…..I’m looking at the dining room thinking huummm……that chest has been in the same spot since 19blahblah.  Yep, that long!  What to do, what to do.  I need more space for more junk…..I mean quality collectibles.  Of course a new piece would be nice.  But how about switching the piece in the sewing room with the chest.  It would need to be repainted.  For the billionth time.  It was currently grey with red accents.  So I wanted it done NOW.  As in YESTERDAY!  Because once I commit to a change, I want it done immediately.  The walls will be next and will be painted a pale gray.

So Heather helped me decide on Maison Blanche La Craie furniture paint in…..

Pecan for the outside.  And Sugar Cane for the inside and shelves.

Pecan is a beautiful milky chocolate brown.  And Sugar Cane. Oohhh……Sugar Cane!  The most gorgeous pale whispery Robin’s Egg blue.  I also decided on Jolie Blonde for an accent color on the trim.  A pale beautiful yellow.

I can tell you that this paint is AWESOME!  Thick but silky and it goes on like a dream.  And NO dripping.  This is huge for me.  I normally end up with paint all over the floor.  Drop cloth or not.

I already knew that I wanted a chippy, sanded, old world, farmhouse look for this piece.  I was in luck, because there were several colors that would show through beautifully when I sanded.

So here’s a little how-I-did-it……

I always, as in always, use a cheapo chip brush when I paint.  I don’t want my pieces to look perfect when I’m through.  In fact, not long ago, I invested in a  Purdy brush.  I hate it.  The only problem with the chip brushes is all of the stray bristles.  Keep an eye out for those.

With La Craie paint, no prep or sanding.  So I was good there.

I did one coat of the Pecan on the outside because I was going over gray.

I did two coats of Sugar Cane on the inside because I was going over a dark Walnut stain. 

If you don’t have perfect coverage, or you miss a spot, don’t stress.  Sanding covers a multitude of mistakes.

After the inside was dry, I went back over it with a combination of Sugar Cane and Jolie Blonde.

I loaded my brush like this….

Then you brush on in spots.  Until your brush is unloaded.

The area you are working on will look like this…..

Then you dry brush all of the areas where you applied paint.  This just gives another dimension to your piece and adds to the authentic vintage look.

On the trim, I haphazardly applied the Jolie Blonde.  Because you are going to do a fair amount of sanding here.

Before sanding, you trim will look like the example above.  You can see that I missed quite a few spots and even applied it quite thinly in other areas.

But after sanding…….

All of those yummy colors peeking through!

So you’re sanding and your first instinct is to clean off all of that paint residue  as you go.  …..Don’t.  Leave it where it lands.   Why?

Now it’s time to wax.  I used Maison Blanche clear wax.  It actually was an experiment, leaving all of the sanded paint residue.  But as I began to apply the wax, a lot of the residue fell off anyway, but some bits and pieces gathered in corners.  It looked awesome!  Just like a piece that had been pulled out of an old house and cleaned off.  But some of that gunk had gathered in the corners and just couldn’t be removed.

Let your wax dry and then buff.  The more you buff, the higher the sheen.

DONE!  AND I am happy happy with the way this piece turned out!

From the minute I sat that first white ironstone platter in my like new cabinet, I was in LOVE!

I’ll be happy when that black and caramel wall is gone.

Everything should show up so much better with pale grey walls.

Extra plates in a locker basket.

Finished and styled!   And my metal cow corbels already look better!

Heather and I sell Maison Blanche paint in our area.  I highly recommend it.  It is a wonderful high quality product and you will fall in love with the huge selection of wonderful colors.  We welcome your questions and would love to hear from you.  Please e-mail us!

Happy Valentines Day!

Denise

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