I know I said this transformation would be split into two blog posts, but it will be three instead. The reason being there was more work than I expected. Also, I started back to school this week and am still recovering from surgery. If that sounded a little whiney, I apologize.
My color choice of Annie Sloan Oxford Navy, albeit beautiful, required three coats to get the rich color I was looking for. I also wanted to stain the top of the buffet and I was going back and forth on what to use. When the piece was originally sanded, the red tones had been removed. I have found in the past when you reapply color, the red tones come back, and I did not want that. I settled on Waverly Antique wax. It has a rich brown color I hoped would prevent the red tones from reappearing.
With my choices made, I got to work!
I had never used Oxford Blue chalk paint and was excited to try it!
The first thing I did was paint over the repairs to the drawers.
Unless you knew it was there you would not be able to tell.
You can see here it was going to take more than one coat.
The color was so beautiful I started to think about keeping the piece.
I was taking a chance using Waverly Antique Wax to stain the top. I had never used this particular wax on such a large piece.
I am so glad I took the chance. It came out great! Best of all, no red tones!
This is when I knew I was keeping it!
To zhuzh up the drawers, I used “Decoupage Queen” Wallpaper Damask decoupage rice paper.
After trimming the edge, I cut a piece of the rice paper and placed it on the drawer.
Using a sandpaper block, I went around the edges.
The sandpaper block trims off the excess leaving a perfect cut.
The paper was too short, so I lined up the seams and removed the excess with the sanding block.
I brushed Roman Wallpaper Paste on the drawer and laid the paper over it.
I used my hand to smooth it out.
This is how it looks on the side of the drawer.
I really like the results so far. I still have a lot more to do. It needs to be sealed and I have to decide if I want a wax or topcoat (like Polycrylic). The inside also needs attention. I may use watered down chalk paint to tone down the red. The hardware needs a good cleaning and some type of gilding. I may also use gilding on the raised areas around the drawers.
The third and last post will be the final reveal!
In the meantime, Keep Pushing Your Creative Self!