I completed putting the furniture for the nursery together from Ikea. The next thing I had to do was figure out what I wanted to do to it. I loooove working with chalk paint and wanted to incorporate that into what I was doing. I have also liked the look of using a dark stain on the top from a lot of pieces I've seen at the antique coop in our area. As soon as we found out we were having a girl, I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do, and I am in love with it. This chica is going to have the best room and furniture than any other room in the house!
As you may recall, the furniture I purchased is plain pine, no sanding, no prep work. Awesome!
Step 1: Apply Stain. I decided to try out miniwax's polyshades, which has the polyurethane incorporated. They claim that it is one step, but depending on how dark you want your piece, I suggest at least applying 2 coats. You must wait at least 6 hours between coats. I let the second coat dry before moving onto the next step.
Step 2: Tape over edges with stain using painters tape.
Step 3: Use a natural bristled brush to apply shade of chalk paint. I decided instead of mixing my own chalk paint, I would try annie sloan's chalk paint. It is much more user friendly ( you don't have to continually mix as you are applying, which saves time), but, it is a little more costly. For a quart I spend thirty dollars buuut, I only used half a can on 3 pieces of furniture and applied 2 coats. Well worth the money. After applying the last coat, I let sit over night just because I was exhausted but it does dry pretty quickly.
Step 4: Distress if you want. If you are happy with the results, just leave it!
Step 5: Apply the wax. I decided to try using annie sloan clear soft wax. The nice thing about annie sloan products is that they are all baby friendly. This makes me a little more comfortable using them over latex paints.
Step 6: Apply selected hardware. There are so many different kinds of hardware for furniture now to choose from. I think I spend about a half an hour looking at knobs at hobby lobby and I got a great deal on them!
Of course I have to instill my love of Paris on my daughter =)
For the chest, I chose these brass knobs shaped like flowers with a little bling in the center of them.
All in all I am very pleased with how everything turned out.
Although the Annie Sloan chalk paint was a little expensive, it was easy to work with, the color is vibrant, and a little goes a long way.
I loved using the Annie Sloan wax. It's very soft and just as with the paint, a little goes a long way. I highly recommend both products and will be using them for any future refinishing projects.
The big stuff in the nursery is all taken care of for the most part, Just need to figure out wall decor and pick out window fixtures and we are good to go =)
