The Empty Nest: theemptynest blog janet metzger miss mustard seed annie sloan chalk paint french furniture restyle sweetpeas gretel parker tew england

Hello friends...so happy you have come back again.

A special hello to all you new readers, welcome!

So here she is, Collette..my two tiered, three legged end table.

All photos will click larger

She has been sitting in my bedroom for ten years.

She's pretty, but she is in need of a little beauty cream to help bring out her nice features.

I love this cool bronze tag on her underside verifying Collette's heritage.

French by way of

MICHIGAN

;->

Shapely hips...

And beautiful legs with toes to die for.

What? Ok...so I have a foot fetish!

Ready?

Let the makeover begin

I'm going to start with a base coat of Annie Sloan's Old White.

I made a watery wash with some Louis Blue and loosely brushed it over the two table tops.

Just a soft wash.

Collette has some gorgeous rings all up the center pedestal, so I decided to showcase them.

I gave a few rings a wash of Louis Blue and Duck Egg Green

I color washed the two rims also.

I really love how chalk paint seems to be letting the table breathe and allowing some great texture to show through.

After the colorwash, I dry brushed a little Louis Blue on the rims to further highlight the textural bands.

I drybrushed more blue here and there on the table tops for depth and variation.

Pay no attention to my stubby nail...it was a bedmaking casualty..OUCH!

After lightly distressing Collette with a piece of fine grit sandpaper, I began to apply the Annie Sloan clear wax.
Many thanks to Shaunna and Marian for their great painting and waxing videos.

I waxed very lightly with my large waxing brush, which I purchased from Patty and Karen at

Classic Wall Finishes in New Jersey. They are the best ladies to do business with...so friendly and helpful. (unsolicited plug)

So here she is

BEFORE..

AFTER

'Mademoiselle Collette'

Isn't she tres chic?

Now you can really notice her pretty ringed details.

Like a lovely necklace.

I even painted her leg undersides in Louis Blue, to mimic getting a peak at her petticoats.

Collette is such a tease.

Very happy with the color wash of blue and green on her rings.

I could have painted the whole thing in Old White, but I think Collette is much more interesting with her little teases of color.

Very much like a real woman.

I wanted Collette to have the look of a table that was painted many years ago and not one that was painted to look old. The chalk paint lets you get that look.

At the risk of repeating myself...this stuff distresses like a dream. With latex, I always got a kind of peeling off distressed look. I was happy with that because thats all I knew I could ever get.

Annie Sloan's paint makes it possible to get a truly worn aged look, as if something has been slowly, over the years, rubbing against the wood.