We often talk about giving furniture an aged look with dark wax or a glaze, but did you know you can get a similar look just with paint? By layering paint colors, you can create beautiful depth and detail on your pieces.
We picked up this gorgeous cabinet at a local thrift store. The previous owner had painted it white but the paint job was old and yellowed. Here’s a pic I snapped while painting. The top drawer has a coat of Old White, and the bottom drawer is the original paint.
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We painted the outside of the cabinet with Annie Sloan chalk paint “Old White”, and the inside with Annie Sloan’s “Duck Egg Blue”. When we were finished, it still felt a bit plain, so I decided to give it an aged look using Annie Sloan’s “French Linen”.
This process is extremely simple. I usually put a little paint on a paper plate, then you’ll also need a brush, a cup of water and a damp rag. You can use a paper towel but it falls apart quickly and you’ll have to replace it often throughout the process. An old rag or washcloth is easier, and you can just rinse it out as you go.
I usually dip my brush in a bit of water, dip it in the paint, then tap the brush on the plate to unload some of the paint. (There’s no right or wrong amount of paint or water. The more water you use, the lighter the paint will end up, but if you get it too watery it’ll drip and run everywhere).
Brush the paint on, taking care to get it into the grooves and detail. Work in sections as you do this so you’re not giving the paint time to dry.
Next, take your slightly damp rag and wipe the paint off. I try to leave paint in the grooves and remove it from the raised areas.
And you’ll be left with this:
On this cabinet, I ended up doing a French Linen wash over the whole thing, including the inside sections that were painted blue. Then I concentrated on leaving more paint in the grooves and in the corners.
If you’ve never done a paint wash, it’s basically the same process as explained above, except you’re brushing on and wiping off the watered down paint over the entire piece, not just in the grooves. It leaves a hint of color over the existing paint surface, and depending on how dark you want the wash to be, you can do more than one coat.
This process really created a lot of depth and highlighted the pretty details. When I was finished, I sealed the whole piece with General Finishes Water-Based Top Coat.
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Hey Amy – We love your painting skills and fabulous tips! This piece is gorgeous! Is it a keeper or are you selling it? Either way, you win! Cheers to a great week!
Thanks so much! It’s currently for sale in our booth, although we just took a trip to the booth over the weekend and noticed someone removed one of the cabinet knobs that looks like a little key. They were original to the piece so now we have to buy new knobs and I’m sure it won’t sell until we repair it. So frustrating!
Such a beautiful, beautiful piece! And thanks for sharing this aging technique — I’ll have to give it a go! Take care, Cynthia
Thank you, Cynthia 🙂
What a pretty piece! I love the aging technique….such a great way to give a piece character!
Happy day friend!
karianne
Thanks Karianne!
How have I never thought to use paint to age it?! BRILLIANT! And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the blue inside! Beautiful!
Thanks Kristi!
That is such a lovely piece to begin with, & I love the aged look even more! The simple & crisp styling is gorgeous!!
Paige.Rose
from
http://www.TheQuaintSanctuary.blogspot.com
Thanks so much!
Amy this looks so good! I just gave a white wash to some chairs I was working on yesterday and you’re right chalk paint is so forgiving. It can be scary to experiment for the first time but once you do it opens a whole new world. You always do such a good job explaining techniques. Great post! Hugs, CoCo
Thanks so much, CoCo! Can’t wait to see your finished chairs :).
I never realized that you could do this! I always assumed it was done with just wax. Sweet! This doesn’t intimidate me as much a wax does, LOL. This is a totally gorgeous piece, by the way. Well done!
Thanks Sarah! I agree dark wax can be a little tricky. Plus if you’re using paint you can seal it with something stronger than wax if you want.
This is such a timely post, Amy! I’ve never distressed furniture but I have a piece waiting on the deck … I better tackle it soon! Thanks for great tips (and soo sad so do e removed that piece of hardware!) a Hope you’re doing great, friend!
Thanks so much, Kendra! Hope you’re doing well too. I miss you!
Amy, This is so pretty. You do such a fabulous job on all your painting projects. Thanks for sharing you techniques. I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks so much, Bonbon!!
This hutch is so cute. I have a china cabinet that I’ve been wanting to paint for awhile in colors like you selected. I’ll have to get some chalk paint and get to work! I hope mine will turn out as good as yours did!
Thanks so much! I’m sure yours will be beautiful!
This is such a beautiful makeover! I read in your comments about someone stealing a knob….who would do that? Seriously how incredibly rude and terrible. I wanted to let you know I want to feature it on my blog as my furniture feature on Brag-Worthy Thursday this week, thanks for sharing it!
Hey Gilly! Thank you so much for the feature! After a year I was feeling so burned out with hosting the link party. I was so glad Lauren and Nicole teamed up with you guys and kept going! And yeah, the missing knob was such a bummer. I wanted to think it was just a kid who doesn’t know better but it would’ve been pretty much impossible to remove without a screwdriver. Not stressing over it though :).
I just found your blog and it’s wonderful! It’s funny- I have the very same china cabinet, and also painted mine white (and adore it!). 🙂 I’ve toyed with painting the shelving area Provence. 🙂 Yours looks wonderful!
I have a question. I have this exact china cabinet, but with the glass doors still intact. It is in the original veneer condition and I’ve only recently decided to paint it. Then I found this! It’s beautiful. My question is, is the white and blue paint chalk paint or regular paint? Did you prime it first? Any tips on painting doors with glass? I’m presuming I can remove them and then paint.
Sorry for all the questions. Thanks!
Hi Connie! First, thank you for your kind words! I appreciate your comment. To answer your questions, yes, the white and blue paint is chalk paint. Specifically, the white is Annie Sloan’s Old White chalk paint, and the blue is Annie Sloan’s Duck Egg Blue. I then did a wash over top with Annie Sloan’s French Linen chalk paint. Regarding using primer: the outside of the cabinet had been painted with an oil based paint by the previous owner. I simply cleaned it well and did not need to prime it. The inside shelves were still the original wood finish and they bled terribly, so I did have to prime them. For painting the doors with glass, you can tape off the glass if you like. Or you can just paint it and if you get some on the glass part, those sponges with the green scrubby side and a little water work great at getting paint off the glass. Good luck with your project and thanks so much for stopping by!
thank you for this tip. looks beautiful
Great job! Do you know if I can use the same process over latex flat paint? Thank you!
Hey Karin! I’ve never tried it with latex paint but I imagine it would work the same. If you give it a try let me know!
Beautiful! What color blue did you use? I can’t find a pretty one that doesn’t look like baby blue.
Thank you, Karen! It’s Annie Sloan’s duck egg blue. It tends to look blue on some pieces and a bit green on others. It’s a really pretty color.
I think I err on the side of too much water all the time. Just call me miss drips and runs.
Anne – Buckeye Painter