We had some perfectly good oak furniture we’d brought with us when we moved that we didn’t feel fitted into our new home. Rather than sell them, we decided to upcycle and re-use. This was a no lose decision as if when I’d painted it, it looked awful, we’d get rid of it. However, if they looked good, they’d become feature pieces in our new space.
After some digging for information I decided to try chalk paint from Annie Sloan. In this case, a very deep graphite gray. The advantage, as I could see, was it gives a lovely, imperfect finish and is really easy to apply. It’s not the cheapest at £27 per litre but equally, not overly silly. I started with our sideboard. It’s super easy to apply and I brushed on the 2 coats they recommend for a ‘smooth’ finish. The real advantage of it is that you don’t need to sand, undercoat or prime the wood in any way before hand!
The paint itself, once dry, easily scratches though so to prevent this, I applied the clear wax (also Annie Sloan, £15) to give it a dull sheen and hard wearing coating. I can vouch for it’s finish, look and style. After removing the previous handles on the doors and drawers and replacing them with some iron knobs I found on Etsy (£25) , it looked brilliant.
Overall the whole piece cost just £68! Not bad for a statement furniture piece that now sits beautifully in our Hallway.
Wood Barn 