A Little Bench and Chalk Paint

For some time I had been wanting a little bench to go in front of my fireplace.  A little seat that beckoned  me to come sit and warm myself by the fire.  I had seen a few in some of my favorite catalogs but of course, being the Cheap Mama that I am, knew that I would never pay full retail price.

So I just kept my eye out when I would go consignment shopping knowing that one day I would find one that fit my budget.

And one day, I did.

Hello, the 1980's called and they would like their fabric back.

I am only kidding.  I'm sure one day my children will look at pictures from their childhood and ask me why I painted everything white and made it look old.

I wanted to make this bench look really worn, not perfect at all.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and then did a coat of clear wax and dark wax which I rubbed into the wood in a circular motion with an old undershirt.  I recovered the seat in some scrap fabric that I had leftover from a previous project.

Every time I do another project with Annie Sloan's products I learn something new.  What I learned this time is that working on a piece with round legs can be tricky.  Because the legs weren't a flat surface I had to go slowly to make sure that the worn look didn't look too uniform and that it didn't get too heavy in places and not heavy enough in other places.  I also learned that to get this look it worked better to apply the dark wax in a side-to-side motion and then rub the wax into the paint in a circular motion instead of in the same direction in which I had applied the wax.  If I did that, then I ended up essentially wiping off the wax and erasing the effect I was going for.  By waxing in one direction and rubbing in a different direction, I got the old patina look that I wanted.

Did anyone else think of Karate Kid with all that talk about wax on, wax off?  No, just me?

Tell me what you think of my little bench project and leave any tips you've learned with Annie Sloan products.

Happy Waxing, Cheap Mamas!  (Not brow or bikini waxing.  That's another post for another time.)