Shiny Chalk

The tiny office in my apartment has been the bain of my existence since we moved in.  Its ALWAYS a mess and its right off of the family room and of course in my direct line of vision daily.  Anywoo, I'll do a whole office post later, this post is more about the Annie Sloan chalk paint that transformed the bookcases I was about to throw to the curb.

Originally I bought them for a song, with grand plans of painting them white.  But then months and years passed and they sat creeping up the office and making it feel smaller and darker than it is.

They sat so long because I realized how much of a job it was going to be to sand them, prime them, then paint them. Yuck. 

Enter Annie Sloan chalk paint and their promise that it requires ZERO priming.  I had held off so long because of the price tag, its kind of steep.  I also want them in a high gloss finish, not that chalky finish.  But the thought of spending so much time sanding them and the fact that with the wax I could polish it to a shine sold me.  I bit the bullet and bought a can of Pure White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and a can of the clear wax.

Now I did wipe down both the bookcases with a vinegar and water mix to clean off any grossness that was one them, and then I went to town.  

*So a little word of advice, if you want to paint something dark brown like these bookcases order a can of Old White AND Pure White.  Yes its more expensive, but I ended up using 2 full cans of Pure White on these.   I learned the hard way the Pure White has no pigment and it doesn't cover like the other colors.  I wish I would have ordered the Old White as well because then I would have more than half of two cans left instead of nothing left. 

The painting was the easy part.  It goes on quick and dries faster than any paint I've used before.  The hard part was the wax.  I had no idea it would require so much buffing.  I did two coats of the wax and buffed every single inch of those bookcases like nobody's business.  I wanted shine and shine they do.  It doesn't even look like that chalky finish I was afraid of.  

Now since these obviously get a lot of wear and tear I wanted to make sure they were good and cured before I put anything back on them.  I let them sit like you see above for a good 3 weeks before I put anything back.  I'm really glad I did, because the finish has not scratched once yet. 

I'm still finishing up this space, but here are the pulls I ordered to replace the old ones

I love them and they look so great with the Pure White!  I've got a few more projects to finish up in the office and then I'll share.

Have a good weekend everyone!