Queen Anne Table Chalk Painted

Queen Anne Table Before

This was a lovely Queen Anne table in need of a new look and it was decided that paint would achieve this nicely.

Queen Anne Table After

Chalk paint is great to work with. The first coat shows the brush strokes, but this goes away after you paint the second coat giving you great coverage. It also dries very quickly, in 20 minutes so you can easily finish a project from start to finish the same day. Chalk paint has unique qualities and those qualities allow you to experiment with finishes, such as waxing. Prior to this project I had not heard of chalk paint waxing, but I was willing to give it a try.

After you apply the second coat of paint, allow it to completely dry then carefully apply the wax to the surface, rubbing in a circular motion. Keep applying until your surface is enough wax to cover it then end with rubbing the wax with the grain of the wood. The process of chalk painting with wax is not difficult, although time-consuming. For this project we used Annie Sloan chalk paint and Annie Sloan chalk paint wax. The color was French Linen with a treatment of clear wax and black wax for the highlights. This accented the curves of the table creating an interesting depth and shadow effect which achieved the goal; an updated look.

Before; the waxing is a necessary step, as it protects the surface of the chalk paint which otherwise is quite vulnerable to scratches and fingerprints. It also protects your furniture and after it dries from scratching or denting. You can experiment with different colors of chalk paint as well as wax to achieve the desired effect. If you want to lighten up an area, you simply apply the clear wax over it and gently rub it out. If you want your project to have a "distressed" or shabby chic look, you would do this after the chalk paint has dried, but before you apply the wax. I used steel wool and a piece of folded 100 grit sandpaper, randomly removing paint to achieve minimally distressed look. The more you remove, the greater the distressing, or you can leave it as is with no distressing. And the result is a brand new "old fashioned" table.