And now it looks like this....

Experiments with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Primer Red and Napoleonic Blue

Picture a well-built, but outdated and banged up child's table and chair set.  A relic from the 1990's in honey oak with a wood-look formica top and a generous sprinkling of scratches, paint stains, and probably boogers... yep, that was in my house.  The thing is, a generation of children played, ate and created at that little table, and a new generation has begun to do it all again.  It was worth some TLC.

I wanted something cheery and kid-friendly, but not overly bright.  I decided to give Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Primer Red and Napoleonic Blue a try.  I painted the chair and the sides and legs of the table in Primer Red.  Then I enhanced the spindles of the chair and some of the carved details with the Napoleonic Blue and finished with clear wax.

Rather than paint over the formica top, I taped off the edges with 3M painter's tape and spray-painted the inside with chalkboard paint.  Finally I stenciled a little lettering detail at one edge and used a black Sharpie pen to outline the letters.

And now it looks like this.  A new generation is using this furniture to play, eat and create.  It is pretty and durable -- I scrub it off daily, and all the surfaces have held up just fine.

Next I picked up a little coffee grinder at my favorite thrift store for about five bucks.

First I gave it a first coat of Primer Red...

(Spoiler alert:  Future ugly thrift store makeovers pictured!)

After the red was completely dry, I used a tiny amount of Napoleonic Blue to enhance the details.  To do this, I used a cheap, natural-bristle paint brush and just a dot of the blue paint on a paper plate.  I swished the dry brush through the paint until the brush was just barely tinged at the edge.

Then I slapped it over the corners, ridges and knobs.  And also very lightly across the flat surfaces.

I finished with a coat of dark wax.  

And now it looks like this.

Come see this post where I party:
Twirl and Take a Bow