Functional, good quality, but nothing exciting. This fine little chest really needed a makeover -- something to make it stand out.
I started by painting it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Napoleon Blue. But it wanted something more...
I found some cute stencils in a bird and branch motif by Martha Stewart at the craft store. I used the stencils as the basis for a tree branch design, painted with Annie Sloan in Coco and Olive.
I also went free-style with some of the branch design.
Chalk paint provided even more interest: Primer Red berries dotted here and there, and a little bird in mottled Provence teal and Olive, perched jauntily on the main branch.
I also used a brown Sharpie marker to give the branches the appearance of wood grain with random squiggles and swirls.
To give the piece a rich patina, I applied dark wax. I like to thin the wax with some mineral spirits, in about a 1:1 ratio, to the consistency of a thick soup. Then I apply the wax with a natural bristle brush...
and buff off the excess wax with a soft rag.
Before dark wax and after. Quite a difference, don't you think?
Finally a coat of clear wax, some new hardware, and my little chest is a stunner.
