Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Armoire - Before and After

I know you have all been on the edge of your seat with anticipation on what I decided to do with this armoire that I got off of Craigslist. Drumroll....

First off, I have a love/hate relationship with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I know its all the rage now and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. And, well, I did too. I have refinished furniture for years and years. I have done many pieces. So, I know what I'm doing to an extent. I'm really good at the distressing/glazing, etc type stuff so I was anxious to try it out since its so in line with what I'm doing now. So, here we go:

Pros:

1. The colors are AMAZING. I love them all and they go right in line with my decor and style.
2. You can paint right over anything: laminate, plastic, sealed wood, etc. NO sanding and priming. Hot dog!
3. It dries super fast and you can go right over it usually once you are done. It makes projects go quickly.
4. No smell. You can paint right inside and not worry about the fumes.
5. The colors mix fabulously. And all the colors once mixed are so pretty. However, you could also be like me and run out of said mixed mixture, then you have to-go buy it all and re-mix - DOH!

Cons:

1. It is expensive - kind of very.
2. Although it says it coats well and a little goes a long way, I disagree. I still feel like you need a good two coats and sometimes three on the darker paints.
3. It is MESS-SY. It's chalk paint so if you are distressing at all - imagine you are in a classroom dusting off chalkboard erasers. Yea - it's EVERYWHERE.
4. You have to wax most everything. Which totally sucks arse. It is the most monotonous task there is. Give me a quick coat of polyurethane anyday. And don't get me started on the dark wax AND clear wax. Oy vey.

So, there you have it. It just depends on how much you like the look to see if it's worth it or not. I have done several things with ASCP: A Bathroom vanity in Coco, built-in bookshelves in Graphite with a mixture of Graphite and Old White inside, a regular bookshelf in a mixture of Old White and French Linen, a desk in Coco, armoire (below) , and now I'm painting the cabinets in our bar area Coco as well. I guess the random person will think I love it, but I'm just not 100% yet.

As for the armoire, it took a LOT of elbow grease. Steps I took:

1. ordered wood embellishments off of etsy and glued them on using wood glue (on each door and drawer)

2. I put on two coats of Paris Grey and let dry.

3. I then applied a coat of Original White on top of that.

4. I sanded down the White so you could see lots of the Paris Grey underneath.

5. I also just painted over all the hardware.

6. One coat of Clear Wax, then touches of dark wax in the crevices and over the embellishments.

7. Drank Wine. lots of wine.

Ta Da!!!

Close up of the top showing the distressing and the grey showing under the white. 

Close up of the brush strokes.You can also see a good mix of the grey under the white.  Yet another plus of using ASCP. The messier your strokes, the more texture. 

Embellishment on the drawer. 

more distressing. 

Side view.