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Chalk Painted French Country Bar Stools

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Yesterday I sat out on my back deck enjoying the warmth of the sun shining down upon my skin and warming me all the way to the bone.  I love it when the weather is in the 70’s and all of the trees and bushes in my neighborhood are bursting into bloom.  It really is the most beautiful time of the year here in South Carolina.  I knew I had things to do but I couldn’t get myself up and motivated until I began to feel the burn on my fair arms.  Alas, I am “pigmentally challenged” (my hubby’s name for very white) and I can only stay a short time in the sun without sunscreen.

Barstools AfterI got a call from one of my doctors this morning and it turns out I’m Vitamin D deficient.  So much so that she is starting me on prescription strength Vitamin D!  Hallelujah!  This might be just the excuse I need to spend more time lounging in the sun – with my sunscreen of course 🙂

Bar Stools Before Paint So this is one of my French Country style bar stools and this is how they looked before.  The wood color was kind of orangey and didn’t go with the look I’m trying to achieve in my kitchen.  The wood is hard but not anything special SOOO . . . chalk paint to the rescue!

Painting my BarstoolsI started by painting the chairs a light color first and then trimmed them out with a darker color. I had Home Depot color match Annie Sloan Chalk Paint’s Country Grey and French Linen (I have an ASCP color card and I take that to the store whenever I want to get a color match). I purchased sample size containers and used my favorite homemade Chalk Paint Recipe.

Adding Highlights to my BarstoolsAfter the base and trim were painted I used a small brush to dab darker color into the crevices of the chairs . . .

Barstools . . . and lightly dry brushed over the Country Grey with French Linen.

Barstools I wasn’t at all careful about how I applied it because I knew it would all come out just the way I wanted it to look in the end.

Barstools I used a sanding sponge to sand back back any unwanted dark color.

Barstools AfterI finished up with my new favorite wax mixed with stain for added color (this gives it the same look as a dark wax and, like dark wax, any excess color can be removed by rubbing clear wax over it).  Can you see the sheen on the chairs?  They also have a very smooth feeling finish which I like better than the finish I get with soft wax.

Favorite furniture wax with chalk paintA “real” furniture builder friend recommended Minwax Paste Finishing Wax.  It contains carnuba wax which apparently creates a very hard finish.

By the way, I may have heated it just a tad to make it a little softer for mixing and applying.  Shhh . . . this may be a dangerous thing to do . . . at least as dangerous as things get in my world 🙂

Barstools

Barstools

Barstools I did use some soft wax though, on the leather chair seats.  Unfortunately, I splattered the seats with paint when I was painting the caned backs.  The seat surfaces became dull when I cleaned off the paint so I decided to see what a little soft wax would do.

Soft Wax on LeatherI waxed, let them dry for about 15 minutes, and polished.  I love the sheen and even after a few months they are still shining bright!

Barstools

Barstools I thought of making ruffled drop cloth seat covers but it would be a shame to hide such pretty legs.  Maybe in the future.

Barstools Now – the wall color – the yellow in this room is still bothering me and I’ve been picking up paint swatches with thoughts toward a future change.  I’m leaning toward Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams. Sigh – not until I whittle down my long list of to-do’s though.  Priorities you know 🙂

Chalk Painted French Country Bar Stools Now it is on to outdoor projects.  Filling planters with flowers, cleaning patio furniture, scheduling a lunchean on my deck.  What Spring projects are you up to where you live?  Is your weather warming too or are you still in a winter chill?  Time flies so quickly and we will be feeling the heat of Summer in no time at all.

Blessings friends,

My Signature

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Giving Baskets a Vintage Look With Chalk Paint

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Timeworn, aged, faded, shabby. All words to describe those well-worn flea market baskets that catch my eye and pull at my heart.  So I was excited a couple of years ago to receive my mother-in-law’s old wicker laundry basket.  Mr. OTN, who is no youngsta’, has memories of being pulled across the floor in this basket by his older brothers.

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 How sweet then, that it came home to live with us.  Here is a picture of said basket as shared in our Den Reveal last Fall.  It is perfect just the way it is and I wouldn’t think of touching it with a paintbrush!

However . . . some of the baskets I have around my home are neither old nor precious, so this past week I decided to touch up a few of them with paint to give them that well worn look that I love.

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Ageing baskets is one of the quickest and easiest projects you’ll ever do!

First, a “before” view of the baskets I painted . . .

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 . . . and here they are “after” painting.

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On my powder room trash can I used my Homemade Chalk Paint recipe and paint that Home Depot mixed to match Annie Sloan’s chalk paint color French Linen.

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For this flower basket I used Home Depot’s match to Annie Sloan’s Country Grey.

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For the rest of my baskets I layered both colors, French Linen and Country Grey, by dry brushing on alternating layers of paint.  You can see the beginning of that process below.

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French Linen . . .

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. . . followed by Country Grey.

I simply kept layering alternating colors until I liked what I saw.  My kitchen baskets were sealed with a bit of dark wax for added protection and to age them even more.

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These are the Home Depot colors I used.

That’s it.  A simple afternoon project that makes a big difference in how things look.

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I’ve been adding a few new touches to my kitchen and my aged baskets fit right in.  I’ll be back later this week to share more pictures in Adding Personality to a Kitchen.  Until then, thank you dear readers for stopping by.  I hope you have one fantastic week!

Psalms 71:9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
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Blessings,

My Signature

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My Kitchen 030

Shabby Kitchen Table . . . You’ve Stolen my Heart!

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My Shabby Kitchen Table has been used in many a photo shoot here at Old Things New, but I don’t believe she’s ever had her very own feature!  I guess it’s about time since this was one of the first pieces I ever painted with chalk paint.

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 006She is a great table with lovely legs!

Antique table before I recognized her potential right away even when I first found her painted gold and sealed with grime!

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 011I was so excited to bring her home and give her a fresh new look.

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 005The best thing about this dining table is that she easily goes from being a table for four . . .

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 001. . . to a table for six, simply by pulling up the built in leaf!

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 004 It is always so hard to find a place to store table leaves when they aren’t in use.  I think whoever came up with this idea was simply brilliant!

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 016This was another paint project that was done by layering and mixing different colors of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint . . .

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 007. . . then distressing with a damp cloth before the paint dried completely . . .

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 020. . . and distressing a little more with a sanding sponge before sealing with wax.

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Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 013I was so pleased with the way the layered colors came out and the soft sheen of the wax.

Vintage Kitchen Table (fold-in leaf) 022I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this little dining table and she has been perfect for our lake house.  Since we’re moving cross country though, and need to lighten our load, she was sold at our flash garage sale last weekend.  Note: We’ve found that cross country moving expenses are unbelievably high and I’m sad that I’ve had to part with quite a bit of furniture. The upside is that I will be doing a lot of thrifting and antiquing once we get to our new home.  Plenty of future material for Old Things New!

It feels sorta funny (if funny qualifies as a feeling) to let go of this shabby kitchen table.  I think even more so because as I look at this table I remember the many faces that have sat around it over the past several years.  Parents, children, sisters and brothers, friends both old and new, my dear crafting buddies, some amazing pastors and leaders, Freedom Session facilitators and even many of our FS participants, who have poured out their hearts right here at this table.

Wow . . . I don’t think there is a single piece of furniture that holds my heart quite as strongly as my shabby little kitchen table.  I can only hope and pray that her new family will create as many fond memories around this table as we have.

Blessings,

My Signature-001

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Kitchen Makeover Part 4 – Shopping Secrets Revealed!

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1-1-Kitchen After 001-001At long last, here is the final post in a four-part series on my Budget Kitchen Makeover.  Today I’ll share my shopping secrets and reveal the GRAND TOTAL spent for my new kitchen.  You can view PART ONE my Budget Kitchen Makeover With Sparkle (with the UNBELIEVABLE “before” pictures)  PART TWO  Adding Substance to a Boxy Kitchen Island and PART 3 Paint and Waxing Kitchen Cabinets by clicking on the links. This is a LONG post, so let’s get started.

First, a review of what I changed in my kitchen:

Counter tops

Back splash

Decorative back splash over the stove

Painted cabinets

Cabinet hardware

Painted kitchen island

Addition of legs and corbels to kitchen island

Appliances

Light Fixtures

Kitchen Faucet

Paint

For years I’ve been addicted to enjoyed watching HGTV makeovers, especially kitchen makeovers.  What has been daunting to me is the budgets they have to work with, often running $50,000 and above!  That is a lot of money for someone like me, who would rather find something old and make it new than go into debt for anything!

So I started off by doing two things.  Number one, a lot of research . . .  online, walking through home improvement stores, going to granite warehouse showrooms, attending home shows, etc.  Number two, waiting patiently for the final result.  My kitchen makeover didn’t happen overnight while we were off enjoying ourselves at a fancy Spa Resort.  It happened over the course of almost two years, one phase at a time, as time and money allowed.

In this post I will share with you the simple things we did to save money on this DIY project.

Countertops:

12-Kitchen after remodel 043It’s very simple, if you can cut out the middleman you will save a LOT of money.  Home improvement stores have sample counter top materials on hand for you to choose from (in our case granite).  You tell them what you want and they send someone out to install it.  Other large kitchen and bath type stores may send you to a big granite showroom where you are able to pick out your own slab.  This can be fun but it still involves a middle man and added costs.

This is where my online research came in.  I started researching smaller companies that carried their own stock, fabricated the counter tops on site and also took care of the installation. The company we chose was a local, family run business (Intown Granite) where we were treated well and got to know the people who would do our job.  We were taken right into the shop where the fabrication was taking place and saw the jobs they were working on.  This is where I fell in love with my particular piece of granite, Glacier White.  It was a $450 upgrade from what I originally planned on purchasing but not so bad since I still saved over $1000 on counter top material.  We placed the order, the job was scheduled for the next week, Mr. OTN and I did the demo ourselves and the whole job was completed in one day.  They even threw in a new sink!  Grand total for granite, including installation $2900.00.

Since this was the most important part of our purchase, and the most expensive, the following are some tips on,

What to Look For in a Granite Fabricator: source

1.  How many years have they been in business?  A contractor just starting out is a risk even if they’ve been working in the granite business for someone else.

2. Does the contractor perform both fabrication and installation?  Having the same company responsible from start to finish is critical to getting a problem free installation.

 3. Is the contractor willing to take the time to educate you about natural stone and granite counter tops? Someone who knows the business well should enjoy imparting knowledge on you.

 4. Does the contractor have a facility with an inventory of stone (preferably indoors out of the weather)? A showroom with examples of their work is also good.

 5. Is the contractor knowledgeable about proper stone care?  Google Granite Care to see what they should already know.

 6. Does the contractor do quality work?  Get a list of references and call them.

 7. Does the contractor offer any kind of warranty?

8. Can you tour their warehouse and fabrication area?

 9. Will the contractor negotiate with you on price?  Compare prices from two or more granite fabricators. Pick a contractor you want to do business with and ask them for their best price. Granite counter tops are a big investment so take the time to make a wise decision.

 10.  Determine the quality of their work.  Take someone with you if you aren’t sure how to judge this on your own.

11.  Finally, choose the fabrication contractor that you feel most comfortable with.

BACK SPLASH:

4-Kitchen After 009After shopping local showrooms I ended up online looking at the same products I saw in the stores.  I love the look of white marble, especially the way it sparkles in mosaic form.  I would’ve loved marble counter tops except for the fact that they aren’t as easy to care for as granite and have a tendency to spot when exposed to acidic foods.  Marble has been great for my back splash though as it doesn’t have food prepared directly on it and boy, did I get a great deal!  I found my back splash material at the TileStoreOnline.  I purchased  3/4″ x 3/4″ White Cararra Mosaic – Polished Venatino select Italian tile.  The list price in stores was $24 per sheet, their price $14.99, sale price $9.99!  I love that mosaic tiles are easy to install as they come mounted on a mesh sheet.  Much easier (to me) than having to use spacers.  The trim pieces I used around my back splash and around the mosaic over my stove also came from the same source.  Grand total for back splash, just under $400.00

DECORATIVE BACK SPLASH:

02-Kitchen after remodel 004I wanted something really special over the top of my range but couldn’t seem to find the right thing . . . until I came across Susan Jablon Mosaics.   I was delighted when I found this website where I could create my own custom backsplash.  Susan Jablon Mosaics are fantastic!  It is a family business run by artists in an upstate New York studio.  All of their products are of the highest quality materials.  I had such fun customizing my own “blends”, in different colors and materials, to create something unique! I love the color and texture of my decorative back splash and couldn’t be happier with the finished result.  Was it expensive?  It probably would’ve been expensive to do an entire kitchen back splash this way but it wasn’t too much for the area above my stove.  In the end, at roughly $300.00, it was still less expensive than many of the decorative back splashes I saw and a LOT more special because I was able to design it myself!

Even if you aren’t in the market for a decorative back splash you should go check out this website and play around with the “Build a Blend” button.  LOVE this!

PAINTED CABINETS:

8-Kitchen Cabs 008Though some have commented that they loved my cabinets just the way they were they were a lot more worn than you could see in the before pictures.  Sanding and re-staining was not an option to me.  Too much dust and too much work.  Purchasing all new cabinets wasn’t an option either so I lived with the way they were until I decided to tackle them with chalk paint.  I had done a lot of furniture pieces with chalk paint so I knew that it would work.  It was sort of daunting to think about doing my entire kitchen though and I wasn’t sure if I would like it.  Well, I DO like it and I’m so happy I took the risk.  Instead of thousands of dollars for new cabinets or hiring a professional to come in and refinish them for me, I did it myself with about two quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Old White) and a partial can of soft wax.  Under $100.00 for the entire job.  You can read my complete tutorial for Painting and Waxing Kitchen Cabinets in Part Three of this series.

CABINET HARDWARE:

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Here we go again, after checking out local stores to get an idea of pricing I was off to do some more online shopping.  I wanted oil rubbed bronze cup pulls to go with my Farmhouse Glam style.  The price range for these is HUGE and I’m not really sure why.  I found the ones I wanted at The Hardware Hut. I chose hardware on the less expensive end because I liked the style and I couldn’t see much difference between them and some of the very expensive styles I’d seen at my local hardware store.  When they arrived I was quite pleased with their appearance and solidness.  They’ve held up well and still look brand new!  I chose the Rusticware 3″ Bin Pulls (RUS-945ORB) and the price was $3.73 each.  Total paid for hardware was $140.00 including tax and a small shipping fee.  Check it out!  This is an incredible price for cabinet hardware.

PAINTED KITCHEN ISLAND WITH ADDED LEGS AND CORBELS:

08-Kitchen after remodel 03009-Kitchen after remodel 032I painted my kitchen island with leftover Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Graphite.  My island was pretty boxy and boring so I decided to add some character with the addition of legs and corbels.  The best source I found for these was Osborne Wood, a company out of Taccoa, Georgia.  I’m looking forward to actually going to Osborne Wood’s showroom sometime soon as we will be living a little over an hour away when we move to Greenville.  Legs and corbels range in price depending upon the type of wood used.   I chose the least expensive, box maple, since I knew I would be painting them anyway.  This beautiful addition to my kitchen island cost roughly $250 .  You can view the tutorial in Part Two of my kitchen makeover, Adding Substance to a Boxy Kitchen Island.

KITCHEN APPLIANCES:

10-Kitchen after remodel 037Another great deal I found was on my GE Signature Cafe Range.  When we went shopping for a range at our local home improvement store they showed us this range in the catalog.  It wasn’t one they would be carrying on the floor but could be ordered for delivery in two months!  Back online to check out other options.  I found Park Avenue Appliance a company out of New Jersey.  They carried the range I wanted for about $100 less.  The big savings came though by not having to pay sales tax outside of New Jersey and I was able to negotiate free shipping .  Total spent $2550.00, a savings of over $300.00!  The people at this family owned business were pleasant to work with and my new range arrived safely and in perfect condition.

Note regarding other appliances:  My stainless steel refrigerator is 9 years old, a replacement for a black one that failed and the beginning of my stainless steel makeover, but not part of the kitchen remodel.  The Bosch dishwasher is newer, and also a replacement for one that failed.  Unfortunately I hadn’t found Park Avenue Appliance when I bought my Bosch.  Looking it up online now I find that it is less expensive than what I paid locally and I could have saved on the sales tax.  Cost $800.00.

LIGHT FIXTURES:

24-Kitchen after remodel 080The two new pendants over the kitchen island came from The Pottery Barn.  I chose the mercury glass Whitney fluted pendant with the bronze finish.  These were $99.00 each on sale and with shipping came to $219.00.

KITCHEN FAUCET:

5-Kitchen After 011Moen Anabelle Mediterranean Bronze faucet from Lowe’s. Price $260.00.

PAINT:

You can’t do a remodel without a fresh coat of paint.  I used Lowe’s Valspar paint in the color Field of Pines (5004-4A).  Rounding up the cost for paint was roughly $35.00.

So . . .  working on one section of our kitchen at a time we ended up spending LESS THAN $8000.00 for our complete Budget Kitchen Makeover, including taxes and shipping costs.  I’ve actually rounded up all figures to come to this grand total.  No $50,000+ budget for this Old Things New gal!

I’m delighted with every aspect of this kitchen remodel and was actually a little surprised myself at how little it cost to do the whole thing!  Though I didn’t shop locally for some of my materials I did support several small, family run businesses through my online purchases.  Kitchen and bath remodels will give you the best most return for your money when you go to sell your home.  They will also help you to sell your home quicker.  Believe me, I’m searching daily for a new home and the thing that is most important to both Mr. OTN and myself is what the kitchen looks like.  Is it gorgeous?  If it isn’t in such good shape is there potential for remodel?

Are you thinking of doing a kitchen remodel of your own?  I want to encourage you to GO FOR IT!  There is something so rewarding about being able to say, “I did it myself”.

Blessings,

My Signature-001P.S.  No advertising fees were received from companies mentioned in this post. 

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Painting and Waxing Kitchen Cabinets – A Tutorial Part 3

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CAUTION:  This may be the most boring post I’ve ever written!  It is hard to do any creative writing when giving a long, drawn out tutorial so let’s just get to it!

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There are so MANY great tutorials for Painting and Waxing Kitchen Cabinets and I’ve benefited greatly from them myself.  Today I’ll share my personal cabinet painting experience which may differ just a bit from others you’ve seen or read.   After a lot of ups and downs, trials and errors, I’ve settled into a flow when it comes to chalk painting so I’ll attempt to share that with you.  I say “attempt” because it is awfully hard to explain in words the very visual process of painting.

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PAINTING WITH CHALK PAINT:

The painting step is the fun part and I think it’s pretty hard to mess it up, though I know from experience that not everyone can paint  (LOL!  You know who you are)!  So here we go, step-by-step.

1.  Wipe down cabinets to remove any chunks of dirt or cobwebs.  In MOST cases no other prepping, sanding, or de-glossing is needed.  Here are the exceptions I’ve found:  Cabinets with a red color (like red mahogany) or cabinets with knots (like knotty pine).  In these cases I recommend sealing the cabinets (or the knots only in the knotty pine) with a product like Zinsser B-I-N Shellac-Base Primer to prevent bleed-through.  Though some chalk paint retailers say this isn’t necessary I have learned from experience that sometimes there is BLEED THROUGH which can continue to occur even after a couple of years.  That said, I did NOT prime my red mahogany kitchen cabinets as they had a really good finish over the stain.  I was feeling lucky and took the risk and I’ve had no bleed-through.

2.  Cabinet doors can be taken off or left on for painting.  The benefit of taking them off is that you won’t have to worry about painting so carefully around your hardware.  The downside of taking them off is that you will have to rehang them and it can be tricky to get them straight.  Not impossible, just tricky.  I chose to leave my cabinet doors in place.

3.  If you are taking down your doors use masking tape to number your doors to correspond to the cabinets they belong to.

4.  Place hardware inside the cabinet it corresponds to.

5.  Begin brushing on the paint.  I’ve never invested in expensive Chalk Paint brushes for painting (waxing is a different story) but use a mid-priced paint brush with acrylic bristles.

6.  Paint in long smooth strokes, blending each new stroke into the edges of the last.  I wish I had a picture for this but the main idea is to start your new stroke in the still wet paint of the last stroke to keep it looking even.

7.  Paint two to three light coats rather than one very thick one.

NOTE:  If paint is too thick, thin with a little water.

Chalk paint dries very quickly and you can begin subsequent coats within an hour or less, as soon as it is dry to the touch.

Don’t worry too much about brush marks.  Chalk paint creates a unique type of finish so don’t expect to achieve a “manufactured cabinet” look.  If the finish has too many brush marks for your taste you can always lightly sand it back before sealing.  The wax used to seal the paint also tends to fill in the brush strokes somewhat.

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8.  Distress cabinets (if desired) in the places where they would wear naturally over time.  Some people prefer to distress after waxing but I prefer to do it before so my sanding block doesn’t get all “gummed” up.  Distress as little or as much as you’d like.

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9.  Add a different color to nooks and crevices, if desired, to give your cabinet a bit of an antiqued look.  Brush it on and then wipe off the excess.  I used Annie Sloan French Linen on my cabinets to match the grayish veins in my granite and marble backsplash.

3-Kitchen Cabs 003Notice the nice Seahawk nails here . . . along with a few age spots!

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If the raw wood shows through and you don’t like how it looks, you can stain it with a MinWax wood touch up pen.

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SEALING WITH SOFT WAX:

This part is trickier and some prefer to use a different type of protective finish, such as polycrylic.  Both have their upsides and downsides.  Polycrylic can yellow over time and it tends to leave drip marks if you’re not very careful.  Both methods will require multiple coats on cabinets.  Since my cabinets were painted with Old White I didn’t want to risk yellowing.

Practice is the key to learning the technique of waxing.  My advice is to try waxing a small piece of furniture or even a single cabinet before tackling your entire kitchen.

1.  Vacuum the area you will be waxing in first – This helps to avoid stray pet hairs or other dirt from “floating” into the wax.

2.  Remove the dust caused by distressing by vacuuming your cabinets or wiping them down with a damp tack rag.

3.  Remove a “dollop” of wax from the can and put it on a paper plate.

4.  Gently push your waxing brush into the wax to lightly coat the ends of the bristles.  Blot off excess on a clean portion of your paper plate.  NOTE:  I DO like to spend the extra money for a good waxing brush.  I have an Annie Sloan waxing brush and it is great!  It conserves on wax used and helps in getting wax into all of the crevices nicely.

5.  Wax a small section at a time (I did one cabinet front at a time), rubbing it into the wood in a circular motion.  Apply a good amount of pressure to the application, almost like you’re trying to work it into the grain of the wood.

NOTE:  Do not apply wax too heavily or you’ll be sorry later!  Use thin . . . VERY thin coats of wax!!!

SECOND NOTE:  As you add wax you will see the color of your cabinets deepening slightly.  This will lighten up again as it dries.

6.  After you’ve waxed a small portion of cabinet wipe off the excess wax.  I like to use old T-shirts for this step.  I used white for my Old White cabinets and a dark T-shirt on the Graphite colored island, just in case any lint from the colored T remained.  You can find cheap T’s at the thrift store.  I use them up and throw them away!

7.  Run your hand over the piece to make sure you’ve wiped enough of the wax away, making sure that no tackiness remains.

8.  Let wax dry overnight before buffing.  ASCP says 24 hours but it depends on a lot of conditions such as heat and humidity.  On a dry summer day I’ve actually buffed within just a few hours.

9. Begin buffing at a slow speed to warm up the wax slightly.  My theory is that this actually softens the wax a bit and gives you a better result. For a big job, like cabinets, I highly recommend using an electric buffer.  These can be found at auto stores, aren’t too costly, and are SO worth the investment!  An electric buffer will give quickly give your cabinets a nice sheen that you just can’t get by hand buffing alone.

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Once you’ve warmed things up increase and keep your buffer at MEDIUM speed (about a 2+ on a scale of 1-5).  If you use too high a speed you may find that your buffer spins out of control, leaving funky circular patterns on your cabinets.  More personal experience speaking!

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Repeat waxing, wiping and buffing steps two more times.  Two to three coats of wax on cabinets is the ideal as they will get more wear than a regular piece of furniture.  I did three on those I use the most and two on the cabinets above the refrigerator and other, less used spaces.

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If you desire a deeper color for your cabinets you can use dark wax to achieve this.  When I use dark wax I always apply a coat of soft wax first as it is easier to wipe away excess with the soft wax underneath.  If you find that the dark wax is still too dark you can use more soft wax over it and this will act as an “eraser” to remove as much of the dark wax as you’d like.  Another way to do this is to mix a little dark wax into the soft wax and apply it that way.

SPECIAL TIPS:

*Keep your buffing pad clean and soft by keeping it in a gallon sized Ziplock bag between uses.  Or, if you are going to take a long break between uses you can hand wash it with soap and water and allow it to air dry.  I ended up using two pads for my entire kitchen.

*If you notice little “fuzzies” in your wax, gently pull them off.  If wax cures with “fuzzies” in the finish they will remain a part of your cabinets forever, a testament to your hairy house!

*If you are noticing a lot of fuzz from your buffing pad your wax may be too thick (my experience).  Gently sand off or use little Mineral Spirits on a cloth to wipe off excess wax, then try buffing again.

*I found that buffing my lower cabinets first was best so that they were smooth and not as likely to attract the particles that tend to fall when waxing.  I’m not sure what these mysterious particles are but they do occur!

*Buffing inside your cabinets is OPTIONAL!

*Soft wax take a few weeks to cure completely but once it has cured it provides a very hard and very durable finish.  I also think it creates a more beautiful sheen than the polycrylic finishes.

POTENTIAL (but easily corrected) PROBLEMS WITH WAXING:

If you see areas of dullness after waxing I’ve found two things that this can be:

1.  Wax is too thick.  It will feel slightly tacky, not smooth.  Correction:  Use a little mineral spirits  to remove the excess, then try buffing the area again.  Don’t worry if you accidentally remove too much wax as you can always add a little more back and re-buff.

2.  Wax is too thin.  It will feel like unwaxed chalk paint when you rub your hand across it and it will also appear lighter in color than the areas around it.  This is likely an area you missed with the wax.  Correction:  Add wax to the area, wipe off excess, wait 24 hours and buff again.

MAINTENANCE OF CABINETS:

*Wipe down spills and splashes with a damp cloth.

*If you happen to get a stain . . . like from blending a smoothie too exuberantly and not wiping off the berries right away . . . you can use a cleaner on the area or even sand the stain off and reapply a little paint and wax to the area.

*I like to add additional protective coating every 12-18 months.  Rather than doing the whole re-waxing, wiping, buffing process though, I use liquid beeswax (a product I love is Skidmore’s).  It is easy to wipe on, let dry and wipe or buff off.  The buffing on this product is easy to do my hand or with a buffer.

One last NOTE is about clean up.  For Chalk Paint, I wash my brushes with dish detergent and water.  The wax can be a little harder to clean up so sometimes I’ll soak it in a little olive oil before washing with soap.  This has the added benefit of conditioning the bristles.  I’ve also heard that Murphy’s Oil Soap is a good product to use and it probably has the same benefit as olive oil and soap. 

That, my friends, is my painting/waxing experience in a nutshell.  If you have any questions about anything or if there is something I haven’t covered please let me know.

This is PART THREE in a four part series.  PART ONE was my Budget Kitchen Makeover With Sparkle

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and PART TWO was Adding Substance to a Boxy Kitchen Island.

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Please check out those links if you haven’t already.  PART FOUR of the series will be shopping for my kitchen makeover, the great deals I found, the colors I used, etc.

One last NOTE:  Though I wish I were being paid to promote all of the products mentioned in this blog post I’m not!  SO . . . free advertising for all!

Blessings,

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I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
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