Blue Over Brown - A Wax-Distressed Sidetable

My creativity is running low tonight - I couldn't come up with a better name for this piece other than Blue Over Brown. I think it's because I'm writing my post out of order. I usually edit my pictures first, copy them into the post, and then write. That way, I can look at them and know what I'm writing about. But, my trusty eye for editing pictures is out walking the dogs.

As usual, I forgot to take a true before picture. This was your standard wooden piece, with a glossy finish. It was a bargain at goodwill, because the drawer slide wasn't attached on the front end. I'm pretty sure they would have sold it for twice as much or more, had the drawer slide been in place. All I did was tack it down with a finishing nail and it was as good as new.

So, my first before picture is the brown base coat. I mixed Valspar (a brown color and I painted over the label for some reason and I can't find my sample card, so I can't tell you the name) with Zinnser Oil Based Primer. After letting that dry for about 2 hours and sanding it, I painted back over it with just the latex paint (no primer mixed in). This helped deepen the brown color since it was mixed with white previously which made it more creamy.

Next, I grabbed a candle from the Dollar Store and sliced out the wax with a knife. I've never tried the wax distressing technique, but I've read about it so much I had to try it! Honestly, I couldn't see where the wax was on the piece since it was clear and the paint was already kind of shiny. I just went with it, though and waxed to my hearts desire.

Then, came the coat of blue. (Valspar - Beach House  WV37008).  I used the dry brush technique, as I did on the Picket Fence and 30 Minute Chair. For this, you get a small tiny tiny amount of paint on the brush (you want your brush to stay dry, not be wet with paint). Move over the piece quickly, you can repeat over areas if you need to.

Paint dries quickly using this techniques, so I was able to take a rag and wipe off the wax almost immediately. I love the wax technique, I think the distressing looks pretty natural. I may have over distressed. Also, there were a few places that definitely looked like a finger had run across it. So, to fix the places that I didn't like where brown was showing, I dry brushed the blue back over.

I wasn't done there though. I wanted to give a shot at the painted drawers too, so after debating between the same blue or white, I painted the inside and outside of the drawer white. Mistake, it looked terrible. I painted back over the outside in the Beach House Blue, left the inside white, and the look was complete.

Final step, was to coat the piece in waterbased polycrylic. 

Recap
Primer - Zinnser Oil Based mixed with Brown Latex Paint
Base Coat - The Brown Latex Paint without Primer
Top Coat - Valspar Beach House (WV37008)
Distressing Technique - Candle Wax
Protective Coat - Minwax Waterbased Polycrylic 

Sharing at:
youaretalkingtoomuch.com 
Miss Mustard Seed 
savvysouthernstyle