Furniture Rehab: Painting Over Varnished Wood

So here is my first ever furniture rehab project ever!  It was so fun and easy and I can't believe I waited this long to rehab something.  I think it was all the sanding, priming and painting I had heard about that was freaking me out.  Does that freak you out too?  Ugh, I just hate sanding.  Maybe because my dad made us wake up at the crack of dawn on the weekends to sand all of our basement doors when we finished our basement when I was in high school.  Definitely not high on the list of things I wanted to be doing on a Saturday morning :-)

Just look at this sweet little vintage children's bench.  Can you imagine having to sand all those spindles?  

Not cool.  

I bought this little bench at a local thrift shop for only $6, a total bargain.  But it looked like this when I bought it...

So much potential yet it seemed like too much work having to sand and prime all that varnish off of it (especially being pregnant) so I literally sat on it for over a month trying to figure out what I needed to do, at least I know it's a comfy seat!  

I finally talked to the lovely ladies over at the most adorable vintage treasures shop called Tattered Tiques and they helped me see the light.  The light being the combination of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and beeswax.  They held my hand (and played with my children!) while they walked me through what I needed to do to re-paint a varnished piece of furniture.  Ahhh, sweetness.

{Blerg!  Look at that icky varnish}

{Ahh, love!  Pretty vintage goodness!}

So just in case you might be in the same boat as me...scared of having to sand, prime, and then paint lots of nooks and crannies on a piece of cute furniture...I thought I would share what I did and how it worked for me.  It was actually really super easy and took me less than 5 hours from start to finish, yahoo!

First off, I bought some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).  Yes, this little can is quite a bit more expensive than your regular 'ol paint from Home Depot and Lowes BUT it cuts out so many steps in a furniture rehab project that involves varnish or laminate and to me, that is sooo worth the expense.  I didn't want to have to spend hours on end in my garage with a protective breathing mask on dealing with sanding, etc.  Plus, I barely used any of this paint for this project (and I used two coats!) which means I have plenty left for other fun projects I have up my sleeves :-)  I also heard this paint has great coverage for painting over cement, brick, stone, etc and although I have never tried it on those surfaces I wouldn't doubt it, this stuff literally rocks my socks off. 

Here is my wee little bench after one coat of chalk paint.  I just wiped the bench clean with a damp cloth and then painted the chalk paint right on top, no prep work!  You can still see the varnished bench underneath one coat of paint, and from what the ladies over at Tattered Tiques told me this is normal.  Usually laminate or varnished wood needs two layers of ASCP.  The first to adhere to the icky stuff and the second coat for coverage.  

Oh, make sure you cover your work surface before you start!  I am not the neatest painter on the block so for me this is must.  I just put a huge piece of foam board down first...it's my spray painting ground cover...and placed my bench on top of that.  Good thing I did, right?  Mr. Smashed Peas would not have been the happiest camper if he had seen I made this mess on top of our outdoor table :-)

I let the paint dry for about an hour and then I applied a second coat.  See the coverage now?  Muuuuch better!  Actually, it's perfect!

Then I waited two hours for the paint to completely dry and rubbed in some Beeswax.  Yup, weird I know.  I didn't even know you could buy this stuff but you can.  I bought mine at Home Depot.  You could buy the Annie Sloan wax but I was told that this was just as good and oh so much cheaper which it totally was!

I just squirted some on the bench, a little at a time, and wiped it on using long strokes with an old, soft t-shirt.  You want to go slowly and use it sparingly because if you use to much it is going to be really hard to wipe off.  Once the bench was completely covered in beeswax I let it cure for about 45 minutes.  You can see my t-shirt left little bits of lint all over the chair.  No worries, you will just wipe them off later!  

After 45 minutes, I came back with my old t-shirt and rubbed it in using a circular motion.  After it was all rubbed in I let it cure for about a day and there you have it!  Easy peasy furniture rehab!

As soon as it was done I put the bench in our front room and would't you know it but my kids were like magnets to it.  They loved the new and improved bench and would sit (and stand) on it with their dirty summer sandal feet.  I about had a heart attack after I saw all the little black footprints.  But, amazingly I just used a damp cloth and wiped it all away with no problems at all.  The paint still looks great to this day.  I may go back and 'rough' it up a bit with some fine grade sandpaper but for now I like the clean look of it.  What do you think?

So the end all be all for me is that I love me some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, yup, LOVE!  I just think this stuff is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Go get some today, there are tons of amazing colors and so many furniture rehab possibilities with it!  I'm currently eyeing the French Linen and Versailles colors...so pretty!

By the way, this is not a sponsored post just my true feelings about an amazing product!  Although I will gladly accept any ASCP sent my way :-)  

Thanks for stopping by and reading today!

XOXO,