I once posed a question on this blog. Should I paint these corner cabinets? There were people in both camps. It was quite a comment thread to read through. What some figured out is that I already knew the answer to the question. I wanted to paint them...I just wanted a 2nd (or 80th) opinion.
The truth is, I wanted to paint these cabinets the minute my aunt and uncle gave them to me. I just pictured them painted, but struggled with the age old debate about painting really nice wood.
Ultimately, I followed my gut and threw out conventional wisdom about not painting nice wood pieces. I put that conventional thinking in the "dark colors make rooms feel smaller" or the "blue and green should never be seen" camp.
(Boy, I really need a rug in this room! And yes, I allow my kids to ride scooters in the house.)
Getting my no-primer-required chalk paint pushed me over the edge and I painted them. The cabinets are now just how I envisioned they would be.
The exterior is painted in two coats of Louis Blue with Old White accents, then distressed. I applied a coat of clear wax, followed by a coat of dark brown wax.
The interior is painted in two coats of old white and lightly distressed on the edges. I didn't wax the interior at all and it's surprising how well the paint has held up so far. Latex would've scratched when I was loading the contents into the cabinet or the first time I opened the door.
I love how the dark glaze gives the finish a worn look.
...and this paint distresses so well! I painted a new piece tonight and snapped pictures to share the paint in action. I'm also going to make some video tutorials on some of my finishing techniques.
I've had a lot of questions on the colors on my buffet, so I thought I would share. I painted the entire piece in Louis Blue and then painted the body in Old White, leaving the drawers and inset panels blue. The top was stained in Dark Walnut by Minwax. I distressed the piece and then applied a coat of clear wax followed by a little bit of dark wax to bring out the imperfections of the piece.
If you're interested in trying chalk paint, you can buy it from one of the stockists listed in my chalk paint post. There's also some great information in the comments, so check those out as well.
