Living room redo with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Living room redo with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Everywhere the light touches, I have painted.

At least in my living room anyway.

My living room used to be a dark, chocolate brown on the walls with dark, equally brown leather couches. I had two Ikea bookcases in, you guessed it, brown, and a coffee table that also favored the brown family. I don’t spend a lot of time considering why I had SO MUCH brown. I’m sure Freud would have a field day with me.

For starters, I painted the entire living room in Benjamin Moore Ranchwood. Yes, it’s still considered a neutral, but it made everything look less like a tomb so I was happy.

First project?

Refinish Ikea Coffee Table

Here’s what I did to my old Ikea coffee table:

• Painted it Annie Sloan pure white
• Once I had completely covered it and let it dry, I took my power sander and blasted off the edges so it looked distressed
• I took some chocolate brown (yes, I had some leftovers) and tinted a bit of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. Once it was tinted, I streaked it across the top of the coffee table, buffing as I went.
• After the top looked sufficiently ‘antiqued’, I coated it three times with clear wax.

Viola! A new and, I like to think, beautiful coffee table.

Second project

Refinish Ikea Bookcases

These were easier than the coffee table, just because they don’t have as many nooks and crannies. Here’s what I did:

• Painted the entire bookcase in Annie Sloan Pure White.
• Distressed the edges with a power sander
• Coated with Annie Sloan Clear Wax
• Done!

I love them! I’ve had these for 8 years, so it’s nice that I was able to keep them.

While I was refinishing the bookcases, I decided to take a few of the wooden boxes I had and paint them turquoise. In my visits to Home Sense (Home Goods for those of you blessed to live in the USA), I’ve discovered that turquoise is a hot, hot color this year. I’m not the Mayor of Home Sense on 4Square for nothing, so I decided to bring this color home with me and paint some of my brown (oh I know, it’s ridiculous) boxes turquoise blue. I love how they bring brightness to the shelves where before there was just my husband’s sunglasses and electronic cords.

Last, but not least:

Refinish fireplace with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Even the tile isn’t safe when I’m tearing up the living room. My dark brown fireplace was driving me crazy, and it’s hard to figure out what to put on the built-in shelf. Here’s what I did:

• Painted the entire fireplace with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in pure white
• Painted the tile surrounding the fireplace with Annie Sloan Paris grey. It went on like a dream.
• Took some of Martha Stewart’s stencils and added some designs to a few of the tiles with a mix of Annie Sloan Paris grey and some Martha Stewart color that looked like hammered tin.
• Covered the entire thing in Annie Sloan Clear Wax tinted grey with Paris Grey Chalk Paint.
• Done!

  

I love this fireplace, and now I just need to find stuff to put up there besides a lonely mirror and my little guy’s Spiderman chalkboard drawing.
Shelly Wutke