Chalk Paint Chair DIY

So I am continuing to add some red to our living and dining rooms. Here is the next addition to the new red color story going on in our house. I bought a pair of these chairs about 15 years ago when we lived in Philadelphia.  They have just been collecting dust in our basement for the last few years.  They used to be black.

 I covered the black paint with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint pure white.

 Second coat was chalk paint from Walmart ($7.98).  The color is Imperial. If you’ve purchased chalk paint before you’ll know what a great deal that is!

 I did it very quickly, not worrying about getting a smooth even coat.

 Then I took some sandpaper and “distressed” it.  Distressing is just sanding off parts where it would have naturally worn off over time. I used 100 sandpaper which is a medium grit. If you don’t like this sloppy look , just make sure that your top coat of paint is even strokes.  

 The arms are a place that would get a lot of wear over the years, so I sanded there too.  Annie Sloan suggests using a coat of paste wax before you distress, but I think it distresses easier if you sand before you wax it.

 I sanded the legs and also the rugs and any other place I thought would get natural wear over the years.  The idea is to make the areas that you distress not look deliberate, but look like it happened naturally over time.  When I was finished I gave it a coat of paste wax. 

 The final step was to recover the chair seat.  Sorry I didn’t think to take any photos of how to do it.  Just google it, if you need some instructions. All you need is a staple gun, screwdriver to remove the seat, and fabric to cover it.

Right now the walls in our dining room are a pale yellow. The red chairs are going in there and I have a red chandelier that will replace the white one. I’m thinking of painting the top half of the walls navy blue. If I don’t like it, it’s only paint…  

I didn’t mention this to my husband yet.  I wonder what he’ll think when he reads this post!

Thanks for stopping by. Got time for a cup of tea?  I’ve got my red and white tea set all ready!

Rhondi xo

What to Do With Old Buttons: Make Button Heart

Here  in North Carolina people panic when there is a forecast of snow.  Yesterday when it started to snow I decided just to stay inside like a native Southerner.  I made some soup and some brownies and got some extra firewood ready to “ride out the storm” and I decided to do a little project.

Valentines Day is approaching.  I don’t decorate for Valentines day, but I love hearts, so this is sort of a Valentine’s Day post.

  I have always loved the shape of a heart.  I also like buttons and always buy some if I find them at garage sales.  I have lots of button ideas on my Pinterest pages and this idea for the button heart came from there.

 I had a photo in this lovely frame.  So I removed the glass and covered the cardboard back with some  pinstripe fabric that came from an old sheet.  I just taped it on the back.  Then I lightly painted the frame with Annie Sloan pure white, leaving some of the original color to show through

 I drew the shape of a heart on a piece of white paper and then hot glued the buttons on it.  When I finished I glued the heart to the pinstripe back.  There are so many online instructions for this  that I’m not going to give you a step by step tutorial.  You can google it 

    Here is the finished button heart.  At first I was going to put it on the mantle in our living room.  It looked good there.

            But as I usually do when I have something new, I walked around the house trying it in different places.

I decided I liked it best on the desk beside my bed, next to the little cherub which was already there.  As I am writing this, I just realized that without even thinking I just made a Valentines Day vignette: hearts and cherubs!

    I am always on the lookout for heart shape stones and I put the few I have in a dish in front of the heart.

                     Here is a close up.  if you ever see a heart shaped stone and don’t want it, send it to me 

My daughter and I have done several button initials as gifts.   They are so easy once you get the hang of it and are great for personalized  baby shower gifts, or a gift for the bride.  She did for me one Christmas and I have it hanging on my gallery wall in the TV room.

 Speaking of the TV rom, do you remember the button heart garland I showed you that was on the winter mantle in our TV room?   Now  that I had my  little button heart in the bedroom, I decided to bring it in there.

 I randomly draped it over the plates on the wall. I think every room in our house has plates on the wall   Maybe it looks a little corny but I like it for now.  It adds some whimsy to the room.

Because it’s white, my button heart isn’t just for Valentines Day.  It can stay around all year.  And we all need LOVE all year long, not just at Valentines Day.

**As I have been writing this post, it has started to snow again and they say so we are in for a bad storm again.  Good thing I’ve got some bread ready to put in the oven and some homemade soup for lunch.

Rhondi xo

Joining the parties at

Anything Blue Friday

Wow Us Wednesdays,

What’s It Wednesday,

Be Inspired Wednesday,

Work It Wednesday

Show and Tell Friday

Painted Furniture With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I’ve always liked the look of painted furniture and one of the things I love is bringing an old piece of furniture back to life.

I found this dresser at our local Salvation Army store.  I have been looking for something like this at garage sales thrift shops and craigslist for awhile.   Most of the furniture at the Salvation Army these days is way overpriced. So earlier this week when I was at our local SA, and saw this for $80, I grabbed it.  It has nice clean lines and I knew it was the perfect piece to use my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint  on.

Lots of nice details to distress.

                                                                     Very nice drawer pulls.

                                                                    No need to replace these.

 Here is the finished piece in our newly painted and stenciled front hall.  More about that in another post.

The top was in good condition so I left it alone and used Annie Sloan  Louis Blue on the rest.  If there is anyone reading this who still hasn’t tried this paint, you are missing a treat.  No sanding or priming!  You just slap it on.  

                                                    The details on it were perfect for distressing

 I haven’t waxed it yet but  I was anxious to see how it would look so I put all the drawer handles on and will have to take them off when I get ready to wax it!

 I am really happy about how well it turned out. Next time I’ll show you more about the stenciling in the front hall.  As soon as I get everything painted you are invited for tea.

I am joining Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

Rhondi xo

Annie Sloan Paint

Hello dear friends. I think of you as my friends even though I don't know most of you!

One of the things I love to do is find new shops that have interesting old and new items.  Recently I was on my way to an appointment and I saw  a little shop called Cottage Treasures.  There was no time to shop just then so I told myself I'd  come back when I had the chance, which was yesterday.  It is a charming  little store  on Independence Blvd on the outskirts of Charlotte.  If you go there introduce yourself to Susie, the owner and tell her I sent you!  I wish I'd thought to  take some pictures of it.   Anyhow I found this cute table.  The wood was in pretty bad condition but I loved the shape of it and with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint it doesn't really matter the condition because it covers everything.

 The color I used is Louis Blue and here is the finished table.  I haven't decided if I am going to distress it or just leave it as it is and wax the top. In the meantime, I am using it in the living room.  This wing chair needed a small table beside it and this is just the perfect size. And there is a place to store books which I like.

 When I get a paintbrush in my hand, watch  out.  Nothing is safe. Not sure where this came from but it was sitting in the basement just waiting  to be painted.

It just needed some dusting off and a coat of Louis Blue and it was ready to be used somewhere.  As is my usual routine, I carried it around the house looking for a suitable place to put it and decided to lean it against the wall in the corner of our living room  (for now at least).  I had these 3 white plates which were not being used so I hung them on it and I think they look nice against the blue background.  If I finally get around to making some curtains I will need to move it.   We've been in this house for 8 years without curtains, so it may stay there for a long time :)

In the middle of the night we heard a crash and I thought for sure one of these plates had fallen, but in the morning they were all still here.  Turns out one of my plates on the wall in the kitchen fell down.  Fortunately I had  2 of them so I still have one.

So that was my little weekend outing and project. I found another neat shop but I'll share that with you another day.  Did you do anything fun this weekend?

With rose colored glasses,

Rhondi