Before & After- A Bathroom Shelf

I can finally say that I have successfully tried Annie Sloan Chalk Paint......and I am now a firm believer in it. I have been curious about the paint for a long time, ever since I saw it all over the blog world and Pinterest. I held off trying it for so long because it was so expensive and I didn't want to spend that much on paint and not know how to properly use it. I found a darling boutique within 20 miles of my house last week and I heard they sold Annie Sloan so I had to go check them out. I talked to the lady that worked there for 15 minutes about how it works. She showed me different projects she had done with it and gave me some ideas. I ended up leaving there with a can of paint in the color Arles and a can of clear wax. It was not cheap and I immediately regretted my decision. Since I spent so much on it, I decided to do a ton of research first. I read blog after blog and finally felt secure enough to test it out.

source:http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2012/05/our-yellow-door-and-annie-sloan-chalk.html

 

I was told that this paint required no sanding, priming, stripping, etc. and it could pretty much cover any surface in 1-2 coats. I painted a shelf that looked like wood, but it was actually that fake plastic wood. I was worried how it would cover and work on that type of surface. I'll be honest, I did have to use 4 coats of paint, but I did not do any prep work and that was worth it to me! It dries super fast so I did two coats back to back and then did the other two coats the following day. After all the painting was done, I let that sit for about an hour and then I went over it with the clear wax. After the clear wax, I distressed it with 100 grit sandpaper. Then, I went over it again with another coat of wax. Sounds like a lot of work, but it was really easy. It did take a few days though. I am super impressed with the way it turned out. You cannot tell that the shelf isn't made of real wood and it has a smooth, finished feel to it.

 

I only used about 1/4 of my can of paint so I will get a lot for my money. I also used only a tiny bit of the wax. A little goes a looooonnnngggg way. Now I want to get every color of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and go to town on every unfinished piece of furniture in my house.

 

I bought the shelf at a friend's garage sale a few years back. Thanks Lydia for having a fabulous garage sale and providing me with furniture for my house!

Here it is before:

 

 And after:

 I got the apothecary jars from TJMAXX for $5.99 a piece. I'm trying to find two more baskets that match the one on the middle shelf to put the toilet paper in.

 You can kind of see the distressing that I did on the ends of the shelf and the legs.

This shelf is great because we don't have a lot of storage space in our bathroom so it is very functional and it adds a pop of color! I have a few more things left to put on the walls and then I'll share the entire bathroom re-do.