Creating Weathered Wood Finish with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint®

Jan 27

The most fantastic thing about using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® is that there are a million ways to use it. I read about this weathered wood technique in Annie Sloan's Color Recipes for Painted Furniture and also watched a tutorial by the amazing Christen Bensten of Blue Egg Brown Nest.

I started with this table that I got from my mother-in-law. My family always knows to check with me before they donate or throw out a piece of furniture these days. This had an oak top, so I knew it would be perfect for this treatment. You want to use a wood that is porous and has a strong grain like oak. The paint needs to be able to seep into the wood, or it won't work.

I sanded down the top to open up the grain and remove the orangey tint the wood had from its finish. If you decide to sand your piece like me, make sure you sand with the grain of the wood.

Next, I taped off the edges of the table so the iron was protected. To start, I simply brushed on some paint in a small area. I let it set on their for 30 seconds or so. Then, I took a piece of cheese cloth and wiped off the excess paint in the same direction. I like using the cheese cloth because it is porous and seems to take off just the right amount of paint.

Here is the completed top with a coat of wax. I painted the iron with a 3-1 mixture of Old White and Paris Grey. I did a little bit of distressing on just the frame and finished the whole thing off with a coat of clear wax. No dark wax for this piece. It is clean and bright but still has that weathered look.