Annie Sloan~ My First Project. WOW!

It's Wednesday and that means that Kim, designer extraordinaire of Savvy Southern Style is hosting her Wow Us Wednesdays weekly event.

What I have to show and tell today is so modest compared to the other posts~

Ya' gotta love this tray. It was given to me by mom when she moved from the Midwest to the Desert Southwest. I really blew it in that it never occurred to me to take a 'before' photo of my treasure. Previously, the tray was framed in a very dated walnut with even more highly dated drawer pulls (like you might find on a bedroom dresser from a few decades gone by). So use your imagination; I'm sure you can picture it.

The tray is hanging above the back splash in my kitchen and really makes a statement. However, it still works equally well as a serving piece~ as you can see.

OK, so now for the Annie Sloan paint. I bought my first can ever {graphite} from a couple of adorable girls in Arlington, Washington. Check them out at The Bella Bungalow. Kim and Kelly are the local Stockists for Annie Sloan.

I also bought a can of dark wax. The process was brief and painless. I used masking tape around the inside perimeter of the tiles as protection.  Next I painted on (using a 1" artist brush) two coats of paint. The graphite color is quite blue... not a bad complement to the tiles but it needed to be darker to really  make the tiles stand out. So under the good advise of Kim I waxed my frame with the dark wax. It looks really good now. I mean REALLY good. I love it!

I really, really did not like the old drawer pulls. They were even screwed on with shiny bright metal screws with large heads. Quite by accident (because I couldn't get the screws out of one side) I discovered that these two-part drawer pulls looked pretty cool after I removed the handle.

 

So I decided to leave these little knobs simply to add interest. I also painted the cheap looking screw heads with the graphite paint. You see, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint will cover almost any surface.

My tray is about 20 years old. I guess by Etsy standards it is now vintage. The tiles are timeless and so very traditional. And to me, {blue and white} is the new neutral. I have something blue in every room. Very British if you ask me. And I am somewhat of an Anglophile.

I thank you sincerely for stopping by my blog. Don't forget to drop in at Kim's.

Keep Calm and Carry On!

     Dana