My original plan was to stain the shelves and the top of the piece. But as I've come to learn, no matter how hard you plan a project, things don't always work out as you might expect. As I went to stain the shelves, I quickly discovered that they had a clear acrylic lacquer finish...bummer. I was not about to take the extra step of stripping it off, so I had to improvise. Luckily, the butcher block top was just treated with oil, so I was able to sand it down enough to stain it. In this case, I just used my Ryobi Finish Sander which you can get at Home Depot for $29. A more powerful orbital sander would be a better investment for removing old material, but this is not a bad alternative if you're operating on a budget. For the stain I used MinWax "Provincial" to get a nice rustic look. I also stained a few craft crates to hide the clutter and to give me the light/dark contrast I had originally wanted.
Once again I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in “Old White.” I'm addicted to this stuff! I did some light distressing with 100 grit sandpaper and finished it with a coat of Annie Sloan’s Clear Wax. The wax softens the paint and gives it a nice velvety look. It also seals and protects the wood. On a side note - you can either distress before or after waxing - it’s really a matter of preference.
I absolutely love the look of French typography and knew I wanted to incorporate it. I downloaded this image from The Graphics Fairy and transferred it onto the wood using a Sharpie. This process requires it's own post which I will share with you soon! You can also find various tutorials on the Graphics Fairy website.
Despite some minor setbacks, I still managed to pull off the look I was going for!
-Sarah
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