It's Done! Final reveal of barrel drawer.

Today I made good progress on my commissioned headboard bench and also on my set of barrel drawers.  I am going to do two seperate blog posts because I have a lot of photo's to share of each.  First let's start with the set of barrel drawers.  As you may remember it started out looking like this: 

It was nice but not the style I wanted to keep.  I wanted to do an updated look. So I had painted the front leaf decor over with black paint. 

After it was all dry I designed some vinyl stickers in a clock face much like my clock on my wall in the first photo for the top.  For the front I used a damask pattern and I numbered the three drawers. 

I applied these to the front and made sure they were applied tight to avoid paint bleed underneath.  Then I painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old Ochre that I had left over from another project. 

It looks streaky after one coat so you need to do 2-3 coats of this thick paint to cover completely.  

This is how the first coat looks -super streaky!- but after the second it starts looking clean. 

It's in the process of drying in this picture and yes, all paints turn a slightly different shade when dry so please always have your paint professionals blow dry your paint sample on the lid to make sure you know the true color especially if you need an exact match.  In the photo you can see the clock outline of the vinyl. 

When the paint is dry you can use your fingernails or tweezers to take off the vinyl stickers.  You can see the clean lines that are much sharper than if you use a stencil.  I don't know what the exact term for this process is but I call it my "reverse stencil" for lack of a better term. 

When it's all peeled it looks fancy and clean. 

Tomorrow I will do touch ups on some of the paint I can still see through,  and then antique and wax and seal the whole piece.  You ALWAYS need to wax coat chalk paint to have it make a strong and beautiful finish,  without it it has a gritty texture that can chip and flake off.   When the wax dries it makes it a buttery and smooth texture that is very durable.  I have a love/hate relationship with chalk paint which I will explain another day when I do a whole post on chalk paint. 

Excuse my yellow lighting:  The dog in the photo is my Beagle Bernie or as we sometimes call him Mr Burns.  He is my animal soul-mate and most trusted companion and as my MIL would say my "snoopervisor."  He keeps me safe and makes sure I keep him in kibble.  So tomorrow this barrel will be done and I can put it up for sale to keep "Mr Burns" in kibble.  😃 

This morning I got up and used some fine grit #220 sandpaper to distress the edges of the barrel.  My husband and I both have mixed feelings about taking a new piece of furniture and scuffing it up.  On one hand sometimes you want something to look brand new,  for this piece I wanted to add a little character.  

It's a good look though for a more modern or artsy house because it adds depth,  it's also a good look for a home with kids because it looks a little pre-damaged.   So if your kid sets a bag on the table and it scratches it a bit,  no problem.  Maybe it's called distressed because you are not as stressed out if you bump it in the wall and mess up an edge a bit,  it just added character.

After sanding a bit it's time for wax.  I like Annie Sloan or Johnson's clear wax (Johnson's runs much less expensive) take your brush and give it a good coat.  

When I started doing this I bought a good brush (apx $30) but if you clean it well and take good care of it,  it can last year's. 

A lot of places try to get you to buy their cloth to buff the wax but all you need is a clean cheese cloth,  old unwanted shirt, sox or other cloth that won't leave tiny fibers like a paper towel would.  For this example I used a lonely sock.  (Great use of your singles) I rubbed down the whole barrel with the clean and dry dock.  It gets stiff when the wax dries so this will be a one time use item. 

The knobs are on and it's all done!  I hope you like it!