A French Provincial Beauty

I finished this piece for a customer a few weeks ago and it has been by far my most popular project. I also love everything about it: the dark gray, the depth the black glaze gave to it, the shiny silver pulls. I guess this is the kind of piece that would look good in any room.

In response to all questions I got from people who wanted to know exactly how I did it, I wrote a step by step tutorial and also made a short video to show how I glazed this piece.

Here they are… (This post contains a few affiliated links)

Paint: Homemade chalk paint Ben Moore Steel Wool – satin
Glaze: Valspar clear glaze with black latex paint (update: apparently Valspar discontinued their clear glaze, so you can use GF Milk Glaze, Pitch Black instead, for the same effect).

Drawer pulls: Clean with soapy water and spray paint them with Rustoleum Silver

Prepping and Painting

1 – Light sand the whole piece (120 grit)
2 – Clean entire piece with TSP solution and paper towel. Clean again.
3 – Tape and cover with paper the inside of the dresser and drawers to avoid primer overspray
4 – Prime everything with Rust-Oleum White Primer
5 – Roll first coat of paint over large areas with a sponge roller (I made my own chalk paint with 2 parts of latex paint and 1 part of Calcium Carbonate)
6 – Brush same paint on corners and details (I ALWAYS use my Purdy Paintbrushes)
7 – After it dries, repeat steps 5 and 6 for the second coat
8 – After paint is totally dry (4-6 hours) finish it with glaze.

Glazing
GF Pitch Black Glaze (add a few drops of water to prolong its workable time).
A Chip Brush
Baby wipes
1 – Brush glaze over a small area, i.e. a drawer. Immediately wipe glaze off with a baby wipe with steady linear movements (horizontal for drawers and top, vertical for sides)
Wipe as much or as little as you want, depending on the look you are trying to achieve.
2 – Repeat step 1 on other small areas. The largest area will be the top.
3 – After your piece is dry, lightly apply some brush strokes on the edges of piece (see pictures) using a cheap brush “dirty” with black glaze. The brush should be almost dry, just with a tiny bit of glaze.
* If you don’t like what you did, wipe it off with a baby wipe and start that small area over.

This is a short video to show how I glazed this piece.

Sealing
After whole piece is dry, spray Minwax Polycrylic, satin. 2 coats.

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Are you planning to try? Please share your result with me.

Love,

Patricia.