...and the things I learned along the way.
I spent months searching for the perfect TV console for my new home, it had become my white whale. It had to be a certain height, certain width, certain price, glass doors so the remote would work with the cable box inside, and most importantly, the perfect color. I ordered a cheap unit online, but when I opened the box, I was met with a redwood colored MDF piece of junk- yuck! So I spent hours online and in stores searching for this piece of furniture I could only see in my head. Finally, I found a piece that met all the criteria except the color was a little off. I told my husband I had heard of a lady who painted furniture for cheap and she could do it for me. He really had a hard time accepting the fact I wanted to paint a brand new piece of furniture, but eventually he conceded. I brought the piece home and all my visitors loved it. I quickly told them I would be painting it to match my favorite piece in the room (my Aidan Gray mirror) and they all thought I was crazy too. Then to bump up the craziness factor, I had not only become the woman who buys a brand new piece of furniture and gets it painted, I decided I wanted to paint it myself, something I had never done before!
After numerous trips to Home Depot I ended up with a paint that was too light and paint that was too dark (this mirror was the hardest thing in the world to match). So I primed the unit and painted it with the dark paint first. My husband was satisfied, but it looked too dull to me, so I brilliantly decided to whitewash it. This was disastrous and although my husband said that looked good too, to me it looked like a piece of furniture with gray car primer on it that was parked under a tree with lots of birds for a few months. By this time it was 11:00 at night, and I was so sick and frustrated, I just whipped out the light paint and started over. If I was going to ruin this thing, I was going to give it all I had. So more white primer, then the light gray, and then the saving grace- Valspar Antiquing Glaze from Lowes. I had my husband run and buy me some after I read about it online.
It turned out gorgeous! A near perfect match for my beloved mirror and just the look I was after- here's how I did it.
First Step
Prime your furniture with a primer. No sanding needed- hurray! I used this one:
I used a a small, foam roller for most of it, but sometimes a brush comes in handy too.
Second Step:
Once the primer dries, paint your color. Once again I used a small, foam roller and a brush.
I used Behr's Gentle Rain in an eggshell finish. As you can see, this paint color doesn't match the mirror at all yet.
Third Step:
Once the paint dried, I started to glaze. I poured the Valspar Antiquing Glaze into a disposable cup and brushed it on, then wiped it off with a damp rag. If I had continued this way, it would have taken many coats to get the tone I wanted, so I ended up brushing the glaze on and then wiping it off with a rag saturated with more glaze. This gave me the perfect effect with only one application! I didn't have to sand or distress a thing- this glaze is magic.
Here some close-ups so you can see the beautiful detail the glaze gives:
Here is the finished product in my family room (which I'm about 80% done decorating). See how it matches the mirror? HURRAY! I was happy, I danced around the house at 2:00 in the morning saying, "I did it, I did it." I am so glad I attempted this, because I don't even think the professional painter could have gotten it exactly how I wanted it.
