Weathered Wood Desk with Annie Sloan Paint

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This sweet little writing desk.  It was so easy to use Annie Sloan’s chalk paint to create this look. The great thing about Annie’s chalk paint is that you don’t need to prep the piece at all.  Just give it a cleaning if it needs it.  This piece was your typical “golden oak” color when I got it on Craigslist for $100.  I didn’t take a “before,” I just knew I wanted to give this an old wood treatment.

I began by giving it a light coat of Coco by Annie Sloan.  This provided a great base.  Then I got a 1.5″ brush and my pot of Graphite by Annie Sloan.  I also got a soft cotton rag. I lightly brushed the graphite on with the grain of the wood and then rubbed it with the cloth to blend it in.  I also used a few strokes of my Aubusson Blue, just for fun, but you could skip this part! This is the fun of it.  You can play around with the paint until you like it, and always just start again if you don’t like it!

After this I did one coat of Annie’s Clear Wax, applied with a brush. I let this dry overnight and then buffed with a  soft cotton cloth overnight. This step really sets the stage for Annie’s Dark Wax, applied with a cotton cloth.  The first coat of clear wax helps the dark wax sit very naturally on the wood, and provides a beautiful, old wood look. I had a second cotton cloth to rub the dark was in, once applied.  I love this wax, but it is tricky to apply with a brush.  It has a tendency to go on too thick with a brush, so I like either a soft cloth (or a steel wool pad, especially if no coat of clear wax goes on first) followed immediately with another soft cloth to rub it in.

Once the dark wax set for 24 hours, I did one more coat of the clear wax with a brush, let it set for 24 hours, buffed with a soft cloth, and done! 

I even did the inside so that I would see this beautiful patina while I was paying bills.  I LOVE how this turned out, and it was so easy!!

The photo below shows where I put some of the Aubusson Blue. Bonus:  I didn’t even take off the hardware to paint this piece.  Annie’s paint is so thick that I could really control where it went. 

Thanks for stopping in today and taking a look at this sweet little weathered wood writing desk!