Our dining room is easily one of my favorite spaces in my house. I love the colors, the nautical paintings, the bentwoods, and pretty much everything about this space! It’s the place where we gather for meals, play board games, build puzzles, and sometimes do crafts. The only thing that has bugged me about this room is the sideboard… I’ve loved its unique shape, its grand scale, but I haven’t loved its finish. I’ve known for a while that I wanted to paint it, but I just could never decide how I wanted it to look, until I went to Amy Howard’s workshop last month and got to play with her products and fell in love with cracked patina! I decided to give it a go, and so today am sharing my dining room sideboard makeover with its new “patina” finish!
This piece of furniture sits right in front of our largest window in the dining room as you can see. So in its wood finish, it just stayed sort of hidden. The light comes from behind, causing it to always appear very dark (and also making it incredibly hard to photograph!).
The finish was also pretty rough. You can see some scratches on the edge in the above photo, but seriously- check out these imperfections on the top.
I went to my local Ace Hardware, and purchased everything I needed to achieve the look I wanted.
Yes, that’s a lot of products I needed to achieve this one look, but I didn’t even put a dent in the waxes, dust, or cracked patina, so there will be many more projects out of these items in the future. Here’s an itemized list of what I needed:
Simple Green (I used mineral spirits)
One Step Paint in two colors (base coat and top coat)
Very fine sandpaper
I began by wiping the surface of the sideboard clean. Amy recommends using Simple Green, but I totally flaked on buying it when I was at Ace… OOPS! So I used odorless mineral spirits I had on hand. This sideboard is a heavy beast and I was thankful that I didn’t need to do any prep beyond that with the one-step paint because I planned to paint it in place. Carefully. Without dripping. Or hitting my curtains.
Once I wiped it down I allowed it to air dry for about 20 minutes. After drying, I went ahead painting the base coat with one of my chip brushes. For this coat, I used Bauhaus Bluff, which is a nice white. I also had to do my best to keep my puppy many steps away from my one step paint while it dried!
Do you see that face? I had banished him away from me while I painted, and that look is one of “I just want to snuggle in the crook of your legs while you paint? Can I? Please?” Despite that cute face, I was able to get the first coat on rather quickly.
I only bought a sample size of the Bauhaus Bluff, so I just worked with one coat. In retrospect, I think I would have used a base of two coats of white paint for a more solid undercoat. It turned out just fine in the end, but I think I would have liked one more coat of white.
The next step was to apply the Cracked Patina liquid. I squirted it into a paper bowl to make it easy to apply with a brush.
I decided to apply the medium in all the areas of detail where I wanted a crusty layered look, and then in random areas on the flat surface. In the photo below all of the shiny and darker areas are where I brushed it on.
I allowed it to dry for two hours, but the best part is you can leave it there for days and come back to it when you are ready!
Moving onto the next step of painting the top coat on I worked in sections. I used a chip brush to apply Amy Howard One Step Paint in Nottaway. As the paint touches the dried Cracked Patina, it activates, so I applied the paint with light pressure and did not go back over any areas I had already painted. Below you can see what happens to the top layer of paint.
I allowed it to partially dry then used a dry chip brush to apply a little pressure and drag through where the Cracked Patina was applied. This caused some of the paint to lift off. In some areas of more detail, and where I wanted “chips,” I used my fingers to apply light pressure and then pull away, taking some of the Nottaway with them. Here is an example of what it looked like after using my fingers.
I worked my way along the entire sideboard like this, section by section, until I was done with every area. As you can see, it can get pretty crusty, but you don’t want a piece of furniture that feels crusty, do you? I used super fine sandpaper (I recommend 400 or so) and lightly sanded over the entire piece by hand for a smooth feel. This is what it looked like after sanding; as you can see it still had that patina chippy look, but felt nice to the touch.
Next it was time to wax. I continued to work section by section with both waxes and the dust, until I was finished. Starting with one section, I used my a chip brush and the light antique wax first. I applied a very light amount of the light wax and applied it with a light feathering motion all over the section. Then before it had a chance to dry completely I applied the dark antique wax. To apply the dark, I dipped into the wax lightly with another chip brush, blotted on a rag, and then again feathered it onto the section, making sure to hit the detail areas a little harder. This gave it an aged look and really brought out the edges of the crustier areas nicely.
Finally, while the dark wax was still slightly tacky, I used the round brush to apply the Dust of Ages, which is a grayish dust that settles nicely into the grooves and gives a bit of depth to your piece. Once that was applied, I was done! And once I was done it was much easier to handle a camera… because I worked with my hands so much on this project, I used my cell phone. I didn’t want to get paint, or dust of ages, or wax all over my camera.
I just love how this turned out…. I am usually a big snob about any kind of “crackle” finish, and to me this product creates an authentic look.
(The color difference is due to the lighting. The top photo is of the top surface where the light pours in the window, so it almost looks white.)
It is amazing how much this piece now lightens up my dining room.
When I asked for color suggestions on Instagram, so many suggested navy- even Amy Howard herself! However, I wanted a lighter color that would bring in the lighter blues of the nautical gallery wall.
Now, I have to admit this new color was a total shock to my system. As one friend on facebook said, it’s like when you get a new haircut and you have to keep looking in the mirror at it to decide if you like it. I had to keep looking at this piece, walking around the room and checking it out from all angles. It was just such a dramatic change! But I am happy to say I love it…. Of course, you know what happens when you change just one thing. A snowball effect can occur! So who knows where this leaves me…. For now I am just going to keep circling the sideboard and checking out her every curve and detail and crusty patina goodness!
Are you curious about Amy Howard Products? Great! Because TOMORROW at 12 pm EST Ace is hosting a live workshop! Click here to register!
Now through the 26th of October you can also enter the Amy Howard Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for two to her workshop in Memphis where you will learn from Amy herself!
And FINALLY, I also have a $100 Ace Hardware gift card to giveaway to one lucky reader! You can get the supplies you need for your next Amy Howard project!
Good luck!
I am a member of the Ace Bloggers Panel and Ace Hardware has provided with products used within this project. I was also compensated for my time and this blog post. All opinions and positions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware.
Sharing at Thrifty Decor Chick’s B&A party
