for those of you loyal readers waiting patiently to see our bathroom re-do“afters”…those are coming very soon!  construction was indeed finished by labor day as frank promised…except for one key feature, the mirror.  we are now awaiting installation attempt #4.  it’s one of the simplest and least expensive elements, and yet (apparently) so difficult to get right.   as soon as it’s in and paint is touched up, i will be happy to share images and all the details with you.

in the meantime, the cabinets are done, and i thought you might want to see them.  in a room where mrs. jones (vainly, and in vain) will employ all manner of treatments and products attempting to slow down the passage of time and its toll on herself, it felt right to speed up the appearance of the passage of time on the vanity.  there you go…a little irony for your tuesday.

here they are going in:

and getting started on the finish:

after staining with minwax american walnut in their water-based formula (both for depth and to reveal color where the paint is distressed later), the next layer is annie sloan’s chalk paint in old white, thickened to what annie describes as an “impasto”.  to suit our 1940 home, and to contrast with all the sleek and cool marble and tile surfaces, i wanted the cabinets to have the look of having been painted and repainted over the years; to be crusty, warm, and slightly worn.  the impasto layer gives the look of old-school gesso, showing brush strokes (in a good way), and leaving some desirable (for this project) gookiness in the corners.

the plan was for the subsequent layers to be in ascp graphite, but even after tinting it with more lamp black, and raw & burnt umber, i just couldn’t get the exact black that i was after.  graphite is beautiful, and will definitely be the shining star in an upcoming project, but – in search of a quick solution – i turned to the tried and true milk paint that was already on hand.

{edit…2.25.12…knowing what i know now about chalk paint®, i would be able to tint it properly…but milk paint worked just fine.}

mixing it and letting it sit overnight gave the paint just the right slubby, brushy texture.  after two coats of black, the next step was to scrape a little tiny bit back off at the corners, on the edges, and near the knobs.  using more of the water-based stain on a sea sponge to soften up the paint and a putty knife, i chipped a few little spots away to reveal the layers beneath.  (mrs. sloan also recommends using sandpaper to rub back, but for this project, i went with the more surgical nip-&-tuck-type technique.)

finally, two layers of annie’s wax: clear (which has a gorgeous mellowing effect on the milk paint), and then dark brown (to complete the finish with warmth and toning, and to seal the paint up tight), with an overnight dry (memphis humidity!) in between.  while the dark wax was still tacky, rottenstone was tapped in (a la richard martin, see photo just below) especially to the grooves and corners.  the rottenstone gives an extra touch of age and grittiness, and – as a super-fine abrasive – also aids in rubbing out the wax.  several old-t-shirt buffings later, the cabinets have the yummy polished gleam of old furniture.

a drawer before and after the wax is applied and buffed (or, after and then before – sorry!):

and then, just add snazzy hardware: the gado gado pulls i craved, that selena mcadams tracked down for me.

now, to gush for just a moment: i am a huge new fan of annie sloan and her chalk paint® (which has been around in the uk for years, but has only recently become available in the united states).  for more inspiration directly from the source, take a look at her books, such as creating the french look (which actually instructs in so much more than that.  the french look, i mean.)  several finishing studios around the country are selling her complete line and offering classes and online videos on her techniques…something you will want to investigate further.  her palette, the ease of use of her products, and the authenticity of the many different looks you can acheive make her line very unique.  the fact that you can skip over a lot of laborious prep-work?  annie is staging a most welcome british invasion.