A Shabby Coffee Table transformed to Chic Country French

Anything old can be made classy and beautiful with a little ingenuity as well as patience and time.  This table was banged up pretty bad which was what attracted me to it.  I cleaned it up with Mineral Spirits as I always do.  Then I took a putty knife and stripped some of the loose pieces of wood off to really give it a gouged look.  Next came one coat of Dixie Belle Burlap chalk paint all over the table to include the gouged places.  I used a dry brush technique.  What is the dry brush technique?

One of the key elements in using the dry brush technique with chalk paint is offloading. Offloading is the process of wiping paint off of the brush after you have dipped it in the paint. You can do this on a paper towel or other material to prepare your dry brush.  Then you just paint as normal.  You will be able to see some on the paint underneath which can eliminate the sanding process.

After the paint was dry, I used Annie Sloane's dark wax in the gouged places to achieve the dark color I was looking for.  I then taped the dark wax gouges with blue tape so they would not lighten up while I finished the project with a mix of dark and white wax all over the table to seal the paint.  Start with a little dark wax and keep adding white wax (I use a plastic knife and paper plate for this process) until I achieved my desired distressed color.  Remember you can always go darker but changing back to light can be a bit more challenging.  Apply your wax with a round waxing brush, then after the wax is applied, it's time to buff your wax.  I use my husband's old tee shirts that I cut up for my polishing cloths.  Next, some elbow grease to polish until you feel a smooth surface.  A cut piece of granite on top and now you have a beautiful Country French Coffee Table.