This large French wardrobe had been sitting in my garage for quite a while – the problem was that the doors couldn’t shut properly because the very old ( and very complicated!) hinges were broken. Finding replacements was proving impossible. Then last week I had a brainwave – why not just take the doors off, add some shelves and turn the piece into a lovely bookcase or display piece.
There were two blank panels to the front and I’d seen some lovely French typography on the ‘Graphics Fairy‘ website which could give the piece a completely different feel.
Using Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan I quickly painted the outside Old White and the interior (including my brand new shelves) Old Ochre for a little bit of contrast. Two coats were fine.
The next step was applying the graphics. Using a print out from the fantastic ‘Graphics Fairy‘ website (which are all free!) I played with the image in photoshop until it worked for the blank spaces I needed to fill. Then I flipped the image and got a print out from a laser jet printer – it’s important that it’s a toner based printer otherwise it won’t work – I know, as I have an inkjet printer at home and it just doesn’t do the business. The easy way to tell which is which? – if your cartridges have liquid ink then it’s no good, you need the powdery stuff in your cartridges. I used local print shop Ditto – thanks again Hannah!
Once I’d got my image (remember, reversed if it has type!) I applied Annie Sloan Decoupage to the surface of the furniture and the front of the image then pressed it hard into place, flattening it out as I went. Easy. Leave to dry overnight, then rub off the dried paper. Then you should get a thrill as your artwork appears before you. And it’s rock solid.
To help give an authentic aged look I used Annie Sloan Craqueleur, which gives the piece those lovely little fine cracks like an old oil painting – just follow the instructions on the bottle, it’s easy. To finish off I used Clear and Dark wax, which allowed me to show off all those lovely little cracks and give the mouldings a realistic antiqued look. It’s like most things, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
By far the best way to learn these techniques is to attend an official Annie Sloan Workshop at your local Annie Sloan stockist. Nothing beats seeing it in the flesh!
