After filling the holes left by the hinges and giving the piece a light sanding I got to work on the painting. I used my homemade recipe for chalk paint but I did it a little differently on this piece. Usually I paint the darker color first and then the lighter color. But this time I painted the lighter color, let it dry and then streaked it with the dark color paint. Not to worry, once sanded it blends nicely.
Below is how it looks after a light sanding. I liked doing this method because it required less sanding to get the lighter and darker look. Once is was sanded to a buttery smoothness I sanded some areas just a bit more to give it a distress look.
I next downloaded a stencil from the Graphics Fairy and used my Tracer Projector to outline it on to the piece. I filled in the outline with dark brown craft paint mixed with just a bit of copper color to give it just a bit of a shimmer (can’t see by the picture). After you’ve painted your piece and applied the stencil, don’t forget to protect your work with polycrylic. I used some that came in a spray can and just coated the entire table with several layers – the water just beads right off.
This entire project took about 4 hours. The longest part was the stenciling. I can’t wait until the flowers grow in the planter and start to overflow the top. It has already added a great pop of color to the porch.