My twins share a bedroom. We are lucky to have two masters (one upstairs one downstairs). And because they are twins, they got the master upstairs. Its a huge room, and they share everything. However, I wanted Jules to have a separate, pretty space to have her clothes. So, I thought an armoire would be the perfect thing. Plus, she can move it into a big girl room should that day ever come (hopefully never, haha)

I search Craigslist like a crazy person for months. I wanted one that wasn't a TV center, one that has good ornate detail, one that was solid and paintable, and one that wasn't too big or too small, and cheaper!! Sounds like an easy task, but it really wasn't. But I eventually found her.

I used to have a love/hate relationship with Annie Sloan paint, and had decided I kind of hated it. But then have found myself choosing it over regular paint in almost every instance, so I guess you could say we have made up and will enjoy a nice long relationship. Here is the "about" of ASCP:

Pros:

1. The colors are AMAZING. I love them all and they go right in line with my decor and style.
2. You can paint right over anything: laminate, plastic, sealed wood, etc. NO sanding and priming. Hot dog!
3. It dries super fast and you can go right over it usually once you are done. It makes projects go quickly.
4. No smell. You can paint right inside and not worry about the fumes.
5. The colors mix fabulously. And all the colors once mixed are so pretty. However, you could also be like me and run out of said mixed mixture, then you have to-go buy it all and re-mix - DOH!

Cons:

1. It is expensive - kind of very.
2. Although it says it coats well and a little goes a long way, I disagree. I still feel like you need a good two coats and sometimes three on the darker paints.
3. It is MESS-SY. It's chalk paint so if you are distressing at all - imagine you are in a classroom dusting off chalkboard erasers. Yea - it's EVERYWHERE. I have been told to wait and sand after you wax and that these is little or no mess, but I have decided I hate that way unless you are going for very minimal distressing. It takes a lot of work to sand over the wax, and I don't have that much stamina. I'm a small girl, ha. And you have to wax again after you sand (see below)
4. You have to wax most everything. Which totally sucks arse. It is the most monotonous task there is. I have gotten alot better at it with lots of practice, but it still sucks arse.

So, there you have it. It just depends on how much you like the look to see if it's worth it or not. I have done several things with ASCP: A Bathroom vanity in Coco, built-in bookshelves in Graphite with a mixture of Graphite and Old White inside, a regular bookshelf in a mixture of Old White and French Linen, a desk in Coco, armoire (below) , and now I'm painting the cabinets in our bar area Coco as well.

As for the armoire, it took a LOT of elbow grease. Steps I took:

1. ordered wood embellishments off of etsy and glued them on using wood glue (the super cute pieces covering each door and drawers)

2. I put on two coats of Paris Grey and let dry.

3. I then applied a coat of Original White on top of that.

4. I sanded down the White so you could see lots of the Paris Grey underneath.

5. I also just painted over all the hardware.

6. One coat of Clear Wax, then touches of dark wax in the crevices and over the embellishments.

7. Drank Wine. lots of wine.

8. I did this piece a while ago. After recently trying a few new techniques on some newer pieces, I have decided that I could have gotten by with dry brushing the old white over the paris grey instead of a full coat then sanding off. Oh well, live and learn!

Ta Da!!!

Close up of the top showing the distressing, dark wax, and the grey showing under the white.

Close up of the brush strokes.You can also see a good mix of the grey under the white.  Yet another plus of using ASCP. The messier your strokes, the more texture.

Embellishment on the drawer.

more distressing.

Side view.