Today I have a quite satisfying “before and after” post to share! This little secretary desk is a commission piece and my customer wanted it in black. She also wanted to leave the inside as-is (except for a good polish).

Here is a “before” pic taken after I had removed the drawers. As you can see, it is not in bad shape but the standard wood finish is boring and typical.

I first applied a coat of black chalk mineral paint. It was fine, but when I stepped back I felt that the chalk paint finish was too flat for this piece. I could have used a satin clear coat but instead decided to use the new paint line, Silk All-In-One Mineral Paint from Dixie Belle. This paint comes with a built in topcoat and has a light sheen to it, especially when compared to chalk paint. I had the color Anchor in stock and this was the perfect project for it. It is a deep, true black and was perfect to lay on top of the chalk paint.

I made a tutorial on how I applied the paint to create a super smooth finish and you can see that process in this post, Create A Smooth Finish Using Chalk Paint.

Here are a few pics of the “after”!

All of the hardware was removed prior to painting. I gave it all a good clean with Brasso. The interior was cleaned and polished using Hemp Seed Oil. This is honestly a new product to me and I am a total fan. It really have back the interior its luster and shine!

Sad note…after I took these pics I moved my large green glass bottle and it honestly barely hit the corner of a chair. Apparently that was all it took because it shattered. What a shame! I found it at a thrift store so the expense was not a factor but I loved it for staging my furniture!

I hope you come back on Thursday for a How-To Thursday post which will be all about wax. How to highlight and blend using wax, and how to add paint to your wax to create even more depth of color to your pieces. See you then!

Related Posts…