My first shot at dark wax

Well I finally took the plunge and did my first piece using Annie Sloan's dark wax when I finished the new dresser for our bedroom. Another first was making my own chalk paint. Just to refresh your memory, the dresser started out like this:

I started out by chiseling, and then sanding down whatever that gunk was on the top of the dresser. Gross. I then stained the top and sealed it up for protection. Then it came time to paint. I had already decided that I was going to do an ombre-like effect to the dresser to play off of the stripes in our bedspread, shown here, but not our actual room:

Like I mentioned before, I had Valspar paint samples matched at Lowe's to the stripes in the comforter. I then mixed in a bit of calcium carbonate in power form to make it have the same consistency and qualities of chalk paint. I followed Diane Henkler from In My Own Style blog's recipe.

The only hiccup with that process was a flaking off of one of the layers on just one of the drawers. Perhaps I put too much, or maybe too little calcium carbonate in that particular color jar.

I fixed the issue by sanding it back down to the wood and then repainting in the spot that was flaking. You can't even tell now. I think I didn't let it dry enough. Who knows, but I'd definitely do the homemade chalk paint again.

After it was all dried, I ended up with this:

I actually think I should have stopped here. I really liked the way it turned out. But, I then decided to try the dark wax technique from Chi-Chi Studio.

Here's what the dresser looks like now, all aged out using dark wax, alongside the pinspirational pieces, via here and here.

Some more up close:

I still like the way it came out, just a little dingy looking compared to before the dark wax, but I guess that's the look you go for when you want it more aged. I also spray painted the knobs with oil-rubbed bronze to match the top that I stained.

Anyway, all done. It has been a long process from start to finish, and the piece definitely came a long way from what it was. I'll be happy to free up some space in my closet now filling this bad boy up.