One of my favorite customers had been searching for the perfect cabinet to showcase a special collection. She hoped for something elegant, but not something that would overpower the items inside.
A few weeks ago, she came across this curio cabinet in our consignment shop that could be perfect. The full front glass door slides to the right so that when closed, it gives a clear view of the contents. 
The bones of the curio were just right for her, but the glossy washed oak style finish was all wrong.
The challenge – Could we do a custom curio makeover and transform a curio from casual to elegant?
No problem! With the versatility of Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan, I knew we could do a finish that would work perfectly.
Step one was a home visit to see where the curio would be placed. I wanted to know the colors, texture, and style of the surrounding furniture, walls, and get a general sense of my clients decorating style and color preferences.
The cabinet was to be placed on a wall that had a Venetian plaster faux finish. The surrounding elements were elegant, sophisticated, tasteful and traditional. Our client wanted something silvery, but not too glittery. Something that would hold it’s own against the wall, but not stand out so much as to take away from the contents.
One look at the wall and I knew the base color should either be Coco or French Linen. I painted several good sized samples and asked her to view them at different times of day. Coco came out the clear winner.
Lynn did an amazing prep on the cabinet. We did have to break the shiny surface using 220 grit sandpaper. (I say “we”, but have to admit that job went to Lynn.) It was also an important step because we knew the gilded finish would highlight imperfections so we needed a smooth base.
After taping off the glass with blue painter’s tape, we painted the cabinet with two smooth, even coats of Coco Chalk Paint® inside and out and used Graphite on the inside top because the halogen light was cased in black and stuck out like a sore thumb against the original light color. After painting, we applied two coats of Annie Sloan clear soft wax to the outer cabinet, and let the interior keep the soft chalky matte finish.
The final touch was an all-over application of Tin/Pewter French gilding wax to the outer cabinet. The Tin color over the Coco base gave a soft silvery finish without being loud or overpowering.
Our customer is thrilled, the cabinet came out beautifully, and we loved the experience of completely changing a casual finish into an elegant one using the best paint in the world, Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan!
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