Jo Reynolds
I bought this Pottery Barn coffee table on Craigslist shortly after we moved into our house. While the table is sturdy and well built, the finish wasn’t in very good shape when I brought it home.
Over the years it has taken more of a beating with a toddler who loves to bang it with a toy hammer and run his Hot Wheels all over it. We used Klean Strip stripper to remove the dark varnish from the top only. I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Paris Grey on the bottom part of the table. (the tutorial uses Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, which also looked great).
I wiped off the dust from distressing, and applied a coat of Annie Sloan’s clear soft wax. It requires pretty much no prep work (except dusting off the furniture before painting), sticks to any surface (wood, leather, metal, plastic, fabric, etc.)
Kind of like that moment in “What not to wear” where the formerly unstylish person has their big reveal after hair and makeup. I wish I had a beautiful picture of it perfectly positioned in front of the throw-pillowed sofa and accessorized just so, but the truth is that it lives pushed in front of the fireplace for now (and is usually covered in toys) to allow more open space for the kids to play.
