One Secret is That I Use 2 Brushes at One Time, and Each Has The...

2 Materials
$60
4 Hours
Easy
Tami, Owner at 4th Time Around said, “One secret is that I use 2 Brushes at one time, and each has the alternate color. I just swish and smoosh paint and switch hands lots during so it all swirls together to make a powdery look over the previous layers. With this technique I do not ‘paint’ on nicely, literally it looks like a 3 year old painting. I have OLD brushes with frayed bristles, I really just cram and swirl the paint in a crazy no pattern fashion for this”!
1: Tami at 4th Time Around in Douglasville, GA. Started her project first by cleaning this China Cabinet with White Lightning!  2: Dixie Belle Mud is used to fill veneer, gouges, scrapes and holes (if needed) for repairs – Tami used Dixie Mud to fix missing trim detail on top crest!
3: The base coat is painted with Dixie Belle Paint in Dried Sage and Spanish Moss – “I tend to use lots and lots of layers and color mixing - the 2 colors are so similar, yet one is lighter and when you dry brush the lighter one over it gives a nice streaky or peek a boo look to the underneath color”. 
4: She then used the No Paint Gel Stain in Espresso on the top inside shelves, and the insides wall panels in the cabinet. She also added Vintage Duck Egg to the shelves and inside the cabinet. “I LOVE to put blue in a china cabinet - it makes the space so light and gives a glow to the space! Plus, it's PRETTY”! 
The No Paint Gel Stain in Espresso was added to the Cabinet face front in specific places to create a deeper tone and a layer over the Dried Sage and Spanish Moss, to give the illusion that the cabinet paint peeled off these spaces. “Adding AGE to a piece with paint is so FUN but you have to do things that are fooling the eye, so it looks authentic”! Says Tami.  
5: Within 6 hours of applying the Stain she did some light wet distressing (Wet distress if you are trying to preserve woodwork or to achieve a more chippy distressed look. To wet distress use a lint free, damp cloth and begin to rub on areas you want to distress. Make sure to wet distress within six hours or you will need to really saturate the piece to achieve results.) She also dry distressed with sand paper in areas that she wanted harder wear area showing. 
6: After distressing she then added a dry brushed layer of lighter colors in Dixie Belles Drop Cloth and Butter Cream. “One secret is that I use 2 Brushes at one time, and each has the alternate color. I just swish and smoosh paint and switch hands lots during so it all swirls together to make a powdery look over the previous layers. With this technique I do not ‘paint’ on nicely, literally it looks like a 3 year old painting. I have OLD brushes with frayed bristles, I really just cram and swirl the paint in a crazy no pattern fashion for this”! 
7: This layer of Drop Cloth and Butter Cream all got Wet distressed over top to see through the layers underneath. 
8. Tami did some additional chemical distressing she said, “This style of distressing gives you a clean ‘open wound’ look / pitted / streaky effects that you cannot do with sanding paper. It also allows you a lot of control on the process with NO drag marks or sand paper drag marks. *Plus, no dust or power tools which is preferred for some! I use these techniques on all products - it's not just for paint”!
9: Best Dang Wax was used over the lighter paint colors in both Black and Brown wax, she used the wax to create different colors, the wax gives the dirty old paint illusion more character. 
10: There is a bit of Dixie Dirt on some of the wax in certain spots around the carving details. 
11: The door insert was painted in Vintage Duck Egg, and Driftwood was used for the dry brushed high lights. Vintage Duck Egg is also painted on the metal knob on the door. The blue tone carries inside with the Vintage Duck Egg accents in the inside!
All in ALL, it sounds like it would take forever but it's not that long and with Dixie Belle Products make it "EASY PEASY!" 
Suggested materials:
  • Dixie Belle Paint in Dried Sage   (http://www.dixiebellepaintcompany.com/dried-sage-chalk-paint/)
  • Best Dang Wax   (http://www.dixiebellepaintcompany.com/best-dang-wax-black-10oz/)
Dixie Belle Paint Company
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
Comments
Join the conversation
 1 comment
Next