Waxed Paint Cedar Chest

This is my $30 Cedar Chest I found on kijiji.  It is a little dated with the hardware and 70's legs.  When I went to look at this piece I had no idea where it was going to go.  But I felt as though I could not give up a $30 Cedar Chest.  As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to put it at the foot of my bed. 

I am looking forward to finally decorating my bedroom.  We have been in this house for 5 years.  Two children later, and still the bedroom has nothing on the wall (except a tv).  I will be painting my bedroom set which is an old set of my parents from when they got married.  This cedar chest will be perfect for the end of the bed.

I love the two sets of drawers down either side.  It will be perfect for storage of small games.  This will free up some room in the top of our closet.

The top of the chest also locks.  It used a key at one time.  but now turns by hand.  

 I replaced the hideous legs that came with it, with fineals from a fencepost.  They cost me $3 per leg instead of a whopping $17 per leg at the hardware store.  I found them at the liquidation store.  And of coures trusty old Poppy installed them for me.

I then got him to stain them.  Then when I distress them dark wood will show through instead of raw wood.

He also touched up the edges where some wear and tear were showing through.

Here it is doors removed and ready to paint!

I decided to try a waxed paint technique as taught by Annie Sloan.  I got the inspiration from this post:

http://paintbrushandpearls.blogspot.ca/2013/04/new-chalk-paint-technique.html

I did not take pictures of the steps following.  I am sorry!!! I am still getting used to documenting for the blog.  But I painted the entire chest with two coats of my homemade chalk paint in brushwood by Glidden.  I then waxed the piece small bits at a time to prevent the wax from drying before white washing.  I was not real scientific with my wash.  But I used about 2/3 cup of paint and 1 tablespoon of water.  The paint in the wash was homemade chalk paint in Beautitone Goat Cheese.  You want your wash to be thin. 

I decided to start at the top of my piece and then move downward with the wash being carful not to slop on areas I was not working with.  I used a cloth to apply the wax then brushed on the wash.  The wash beaded against the wax.  I rubbed it off with an old cotton t-shirt.  I made sure to do it in long even strokes starting at one end and rubbing right off the other side to prevent uneven lines.  Once the white wash was dry I sealed it with an all over coat of Miss Mustard Seed Dark Wax.

I love the way it looks!  It reminds me of old barn boards.  This is a picture before I added the last coat of dark wax.

Here is the completed project: