Bathroom Latest: baskets, vanity and fabrics

 One of the hottest finishes lately has been the Belgian washes 

you see on furniture and baskets.

 Its a gray wash~I wanted to make all the
baskets in my bathroom shelf look Belgian~

 French Linen Chalk Paint® is what I used and a big paint brush.

This is the latest color I was dying to try~

and it works well on these baskets I am happy to say.

 Don't load up the brush, apply it with a dry brush 

and it is the easiest thing in the world!

 I had all the baskets done in 15 minutes.  

Have you noticed I like quick projects with big results?

 The baskets have cotton duck liners and they
sit in this built in next to the commode.

Don't ask me why there is a built in right there~
maybe it was supposed to be a library!

However all the bathroom closets hold my clothing,
so the towels had to go here.

This was the way they looked when I bought them, in a dark brown finish.

 Now they are all washed out in the Belgian finish.

They look a lot softer and go with the linen draperies.

This basket on the tub was the finish I was trying to copy,

and the French Linen paint is pretty close to perfect.

 One of the things I am working on is a new vanity skirt~

I ordered the toile, 

but the pink is wrong and its just too much pink...

 The tiny french print on the right looks pretty

 with the walls and the gold and the austrian valance~

the one on the left is very elegant and monochromatic...

but I might just go with something else...

 While that is percolating in my brain, 

I turned to waxing of the bathroom cabinet. 

The base coat is Antoinette Chalk Paint®, 

so I need to apply wax to seal the cabinets.
I am trying out the Minwax brand 

of paste wax as it is easier to find at the local store and cheaper too. 

 I splurged on an Annie Sloan wax brush and it was lovely to use. 

This brush  is dedicated for clear wax only.  You can't get the dark 

wax out of your brush, so since I will use a clear wax more 

often and over greater surfaces like kitchen and bath cabinets, 

I want my big fancy wax brush to be my clear wax brush. 

I used a cloth for the dark wax application.

 First I applied the paste wax to all the cabinets 

and after that I put on the dark wax.
This brand of paste wax is a harder wax than the Annie Sloan™
clear wax, which is way easier to apply. You can use either,
and I was curious to try this one, however I can see
that I will go back to the softer easier wax after this project.

Now for the dark wax~
See the splotches?  I dot it on and
then rub it into the pale pink areas~

it gives a nice aged finish and it tones down

 any color it goes over...so in this case the pink 

now has a brownish layer.

 Then I took my dark wax and put some on the 

chandeliers to make them look a little nicer.

 By nicer, I mean older! 

The dark wax does a pretty good job 

of antiquing metal too.

See the three cabinets on the left have only clear wax 

while the rest of the vanity has both clear and dark. 

Its a matter of personal preference, 

so use your wax accordingly!

I hope this answers some of the questions

 I get from you on the wax process.

I'm waiting on the hardware for the vanity to be delivered~

and I am excited about it! 

I still have a few more things to do~

but all these little projects take time and 

do add up to creating a whole new look.

I'll be headed into Boston on Monday

 for the Annie Sloan paint workshop!

I am hosting Jami from Freckled Laundry

as my house guest too~so that will

be really fun to meet this sweetheart in person.  

She is driving up from New York 

to attend~and then after the workshop we were invited

 to a dinner reception with Annie Sloan herself!

So I will be rubbing elbows with the high and 

mighty of chalk paint land and you can be bet

I will be blogging about it all to you guys!

(One thing I want to do is get a new pic of Annie~

is this the only photo that exists of this woman?)

Ok~gotta get the house cleaned up for Jami's arrival~

have a great weekend everybody!