Side Table, Part 2

After I came back from my trip to the Shore, it was time to finish the side table!

After two coats of paint, I sanded the entire piece again.  I pressed down harder and rubbed faster on the spots that I wanted to look distressed.

Now the fun part: waxing!  I used Briwax on the top to darken the white paint and  contrast the top with the rest of the piece.  You can see how it turns the part that was white an old lovely brown color while making the parts where the wood was showing through completely even darker.
I dipped my cloth into the can of wax (using a tiny bit) and worked it into the wood, rubbing back and forth several times.

So this is where I started to freak out.  I switched to Annie Sloan's dark wax for the body of the side table and used my Italian wax brush to apply.  As you can see, in the beginning I used too much.  As scared as I was, all I had to do to remove the wax/tone it down to a shade I liked was to go back over it with a dry cloth.

Whew, see?  MUCH BETTER!

In the meantime, I also added a touch of wax to the hardware to bring out its dark tones.  Can you see the little bit of Louis Blue?
Painting the hardware is a big money saver--it looks totally different, but it's the same "old" piece.

I sealed her with another coat of clear wax, sanded with steel wool...and voila!
I didn't know what the finish would look like, but it has an almost "linen" look to it.

I lovelovelove how the top turned out.  The contrast makes the piece look interesting and unique.

The Louis Blue drawer adds an exciting element!