Here are some “Before & After” pics of a stool that I painted yesterday using CeCe Caldwell’s Paints & Finishes.  The color that I used is called Sedona Red.  This was so simple, but I’ll explain what I did.

First, I couldn’t even tell you where I got this stool.  It’s been in my basement, for like, forever.

Yes, the stool is ugly, but I always knew that it had potential!  Now, you would think that I would tell you to clean the stool because, as I always say over and over, “you don’t know where it’s been or what it’s been used for” (get your minds out of the gutter!).  In this case, the stool was already had several layers of paint on it – the top layer being a really ugly brown.

So, I literally just wiped it down with a paper towel – not even a damp one … just a dry paper towel.  Sometimes I’m just impatient … not always a good quality, but I’m working on it.

Then, I just slapped on the paint.  Seriously.  I didn’t sand or prime or anything.  I used one coat on the legs and two coats on the top.  I waited for the first coat to dry before applying the second coat.

After both coats dried, I used a wet (but very, very well wrung out) piece of a t-shirt and rubbed where I wanted the distressed effect.

After this dried, I applied clear wax (really rubbing it in) and let it sit for about a half hour.  Then, I took a dry, old (but clean) dishrag and rubbed, rubbed, rubbed until the wax took on a nice subtle shine.

This is the finished product.