Adding Texture To Paint

This coffee table was one of those pieces that just kind of found me when I was least expecting it.  I was dropping off a table that I had painted for a client one day last winter and while I was there, she asked if I’d like to buy this one from her.  The piece was quite rickety but I could instantly see the great potential it had.After a little tightening and some stabilizing, it was fixed structurally and as solid as a rock again.  I wanted to give this storage table some old world charm that would not only add character but would make the aged brass pieces pop.  The table reminded me of an old steamer trunk that someone had used to travel the world and that was the feel I wanted to give it.

One of the biggest elements in creating an old world feel with any piece is adding texture.  Adding texture while painting is an incredibly easy process and a simple way to add a beautiful visual element.To add texture with just a brush and the paint (I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey for the first coat) you add a liberal amount of paint to your brush and then stroke it in every direction on the piece.  Do not smooth the paint at all as you want it to dry with all of the crevices and ridges visible.You can see here as I begin to add a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite how the gorgeous texture begins to show through. The lines going in all directions really give it a feel of old plaster and texture that you would find a century ago on beautiful antique pieces. It was really hard to capture the true feel of this piece in a photograph once the Graphite layers were on but you can see a bit of the texture it in this picture.Adding the texture with the paint really added some much needed character to this beautiful table and was just the lift it needed to bring it back to life.