DIY Chalk Paint - Aqua Curio Cabinet!

I am so excited to finally be finished with this curio cabinet!  I got it from my Dad for my birthday (in November) and it has been sitting in my office unpainted, taunting me!

This is the first piece of furniture I have tried a DIY chalk paint on, and I am in love!  No sanding or prepping - just clean your surface.  Two coats did an amazing job of covering this wood.  I was worried about how textured the paint was, but with very minimal sanding it became silky smooth!

I followed the same recipe Korrie @ Red Hen Home shared back in October.  That's how long I've been waiting to try this!

I was a good blogger and snapped a before picture.  And yes, I know, it's oak.  I can't even say that it was in such horrible shape that I had no choice but to paint it.  But I wanted it aqua, so look away all you squeamish oak-lovers!  If it  makes you feel better I have an antique washstand that will never see a drop of paint.

The hardest part was painting all the wood on the inside, but I don't think it took me more than four hours to paint.  Rather than tape off all the glass, I just scraped all the excess paint off with a razor blade after I was finished.

Here she is housing all my fabrics in my craft room! *LOVE*

Here is a close-up of the paint and subtle distressing.  You can really see the texture of the wood and paint here! I love it!

Just look at those legs!

I put a sneak peek of the photo on facebook last week, and my pal Bonnie lovingly pointed out that I'm well on my way to becoming a fabric whore! Haha! Yes, yes I am!

I walk in and see how neat and colorful it looks in here and I just sigh with contentment!

On a side note, do you know how hard it is to take photos of a cabinet that is almost entirely glass and has a mirrored back? Very hard!

Here's the view when you first walk into my craft room.  I don't know why all my walls have a chocolate look in these photos, but they're dark gray, promise!

Don't laugh at this next shot, I'm know it's horrible.  Just wanted to show you the light in the top of the cabinet.  You know, just in case my fabric gets scared of the dark! ;)

This is my absolute favorite picture - I love the key hole, and this really shows the color of the cabinet best!

Sadly, the lock was broken and we had to have a locksmith open it to tell us that.  So the keyhole is only for looks.  Bummer, this would have been so cool with a genuine skeleton key lock!

Cheers!