Cedar hope chest remodel

I just finished my first furniture remodel! And to be perfectly honest, I think I'm addicted. It was so much fun I can't imagine ever stopping. And with the way this piece turned out, why would I have to?!

I got this hope chest from my wonderful aunt in July, and immediately I could see the potential in it. It's a gorgeous piece all on its own, but it's simply stunning now! Here's a picture of how it looked before I started working on it:

I was able to do the entire thing in only a few days (I started on Saturday evening and finished on Tuesday afternoon!) thanks to Annie Sloan Chalk paint. Chalk paint is an amazing kind of paint because it's all-natural, dries in a very short amount of time (30 minutes to an hour is average), and doesn't require sanding or priming or any kind of prep before you paint, besides dusting. This paint works on just about any kind of hard surface! This was my first time using chalk paint so I had a lot to learn, but it was very simple and easy to use.

I painted the chest with Old White, a kind of antique-looking off-white color. After I painted it I sanded some of the paint off on some of the edges to give it a kind of distressed, antique look. This look has become very popular in interior design lately but just let me say, I've liked this style for years, long before it was popular. Hipster status here.

 After I sanded and cleaned up the dust, it was time to wax. The thing about chalk paint is that since you don't prime it, you have to use wax after you paint in order to seal it and give it a durable surface. Waxing it was pretty easy, easier than I had expected! I coated it first with clear wax, then again with a dark wax in order to distress and age it even more. When that was all done I used just a teeny tiny bit of light gold gilding wax in some key areas that I wanted to draw attention to. Around the edges, the corners, the keyhole, and the decorations on the front panel, for example. The end result is gorgeous, faux vintage and antique-looking. Here's a picture of the chest now: 

Isn't it gorgeous?! I just love it.

Even though the chest is virtually finished, there's still one more step I have to do. I ordered some custom vinyl decals (think stickers for furniture) to add to the lid and the front panel. On the lid I'm going to have a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, that appears three times in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It goes like this:

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king."

I think it's my favorite bit of writing from Tolkien, and it's a wonderful poem even ignoring everything to do with The Lord of the Rings.
  On the front panel, inside the decorative outlining, I plan to put blackbirds sitting on a branch in a vinyl decal. Overall I think this is going to be an outstanding piece and I'm so glad I can call it my own! I'm very proud of myself, to have created this, if I do say so myself. I hope to do many more pieces of furniture in the near future!

Here are a few more pictures you might enjoy, including some close-ups of some of my favorite features.