I started Saturday morning with some of my fine downtown business friends. We volunteered to put the flowers the City had purchased into the planters on Franklin Street and Strawberry Alley. I want to take a moment to thank Mitchell Cherry (Ingredients), Sara Esterby (The Runner’s Hub), Anne Head (Rogate’s Boutique), Linda Shephard (Edward’s Steakhouse), Clifton Whittaker (Downtown Artists’ Co-op) and Ryan Bowie (The Roxy) for coming out to lend a spade for the beautification cause! The flowers are lovely; plus, it shows the dedication your downtown businesses have for a holistic approach to the Downtown Clarksville improvement efforts.
Now that I’ve got the public service announcement out of the way, I can get on with my whining.
So, shortly after we were done cleaning-up the mess of flower planting, I came into the shop to do a little work before heading to the flea market. That’s when it happened. I made the simplest of movements—one I do every day—and pinched a nerve in my back. Oh, the pain! After first promising God that would take better care of my temple if he would allow me to return to an upright position, I began the process of standing erect again. It took what felt like an eternity, but I did it. Though in pain, I still needed to go to the flea market, so off I hobbled.
After a semi-quick tour of the market, I headed home with what little loot I could manage, knowing that when I returned, I wanted to paint our Adirondack chairs. After Darren realized I wasn’t to be deterred, he helped me move and flip the chairs and I managed to get the first coat on both of the chairs. I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but he had already coated them with a stinky coat of oil based primer in white.
Being that white is a difficult color to cover AND I like the layered look, I decided to apply a “mostly covered” coat of the Provence. Now, in case you’ve missed it, the best thing about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ brand decorative paints is the fact that you don’t have to prime or sand. The priming was done by my husband before I had decided to use this paint on some outdoor furniture. That being said, however, I was able to use this paint right on the oil based primer (usually you have to use oil based paint over oil based primer). All I had to do was wipe away the leaves and other debris and start painting. Applying the Provence in a haphazard manner, I left quite a bit of the white exposed.
If I hadn’t gone on to reinjure my back later that evening (go figure), I would have applied the second coat within a few hours or on Sunday. As it turns out, I wasn’t able to add that second layer of paint until Thursday morning. I believe I had mentioned I would use French Linen, but I decided on Country Grey instead.
Country Grey was applied in a technique we call “drop and drag,” to achieve a touch of the color here and there.
The final finish looks as though several layers of paint—applied through the years—have worn with age. Instant patina!
Now, instead of standing out like a pair of brand-new Keds® among some mistreated Chuck Taylors®, they blend with all of our other old, rusty and chippy patio furniture. I am smiling!
If you’ve got plans to paint some furniture or do some other improvements to your outdoor areas, I’d love to hear about it!
PS--Now that I have been living with the chairs for a few weeks, I've decided to add a wash of french linen over the chairs. The color is too "beachy" for our natural surroundings--I need to tone it down. I'll post an updated photo when I am done.
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