The Little Pie Safe that Could

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I have been on the hunt for a little armoire or chest for extra storage in our bedroom.  I seem to have acquired an awful lot of clothes and things were getting a little tight in my closet.

 On Saturday, I found the PERFECT little pie safe.  Perfect size, condition, and just cute as a bug.  David was so nice to stop on his way back from Arkansas and load it up for me AND carry it upstairs.  The only thing that I didn't love (come on, you knew there would be something!) was that it was shabby chic white.  It was adorable that way, but didn't look quite right with the darker colors in our house.  I love black furniture, and already had some Martha Stewart chalk paint in beetle black, so I took the plunge and painted.  Once I had one side done, I was sure I'd make a huge mistake.  The flat black looked just awful.  But I was already committed, so I pressed on.  I let the paint dry overnight, then started distressing it with sandpaper Sunday morning.  I started to like it better.

 The picture above shows one side distressed and the other side just as it was after painting.  Deciding that I'd spent enough on this project already, I tried to use Briwax that I already had to wax it.  I tested in a small spot, and was glad that I did as that was removing the paint.  Yikes!  Back to Michael's to get the Martha Stewart clear wax that is meant to go with the chalk paint.

 That was $6 well spent.  The door on the left has been waxed, and the one on the right hasn't.  It just added a nice rich luster (without being shiny) and made it look more finished.

 Here's the finished product.  I love it more than anyone should love a piece of furniture, and am very happy with how it turned out.

 This is a close up of my favorite part.  See the little keyhole?  The distressing really brought that out.  I couldn't decide on new knobs, so I just went with plain wooden ones.  I waxed them with a brown wax, then painted the chalk paint on top before sanding to give them a worn look.  They're the least expensive knobs I've ever purchased, and just might be my favorites!

 My quest to free up closet space is complete!  I could have painted the inside, but it was clean and smelled nice like the store it came from.  Also, by the time I painted, sanded, and waxed, I was all out of energy. ;)