By now, many of you fellow Annie Sloan fanatics have probably seen the work of Annie’s newest painter in Residence, Ildiko Horvath, who has created beautiful, bold ombre effects on many of her pieces.

Part of what makes her work so spectacular is the fearless way she blends colors together in unexpected ways, like in her piece shown above! It’s making us want to give it a go ourselves. In case it’s inspiring you too, here’s Annie’s step-by-step guide:

1. Start with the darkest colour at the base of your furniture, for example the feet of your table or chair legs.
2. Mix a little of your second colour into your first colour to lighten the latter.
3. Apply the paler colour above your first colour, using a clean brush to feather the paint while it’s still wet. This light feathering will blend each colour into the next.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you reach your palest colour at the top of the piece of furniture.
5. Seal in your paint with Clear Chalk Paint® Wax.
6. At this stage, you can also darken the colour at the bottom of your piece of furniture using Dark or Black Chalk Paint® Wax. This is also the stage when you can distress your piece of furniture, if you want to, using sanding paper, before re-applying Clear Wax.

We’ve also found that keeping a spray bottle with water on hand can help to create more seamless, gradual color transitions and prevent the look of harsh color striations.

Check out some of our favorite ombre pieces, which have been amassed from Annie’s blog and Pinterest!

Come and see us at our shop in Falls Church Virginia (address here) and talk to us about your project or BUY ONLINE if you are out of state!  We have all your Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan products, wax and so much more!  We have everything you need to complete your project.  Do you have questions email us shop@stylishpatina.com.

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