Rustic & Ranchy to Beautiful & Beachy- Antique Paint Job

So a few weeks ago we (Calvary Baptist Church) were paint a house as a service project and the people that owned the house heard we were have a garage sale for our life group to help support a trip to Haiti in January, and they gave us 4 saddles (yes saddles... which are in my garage at the moment waiting to be Craig's listed) and then this rustic looking tri fold room divider. At first i thought i would just sell it all but then i got to looking at the room divider and a friend said she LOVED it so i passed a paint color by her and took it from there.


STEP ONE:
paint- I recently just discovered the "mis-tint" section of any hardware or home improvement store. It's where the rejected and neglected paint gets sent. It was obviously mixed wrong for someone and they didn't like the way it turned out and thus it gets tagged with a big ole clearance sticker and put away on a shelf only to be looked at by cheapo's like ME :) and entire gallon of paint for 5 BUCKS cant beat that! I've started looking at the mis-tints even if i don't have a color in mind just to stock up on a few colors i might would like while they are there.
STEP TWO:
sand- sand off any finish or paint that is left on the piece you are going to paint take off all the hard ware and sand over where the hardware used to be.
STEP THREE:
paint like a three year old- seriously! You know how kids paint with brushes... they are random and aren't very focused on getting coverage everywhere. Dip your brush in the paint but then try to wipe most of it off then make long brush strokes (with the wood grain) not covering the wood with paint. really really important that you paint lightly. Once that layer has dried... do it again and again it may take 4 or 5 coats but if you are doing it right it will have a layered look and you will be able to see the induviual brush strokes but it will still all be covered in the end. With the piece i did i took a little of the blue paint and added a little white just to lighten it up and i took a small like water color brush and made little lines randomly and took the big brush and blended it in. Once you've finished that...
STEP FOUR:
sand again- but this time sand on the corners and places that the piece would be worn if it was really old... like the legs of desks get really worn out from being moved all the time, edges of tables would be worn and if it have handles or drawers they would be worn. I used a sanding block, they are with the sand paper but they are shaped like sponges, they are GREAT for getting into tight spots. Be sure to get a MEDIUM grit. Dont push on the piece too hard when you sand because that will just scratch it instead of wearing the paint. When you have finished the edges give the entire piece a lite sanding all over just to make the paint not look brand spankin new. 
STEP FIVE:
stain and polish: when you sand the edges the wood is going to show thru... thats the whole purpose but the wood might not be the exact color you want so hop on over to lowes and grab a tiny can of stain. In whatever color you like dip a Qtip in it and rub it onto ONLY the wood (not paint) let sit for a few seconds then wipe it off. After all that spray a wood polish (i pick orange glow cause it smells good but use whatever you want) onto a rag and rub the whole piece down :) thats it DONE!

I know it sounds like a lot but don't get intimidated by it because its really hard to mess this one up.. if you don't like the way a patch of the paint looks... sand it off and start again.