Chalk painted furniture – Page 8

3 Homemade Chalk Paint Recipes Reviewed

July 27, 2012 by Patti 70 Comments

As I’ve said before, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint has changed my world and I love, love, love it! However, in the interest of saving money (and I’m always looking for ways to save money) I decided to try a few of the homemade chalk paint recipes I found online. The first ingredient of each of these recipes is latex paint, in the color of your choice. One recipe specified the use of flat latex paint, another said it could be any type of latex paint. Hmmm . . . maybe one of those old cans of leftover paint sitting in the corner of your garage? Come along with me as I share my experience with you.

The first recipe came from the wonderful blog Elizabeth & Co.

Sharon’s blog has so many great ideas for creating a warm and inviting home and she also hosts a party every Tuesday where you link up your own creations. I hope you’ll take the time to pay her a visit . . . after finishing up here of course!

So, here we go. I mixed the Plaster of Paris with a bit of water first to create a smooth, liquidy paste without lumps. I added FLAT latex paint and mixed thoroughly. I then added a little more water so it was about the consistency of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).

My experience: The paint covered well, maybe even a little better than ASCP. I added a second coat within an hour. It is nice that it dries so quickly. When completely dry this recipe has a grittier feel than ASCP. I found that I needed to lightly sand the whole piece prior to adding the clear wax, but this may be just fine with you if you are planning on distressing your piece anyway. Another downside, was that the Plaster of Paris lightened my original paint color a little. I wished I had gone just a shade darker. After waxing, the end result was a smooth finish, but still not quite as smooth as ASCP.

Cost: This is the good part. The Valspar paint sample I purchased from Lowe’s was $2.94 and the four pound container of Dap Plaster of Paris (which will last forever!) was $6.48. This made enough paint to cover a medium sized piece of furniture with two coats of paint.

Recipe #2 comes from LizMarie. This is another blog I am in love with. LizMarie covers of wide spectrum of DIY projects and also hosts a great linky party each Friday.

This recipe didn’t actually mention adding water but the unsanded grout and paint mixture was a little thick so I ended up adding a bit of water to bring it to the right consistency. I think the next time I’ll mix the grout with some cool water before adding the paint, just like I did with recipe #1.

My experience: This paint covered well, even a little better than Recipe #1. It dried a little gritty but not as rough as Recipe #1. I did sand it before adding soft wax as I wanted this piece to be heavily distressed. When I sanded, I noticed several white specks appeared on the piece, showing through the blue. Though I mixed the paint and grout well, maybe an electric mixer would have alleviated this problem. All I had to do was dry brush some of my paint over these spots. No big deal. The unsanded grout didn’t seem to lighten the color of the paint. It took the wax well and polished up beautifully. Overall – I love the piece I created but, maybe if I wasn’t planning on heavy sanding, ASCP would’ve been my choice.

Cost: $2.94 for the color sample, $11.78 for ten pounds of unsanded grout. Again, this will last me next to forever!

Recipe #3 comes from another one of my favorites sites, No Minimalist Here. Sherry, the author of this blog, is a true artist when it comes to painting furniture. She is such an inspiration to me. She hosts a weekly link party on Thursdays.

The great thing about THIS recipe is that Calcium Carbonate is CHALK! The bad news, for me, was that it was nowhere to be found in the city where I live. I tried health food stores, compounding pharmacies, vitamin stores . . . all to no avail. Many places carry Calcium Carbonate pills, but not in powder form. Not to worry though. While I was driving around the city I decided to search out this elusive ingredient on my iPhone, found and ordered it on Amazon.com, and two days later there it was on my doorstep. I knew my iPhone would eventually be put to better use than just phone calls and texting! Thank you dear hubby, for insisting that I needed one. NOTE: I purchased FOOD GRADE Calcium Carbonate as it is very fine and dissolves easily in liquid.

My experience: Again, this recipe didn’t actually call for water but this time I decided to add a little to the Calcium Carbonate to make sure it was smooth before adding to the paint. It covered pretty well. I’ve decided that coverage depends upon the thickness of the paint, not the “chalk” added to the paint and I just prefer two coats, even with ASCP. When dry, the surface of my piece was smooth, like ASCP. It distressed easily with a sanding sponge. I did notice just a few white specks, not as many as with Recipe #2 but this was an easy fix. The color remained true to my color chip, the wax went on nicely and the finish has a soft and beautiful glow.

In my opinion, RECIPE #3 is the winner of the three!

Cost: $2.94 for the color sample, $5.19 (plus shipping) for 12 ounces of Now Foods Calcium Carbonate Powder. Next time I will order in bulk. Five pounds costs only $10.75 and would again, probably last forever!

So, how does the best of the homemade chalk paint recipes compare to Annie Sloan? Well, ASCP is still my favorite. I am going to tackle painting my kitchen cabinets this summer and I will definitely be using ASCP because of it’s great colors (Old White is my color of choice) and reliability. For some of the pieces of furniture I’ve collected (now stacking up in my garage) I’m looking forward to having some fun experimenting with the many colors available at my Lowe’s, mixed with Calcium Carbonate.

Oh by the way, one other plus to having Calcium Carbonate powder around the house, one level teaspoon per day, added to orange or tomato juice “provides the highest concentrations of elemental calcium, making it an optimal formulation for supporting healthy bones and teeth”! LOL!

Let me know about your chalk paint experiences (I’d love to see pictures) and please don’t forget to visit the blogs I’ve linked to above. You’ll be glad you did.

Blessings to you,

UPDATE TO ABOVE POST: I’ve now used flat, eggshell, and satin finish paints in all of the above recipes and they all work equally well. I don’t believe I’ll risk semi-gloss of gloss finishes though.

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A Chalk Painted What???

July 16, 2012 by Patti 6 Comments

I recently visited a wonderful antiques, collectibles, and gifts store named Wisteria Cottage. It’s wares spread through two cottages and spill out onto the grounds of this beautiful park like property. A few days later I received a call saying that I had won a $25 gift certificate. I could hardly wait to go back and choose my prize but alas, the store is only open one weekend per month. (In the future I will blog on some of my favorite places to shop, including Wisteria Cottage, but for now you can look them up at http://wisteria-cottage.blogspot.com/).

So, with gift certificate held tightly in hand I drug my husband shopping last weekend and what treasure do you think I chose? I could hold a contest but I’m sure you would never guess!

After looking at yard art, rustic items, fine antiques, Americana . . . I couldn’t get past the old ironing board that the owner, Sharon, pulled from a back room. It was just like the one my own mama used when I was a child. What is so compelling about an old ironing board? All I can say is that it made my heart happy. Every week my mother had her ironing day. She would stand at that board lovingly tending to her family’s clothing while singing old Gospel songs along with the radio.

Just looking at this old board I could almost smell the crisp linens pulled off the clothesline in our backyard and in my imaginings, I breathed into my lungs the starch-scented steam rising off the top of the board. I could hear the radio announcer say, “This is the Walk Through the Bible Radio Program, with Dr. J. Vernon McGee”, and the music begin to play, “How Firm a Foundation . . .”

Needless to say, that ironing board came home with me that day. So now, how do I justify money spent (even gift card money) on an old ironing board? I believe it has GREAT potential! Here are just a few ideas:

How do you like it as a library table? I think it is stunning as a display piece for some treasured antique books and my mama’s little night light. She bought this lamp in an antique store when I was a child and painted it white. She was a painter too!

Or how about using an old ironing board next to a dining table as a buffet or sideboard?

Sure, dishes can get heavy but probably no heavier than the pressure of my mama’s strong arm on the iron as she pressed out the wrinkles in my dad’s cotton shirts. And if she was feeling a little angry . . . I’m sure she vented her anger by pressing even harder!

Lastly, here is my ironing board turned plant display stand, under the eaves of my porch. I think it is quite lovely!

As you can see, I painted my ironing board turquoise, the very color that came to mind when I saw it standing there with it’s red metal crossbars. The legs I’ve painted a crisp white.

(This was my second experiment with homemade chalk paint – Recipe #2 of 3. I will be sharing all three recipes, with pros and cons, in an upcoming blog, so stay tuned!)

So, now that I’ve shown you the great value of owning an old ironing board what will I do with mine? As I said, I knew it would be turquoise. I also knew it would hang on my laundry room wall as the inspiration piece for my laundry room re-do (a far, far in the future project!).

Let me assure you that this ironing board will NOT be staying on the wall! Though I rarely iron anything at all, I have decided to junk my old tabletop, half-sized, pressboard ironing board (maybe one of my girls will want it) and I will use the real thing! I think I may just learn to enjoy time spent ironing. Anyone know where I can find a radio station that plays old Gospel music?

What about you? What things have you seen the hidden potential in and what ways have you given old old item a new purpose? I’d love to hear your restoration story 🙂

Blessings,

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What in the world is chalk paint?

June 27, 2012 by Patti 6 Comments

I’ve been asked this many times. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is not the same as Chalkboard paint (which I also love to use). It is a paint made specifically for painting furniture, floors, walls, etc. It creates a smooth, velvety finish that, when sealed with the Annie Sloan Soft Wax, lends a gentle glow to your furniture. I am in LOVE with this paint! Keep reading and I’ll tell you why . . .

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint has revolutionized furniture painting for me. With this paint there is no stripping, sanding, priming, painting a first coat, waiting for days for the paint to cure, sanding again, painting a second coat . . . for anyone who has refinished furniture, you know the time-consuming nature of it all. NOW . . . with this wonderful medium . . . all I have to do with that shabby little piece I picked up at the neighborhood garage sale, is dust it off and start painting!

One coat is usually enough to cover. The paint dries quickly and can be sealed the same day with the wax, which comes in either clear or dark, to give it a more aged appearance. There are a wide variety of colors available and they can be mixed to make custom colors. It is really all about experimenting until you get just the look you want.

For this piece I combined Arles and Antibes Green. I was a little worried about what my husband’s reaction would be to such a vibrant color right in the middle of our living room, but when he came home from work he absolutely loved it!

Part of the beauty of chalk paint is in it’s versatility. In my experience, every piece of furniture seems to call for a different finish. While one item may be just perfect with the silky smooth effect achieved with a coat or two of paint and clear wax, another (like the piece above), seemed destined for the use of a sanding sponge (this paint is so easily distressed) and dark wax, to end up looking like a much cherished piece of furniture. Most of the time I prefer furniture that has a little bit of an aged and distressed look. I believe that there is great beauty in imperfection.

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Chalk painted dining chairs

June 15, 2012 by Patti 5 Comments

So, I begin my new blog with a photo of one of my first chalk painted furniture restoration projects. I came across four very old, very dirty mahogany chairs that had been painted gold. I wish I had taken a before picture, and will for future posts, but the gold was barely visible beneath the dirt. The chairs were solid though and so I went to work mixing two different colors of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to get the perfect color.

Next, I replaced the old cracked leather chair covers with Sunbrella indoor/outdoor fabric. It is wonderfully resistent to spills and stains. I LOVE the whole restoration process. I love the quiet time alone with my work and my thoughts as I contemplate my own life and second chances; I love seeing things transformed before my eyes; and I love the beautiful end result. So rewarding.

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