My First Chalk Paint Project

Have you ever been so excited about how a project is turning out that you show it off before it's even all the way done?  No?  Well, I am going to.  I have been DYING to try out the amazing chalk paint all summer.  My wonderful friend, Amber, of Shades of Amber (click on this link to order), has recently become Colorado's only stockist of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  She was kind enough to send me a quart for me to try.

 I heard all the rave reviews about this last winter and have been wanting to try it ever since.  It may seem a bit expensive at $36.95 a quart- but believe me, it's worth it.  It's a beautiful, thick, creamy texture and spreads beautifully.  The best part is that you don't have to prime, sand or strip down your furniture.  Yup, that's right, just spread the gorgeous paint right on. 

So, here's my guinea pig project. A nice, round coffee table I found cheap on craigslist.

 See that nice glossy, stained finish?  Well, it didn't last long with chalk paint.  In the past I would have had to sand it down a bunch, wipe it down, apply a couple of coats of primer and then get around to painting.  With chalk paint, it's all instant gratification (definitely my type of project.)  I used both a nice purdy-brand brush and a foam roller to apply three coats of paint.  You only need to wait about an hour between coats (see, it IS instant gratification at it's best!)

This is what she looked like with just one coat of "cream" chalk paint:

I was impressed at how thick the paint was, making very few drips or paint brush marks.  It dries very fast, though, so go light, rather than thick as you apply it.  After the three coats, I let it dry overnight.

When dry, you are left with a nice smooth, but matte surface. Here's where the fun begins.  Because of it's chalk nature, it sands away beautifully.  I sanded all the edges to give it a nice aged patina.

It does leave quite a mess of chalk dust when you sand, so do it outside (not inside, on carpet, like I did!)

  I knew right away what I wanted to do to make this table special.  Like the tables I did in my last post here, I found an old french label from The Graphics Fairy (an awesome copyright-free website of clipart) and blew it up at Kinkos.

So here is what it looks like so far.  I still need to use a couple coats of wax to seal in the paint and lettering.  The wax will harden and protect as well as give the piece a sheen (when I finish with the wax, I'll add a post script on with a picture.)

 I love how it looks now!  I'm still not sure it's the right scale for the room, but I'd sure have a hard time parting with it.  It was such a fun, quick project (probably a total of only 2 1/2 hours of work!)

So, are you sold on chalk paint yet?  Well look at all the amazing colors it comes in (and yes, you can layer or mix colors.)

Shades of Amber  (click on link to order) offers a beautiful color deck that you can buy so that you can see what you're getting before you mortgage the farm or cat or whatever to buy the paint!  Brilliant, huh?  What's even better is that they've covered one side in clear wax and the other side in the brown wax so you can really see how it changes/accentuates the color! Amber sent me a deck and it really is beautifully done.

I also recommend visiting Amber's blog to see projects done with chalk paint.  She even hosts a fun link party on Mondays so you can get further inspiration and ideas of what can be done with chalk paint. I'll be linking up my table on Monday, Amber!!!

I would also recommend visiting Miss Mustard Seed's blog posts about chalk paint and her video tutorials on wax if you're feeling a little nervous about trying this.

I still have 3/4 of a can left after painting this table, so I plan on painting a secretary desk that's in my daughter's room next!  I can't wait!!  So what are you going to try Chalk Paint on?

This week I'm linking to:

Furniture Feature Friday
Frugal Friday
Addicts (not so) Anonymous party
Show and Tell Saturday
DIY Project Parade
Shades of Amber Chalk Paint Party