Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe

I've had a lot of requests lately for my recipe for my 

Homemade Chalk Paint.

So, I decided just to make a post about it, so I can now refer everyone to a link.  :)

Its actually not my recipe.

It was given to me by Val from 2ndEssence 

and it works like a charm.

So easy.

So simple.  

So cheap.

That's all there is to it.

It adheres to anything.

It doesn't have the initial smoothness of ASCP, 

but it does sand out to a very nice finish.

Its pretty much my go-to when I'm not using ASCP and it was all I used before I made the financial commitment to purchase Annie Sloan's original version.

Here are some examples of the many, many things 

I've painted using this recipe.

It has made re-doing pieces soooooo much easier.  

And inexpensive.

If I had a blog post available for the piece, I provided the link to them.

So you can see the befores and know just what this recipe can do for you.  :)

Dumpy Thrifted Desk

Bland Dining Room Table

Gaudy Gold Mirror

Antique Lady's Writing Desk

Vintage Pine Chimney Cabinet

Daddy's Rocking Chair

Pleather Thrifted Footstool

Vanity Bench

Antique Washstand

Thrifted Ladder

and one with a combination of ASCP and homemade chalk paint - you know, for the project that eats more ASCP than you planned and you're in a little bit of a bind...

China Cabinet

See...  There's just no end to what you can do with it.

And you can mix up all the colors of the rainbow.

So, that's why even though I'm primarily using ASCP now, I don't think I'll ever quit using homemade.

Because, you never know when you just might find a piece of furniture that's telling you to give it its own special color.  ;)

XO,

Dining Room Table: Reveal

I apologize in advance for those of you who voted for the book shelves to be done first, instead of the dining room table.  Unfortunately, the book shelves require Scott's know-how and the dining room table did not.  I'm still waiting on the trim for the book shelves.  I really should learn how to operate power tools.  LOL

Anyhoo...

The dining room table was my Mom and Dad's.  After their divorce, my Dad got the dining room table and when he died, I got it.  My Dad was all about wood, like most typical men.  Stained wood furnishings were the rule of thumb in his house.  Needless to say, I inherited quite a bit of paintable furniture.  He's probably rolling over in his grave, somewhere in Delaware Bay.  Sorry Daddy, but the wood has got to go.  I know you would still love me anyway. :D

Okay, so on that morbid note, here's the before pic taken shortly after we moved into our house.

I still can't believe that this was the office!

After five years of basically using it from everything from meals to homework to school projects to crafts, it was looking mighty rough.  When I questioned my mom as to why in the world they bought a maple table because its such a soft wood, she said, "Because it was on sale."  Oooookay then.

So, I wiped her down and did some light sanding for prep:

And the same with the chairs:

I had to sand a little heavier on the edges of the tops and sides because they were knicked and dinged to death.

Using my trusty chalk paint recipe, I painted the top with "Cotton Balls" by Benjamin Moore and the bottom, my favorite color ever...  "Covington Blue" from the Benjamin Moore Historical Series.  Its a blue without being a blah blue.  Depending on the light, it can take on almost an aqua-y feel without being aqua.  Its a lovely color.

 I debated on going all white for quite some time, but as I usually do, I went off of what I am drawn to in my home decor magazines.  And its always the tables that the bases are painted blue.  Every.  Time.

And you know me with my "too much white" thing going on.  And of course I had to "make it look old".  ;)

And I can tell you its no fun trying to reveal a piece of furniture and get a good picture of it when the room is still in demo stage.  LOL

 So, just try to ignore the half painted book shelf with its missing trim and the destroyed wood floors that we've finally decided just to paint.  Obviously having someone come in and re-do them just ain't going to work.  The pine is just too soft to withstand our foot traffic and I'm not going to throw another $900.00 out the window for the floors in the office and the dining room again, only to have them look like they do now... Again.  Contractor horror stories, anyone?

I am still amazed at how much going lighter has made a difference in the atmosphere of our home.  Its so much more cheerful and relaxing.  

My goal is to get a bench to go on the wall side of the table, so it can be pushed back against the wall when not in use.  For now, painting the two oak pressback chairs to match works.  Plus, a bench will seat three of my rugrats, making room for everyone at the table.

I can't wait to get the wainscoting done, so I can hang that gorgeous mirror on the wall above the table.  Scott?  Are you reading this???  ;)

Next...

My Dad's rocking chair or the china hutch.  I haven't decided yet.  Check out my facebook page for new uploads of the china hutch.  We picked her up last night.  :D

XO,

Linking up to:

Dumpster Diva

The 36th Avenue

Days of Chalk and Chocolate

Pine Chimney Cabinet

Back in January when I revealed my office makeover, I told you I would tell you about the fiasco that was my pine chimney cabinet.  The best makeover stories are the screw-ups with the happy ending, I think.

A chimney cabinet or cupboard was used during the 1800's in the small narrow space in between the chimney and the wall.  Mostly used for utility storage, it was a great use of a small space.  I have no idea how old the one I found in the "Mart of Doom" (you can read while I call it that HERE) is, but it has definitely seen some wear and tear.

I managed to talk good ol' Gene down to $50.00 from his $75.00  asking price, so at least I saved a wee bit on it.

Probably still paid too much for it, but what-ev.  Serves its purpose just fine.

It was really disgustingly gross on the inside - as are most things from the "Mart of Doom", but it cleaned up really well.

Initially, my idea was to remove the lengthwise divider on the inside and replace it with horizontal shelving.  Maybe one day.  Being the midst of the massive office makeover, honestly I was just too lazy to tackle it...  Especially after my massive blunder on it.

Sooooooo...

My idea was to paint her a gorgeous blue with some homemade chalk paint and then give her a little distressing.

Did that.  Didn't like it.  Too blah.

HOLY COW.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THE OFFICE USED TO LOOK LIKE THAT?????

So, then I got the wondrous idea to write a Bible verse down the entire front of it - in paint marker.  A great idea in theory - and probably a great idea if you execute it right.  Yeah, I didn't.

Poor Scott took an hour to tediously draw lines down the entire front of the cabinet.  As I've mentioned before, I have crooked eye syndrome and I can't even draw a straight line using a ruler.  Its a terrible affliction, believe me.

When he was done, I set to work writing Proverbs 31. It looked terrible.  I tried silver paint.  It was too light.  I tried black paint over the silver paint.  It was too dark.  I had absolutely RUINED the cabinet and I was HORRIFIED.

So, I decided to see if I could take a Magic Eraser to it.  Nope, didn't work.  409?  Nope.  Clorox?  Nope.  I wanted to cry.  Seriously.  I REALLY didn't want to paint over it again.  You have to understand that at the time I was primer and painting the entire office; Walls AND trim.  Not to mention three separate furniture makeover that were going INTO said office.  I really, really didn't want to have to start over.  Considering I'm not a pro at this and I've only been making over furniture for a little over 6 months, I was at my maximum stress threshold level.

Needless to say, I DON'T have pictures of the catastrophe.  If I did, I'd show ya.

As a last ditch effort, I took the sander to it.  You know how I REALLY like my chippy, shabby look:

As I sanded, I really started to like what I was seeing.

I sanded a little more...

And a little more...

And a little more.

Bit by bit, I realized that maybe screwing it up had been a good thing.  

And the more I sanded and distressed it, the more I liked it.

Or as my kids call it, "Making Everything Old"  LOL

And even though I decided to leave the vertical divider in place, it works great for the chicken wire, newspaper, and upholstery I store in it.

Of course, Scott good naturedly grumbled about all the time he had spent drawing all the lines, so I could write the verse straight only for me to sand most of it off.  LOL  But, it works.  And goes wonderfully with the office, even if it was a mistake.  :)

Don'tcha just love it when that happens?  ;)

Happy Good Friday, y'all...

XO,

Reveal: Washstand

Back in November, Scott bought me this beautiful washstand from our local thrift for $125.00.  You can read about that HERE.  Although I swore I would never paint her, I did.  I gave in.  I am on a mission to purge the house of any its dark depressing-ness.  And she needed a paint job.

Yesterday, I decided to stop procrastinating and just do it already.  I fixed a few spots where her top was chipped on the edges with some wood filler and lightly sanded her down before I got to work with some homemade chalk paint...

I hemmed and hawed forever over whether to do a color or stick with white.  I usually decide to play it safe with white or some other neutral and then drool over blogger peeps that throw caution to wind and go with bright, vivid color.  Take Amy for example, from The Salvage Collection.  She's always doing awesome furniture makeovers with vibrant color, like this:

Droolin' on the "kuh-nobs".
(Ya gotta read Amy to get that.)

So, I decided to go out on a limb.  

And jump.

There's one thing about it, you're either going to love it or hate it.  I love it.  And the knobs...  Yeah.  I {heart} Hobby Lobby.  And better yet, 50% off.  I am so glad I drove 45 minutes into W'loo yesterday on a whim.  The knobs make it.

And the detailing that I love totally "pops" now.

I'm actually surprised how much I like it.  

Adore it, actually.

Super bright.  Super cheerful.

And get this...

This morning as I was groggily sitting up in bed trying to shake off the last dregs of sleep, I looked over at the rocking chair that I bought off Craigslist last summer for $30.00.  Amazingly enought, I think it was built by Square Brand too.  The detailing is almost exact.

What are the odds of that?

Pretty slim, I betcha. 

Now, some of you are probably ranting at your computer right now because I painted an antique.  You probably liked the dark heaviness of the original:

But I think she's gorgeous.

And totally me.

And when you throw in some perky spring goodness...

Does it get any better?

I don't think so.

What about you?

XO,

Linking up to:

The 36th Avenue
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
52 Mantels
Have A Daily Cup From Mrs. Olsen
House of Hepworths
Lil Luna
Restore Interiors
The Shabby Nest
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Redoux
Embracing Change
Days of Chalk and Chocolate
From My Front Porch To Yours
Too Much Time On My Hands
Decorating Insanity
Kammy's Korner
Dumpster Diva
Debbie Do's Newbie Party

Mirror, mirror...

Not on the wall yet, but it will be...  eventually.  ;)

Some of you might remember this really gold mirror that I picked up from the "Mart of Doom" back in December:

Although it is plastic, it was a steal at thirty-five dollars.

But it needed a little work.

So, I took some homemade chalk paint to her:

I liked her just plain white, but I really wanted to make those details pop.  So, I broke out the technique glaze.

When I first started upcycling and making over furniture, I would read all these bloggers talking about glazing.  Kind of like how they talk about ASCP -  It took me FOREVER to put Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and ASCP together.  Hey, I'm blond.  What can I say?

Anyhoo...  I had no clue who, what, when, where, why, or how to glaze.  So, for those of you who are newbies, here's a few quick instructions on how to glaze.  I'm not sure if its the "right" way or not, but its "my" way and I've never had any issues with it.  So, here goes...

For those of you who have never used technique glaze, its a great alternative to age furniture, or in this case - a mirror.  Or, it can really make detailing stand out.  Sometimes I use wax, but I wasn't liking the idea of having to dig chunks of wax out of all the crevices.  I really need to get one of those nifty brushes.  Sorry, ADD moment...  So, that's why I went with the glaze.

Its pretty simple.  Trust me.  If it wasn't, I wouldn't do it.  ;)  I basically mix about a cup of technique glaze to an ounce of colored paint.  You can glaze with any color your little heart desires, so its a fun alternative to plain light or dark wax.

I really wanted to go with a gray glaze, but it was too light.  So, I mixed in some brown paint with the gray paint and glaze.  Its always good to do a small area first, just to make sure you like how it's looking.

The first thing you're going to do is put it on with a brush.  There's no special way, just slap it on there.  I used a craft brush, just because I really wanted to control the size of the space I was glazing.

The big thing with glaze is, you don't want to do too big of an area at once on a piece that has as much detail as this mirror does.  You will run the risk of the glaze partially drying before you have a chance to wipe it off.

Now, you're not going to wipe all of it off.  You need to just wipe it gently.  Technically, I usually use a cotton t-shirt, but I was too lazy to find one to cut up (and Scott is running out of old shirts and is going to start to notice), so I just used a dish cloth.  Some people recommend dampening the cloth you're using, but personally I don't feel like it gives me as much control over how much I'm removing.  That's my personal preference though.

Gently wipe in the direction of the pattern, being sure to leave some residue behind.

Next, because of all the different grooves and crevices, I took a Q-tip to it.  Are there never ending uses to a Q-tip or what?  LOL

I just cleaned around inside of all the crevices where the glaze had really pooled.  Tedious?  Yes.  Monotonous?  Yes.  But necessary. You don't want it to look all gunked up.  In my world, "gunked" is a word.  ;)

Here, you can see the difference between glazed and unglazed:

Left Side:  Glazed
Right Side:  Unglazed

And the final result is a piece that has been freshly painted, but looks ages old.  And the detailing is so much more defined than it would have been if I had left it pure white.  And sooooo much better than that gaudy gold. (No offense to peeps that might like gaudy gold.  :P )

A quick before:

Gaudy Gold

Antiqued White

And so much more fun than painting on the furniture or walls.

I'm such an instant gratification lush.  ;)

And I cannot wait to hang this on the wall in the dining room...  whenever that may be.  HA.

But, at least I did get something done that was worth blogging about.  LOL

And just so you know I'm actually working on some stuff, here's a sneak peek of the dining room table:

She's finally done, but I'm still working on the chairs.  I'm not sure what's up with the wonky colors of the blue in this photo, but I can assure you that she's a gorgeous distressed one tone blue.  ;)

So, now you know what I'm working on tomorrow...  The chairs.

Until then y'all...