Try Chalk Paint to Repurpose, Restore, Relove

Chalk Paint*

Paint Cans

Chalk paint lends itself to vintage furniture but it can be used on any type or style of furniture.  Not only that, you can use it on so many surfaces. I know as I’ve tried it on most surfaces from timber to plastic to pottery to anything that will stay still long enough to get the paint brush on it. I am yet to try fabric but the results I’ve read about say it comes up like leather once the wax is applied and easy to wipe over.

So –

Painting the furniture with chalk paint – What you need to do.

The three steps you need to do.

  • Prep
  • Paint
  • Protect

Prep – Clean down the piece, make sure there it is clean, no dust and of course if there are marks or damage that needs to be repaired and will effect the finished look then take care of those as you normally would. That’s is, no priming or other preparation needed. Just make sure the piece is clean as paint and dust, any paint and dust doesn’t get along.

Paint – If you have the ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) or you may be able to get another brand if you live in the US.

Select your colour, lift the lid,give it a stir and start painting. Make sure you have a good quality paint brush.

If you don’t have ASCP then select the colour and mix your own. You will need a matt or low-sheen paint, brand of your choice.

There are several additives to make up the chalk paint. These include

  • Plaster of Paris
  • Baking Soda
  • Unsanded Grout
  • Cornflour/cornstarch
  • Calcium Carbonate

The recipes for these you can find here

I have only used the last two on that list. The first three, while some people have had success with them, there were various reasons I didn’t want to even try them. I knew the cornflour would dissolve easily and not separate out and the calcium carbonate is – CHALK.

People were reporting on their websites that calcium carbonate was hard to find and somewhat expensive when they could find it. I was finding the same thing but…

I went to good ole Google and it all depends what you type into the search as to what you. I ended up on a forum for people who keep fish, not sure why someone on there wanted to use Calcium Carbonate but someone answered their question as to where to get it…the Produce Market, a business where small farmers and market gardeners get their supplies. One was a five minute drive from me and sold Calcium Carbonate in bags of 2kg up starting at $3AUD.

So I mixed up my paint with the Calcium Carbonate and started painting. I liked it, so now I have two options.

The paint I have left over from a project I keep in screwtop jars and both recipes have kept very well when I want to use that colour again.

The beauty of getting a recipe for chalk paint that you like is you can make it up in any colour you like. ASCP is limited on colours but Annie Sloan has put out a book on how to mix her colours to get a variety of shades to use.

Buying the paint to use, it is a good idea to get the sample pots, here in Australia we have a few paint companies, one puts out a 250ml sample pot while there are others who put out a 500ml pot. You can paint a lot with a 500ml pot of paint and for around $10 is good value. The 250ml pots are around the $8 at my hardware.