DIY | Chalk Paint & How to Paint

Hi everyone, Hope you had a wonderful week! I am so excited to share with you an amazing way to paint furniture, especially laminated ones. Now usually, I'd rather stain a good piece of wood because wood grain is naturally beautiful. BUT. If you love your painted pieces more and it works with your decor, YOU DO YOU BABY. Since I am on Pinterest 90% of my life,it is quite obvious that I'd encounter chalk paint. At first I was skeptical, looking at the price and the special brushes etc. But let me tell you, this stuff is legit. No prime,no sand, just brush it on, seal, and you're good to go.

The most popular chalk paint on pinterest

Annie Sloan chalk paint seems to be the holy grail of chalk paint for Pinterest crafters. But I've seen other brands coming up with their own version of chalk paint like Rustoleum and Valspar. Choose any you'd feel comfortable with and experiment!

Since I want to try chalk painting but not willing to pay the price for one plus shipping to Malaysia, I decided to try to mix my own. There are a lot of recipes on Pinterest, but I found that this worked for me best.

HOW TO MAKE CHALK PAINT

As you can see from my previous post, I painted my old wicker chest to a warm gray taupe-y color that looks a bit like Annie Sloan's French Linen Chalk Paint. So to achieve this color, I went to the art shop (I went to section 2 Shah Alam) and bought these:

1. Raw Umber Acrylic/Latex paint

2. Mid Gray Acrylic/Latex paint

3. Titanium White Acrylic/Latex paint

4. Plaster of Paris

Of course you can buy any colour you wish (Go bold! Go pastel!) but as for the paint, I recommend you to try Marie's Acrylic ones because the coverage is amazing, the texture is soft but not runny and is at an affordable price point. I bought mine at RM6.50 for 75ml.

After testing a lot of mixes, I found that the ratio worked for me best is 3:1:1

- 3 parts of  latex paint

- 1 part plaster of paris

- 1 part water

1. To achieve a taupe-y gray color, mix mid gray and raw umber color. I eyeballed the measurement but it is almost 70% gray and 30% raw umber.

How my first paints ratio look like.

2. Mix the colors. Assess if the color is as what you desire. Mine turned a bit too brown so I add a bit more gray and titanium white.

3. Mix, mix, mix. If you're happy with the color, add plaster of paris and water, keeping in mind the ratio should be 3 parts paint, 1 part POP, and 1 part water.

HOW TO PAINT WITH CHALK PAINT

 Believe it or not, it is super easy to use chalk paint. People rave how you can just dip your brush and go to town straight away. However, for me there are general rules you should do to make sure your painting looks great.

1. Use a good quality brush. A good brush not only will save you a lot of money in the future, but also will deliver amazing results.

2. Check your furniture for peeling, knots, holes etc. This is especially important if you are painting laminated furniture as they are notorious for peeling. Little fixes will make all the difference.

3. It is always better to do a thin coat of paint, wait for it to dry to touch, and add another layer of paint than slapping a goop of thick paint.

Test your color at a inconspicuous area. If you're happy with the color, proceed to paint.

The first coat's coverage will give you a bit of heart attack. You can still see the original color peeking through. Wait for the first coat to dry, and add another layer of paint.

Swoon at your ability to paint without primer. Go you!

SEALING CHALK PAINT

Sealing your chalk painted furniture is crucial. Chalk paint is not as durable as gloss latex paint, but it will give you a matt, flat, rustic kind of look. If you are looking for this look but want to protect the furniture,you'd have to seal it properly.

For high traffic furniture that will get a lot of dings and spills like kitchen table, you can use polyurethane or polycrilic finish. With chalk paint, almost everyone say you should wax the furniture. While waxing will give you a beautiful hand-rubbed sheen, it is not as durable and you'd need to reapply wax every couple of weeks.

Since the only traffic my litter box will get is from my kitten, I decided to try acrylic clear spray paint to seal the furniture. This is an experiment and I will update you how it is holding up after a couple of months.

They spray motorcycles with this. So why not my wicker chest??

After you finish sealing, let the furniture cure for about 4,5 days to remove all the VOCs. This is important if you have kids, pets or love yourself. As I am carrying a baby :) and this chest is for my kitten, I let it cure fully before using.

After all the hard work and agonizing curing time, it's time to enjoy your rustic painted furniture! I hope you will give this DIY a shot and share your creations at the comment section!

Have a great week ahead!