Julie-Ann's World: CHALK PAINT

Lately I've been feeling a little like Martha Stewart with all of my DIY projects. But, I am saving a lot of money, which is always a good thing!

I needed night stands for my guest bedroom. With the new farmhouse table arriving soon things are getting moved around and switched out. I wanted night stands with at least two drawers for storage. I can definitely use two of the drawers for my "stuff" and I always like to have drawer space for my guests.

I finally found just what I was looking for.

It might look a little ugly, especially with those pulls, but they are solid, sturdy and wood. Best part is that I got them for $30 each.

So, first I decided to just change out the drawer pulls. But, after three of my lady friends saw the night stands and all gently suggested they should be painted, I finally agreed!

Chalk paint seemed to be the way to go. I googled it and there are dozens of great tutorials on the web. I watched several.

Since I am basically too lazy to drive a distance to get the extremely expensive designer chalk paint recommended by a couple of friends and after checking out the website, I decided to get the chalk paint from Home Depot, the Americana Decor brand. They also offer several tutorials on their website. Well, when I got there they really didn't have much of a selection of paint colors. But, they did have two jars of the color I liked from looking at the color chart on Home Depot's website.

I started painting. It is easy, quick and fun. The paint dries very fast. I got some on my sleeve and whipped it off with a damp rag while it was still damp and it came off perfectly. Each night stand received two coats of chalk paint.

I put the glass knobs on just to see how they
would look. I like them a lot!

The next step after painting is to add a layer of clear furniture wax. There is a gentleman at Home Depot who works in the paint department who is very knowledgeable and helpful. He suggested I use Minwax and not the expensive wax that is sold with the chalk paint. Thank you - it worked great, but for the final coat I did purchase the Americana Decor brand. It was just easier to use.

Then came the distressing. I didn't want much distressing on these pieces, but I got a little carried away. I used a fine sand paper and lots of elbow grease!

Distressed and ready to apply the dark wax

After using tack cloth to get rid of any fine particles left after the distressing process, it was time for another coat of wax. This layer is normally a tinted, dark wax. Home Depot was out of the darker wax, so I went to Michael's and purchased the Martha Steward brand. It was $10 and worked like a charm. I wiped it on, wiped it off once with a damp rag and then again with a dry rag.

And, I forgot to take a picture of applying the dark wax process. Sorry about that!

Another coat of the clear wax and these tables are good to go! (Remembered a picture!). It is recommended that two coats of clear wax be applied to the top of any furniture such as this for added protection. I put on three coats. Call me crazy!

If I had to do them again, I would have first used an off white chalk paint topped by the blue and then distressed it. I think the off white paint coming through would have looked great. I also would have ordered a lighter stain wax, which was available through the Home Depot website. But, live and learn.

The night stands are cute and very functional. The total cost for this project was under $90 which included the paint and wax. I will enjoy using them and I hope my guests do, too!