How to Make Chalk Paint
We have a lot of old wooden furniture in our flat, most of which came from various friends who were moving house and couldn't take certain things with them. This has lead to quite a hodge podge of different shades and types of wood in our home, aesthetically this irritates me a little and I've wanted to paint most of our pieces for quite a while. My boyfriend and I live in a small one bed flat with no proper outdoor space so sanding and prepping wood is impossible, this lead me to research chalk paint.
If you haven't heard of chalk paint it's a product first made famous by Annie Sloan. Annie Sloan started producing chalk paint as a way to easily paint onto wood, metal, plastic without the need to prep or sand the surface, essentially you can use it to paint anything. Recently more paint manufacturers have started to produce chalk paint but it's quite expensive at around £20 per litre, more than twice the price of making it yourself. FYI chalk paint is not chalkboard paint, have a little look on google to get more information.
Below is the method I used to make your own, I literally gave the furniture a quick wipe down and started applying the paint directly onto the wood and the results were brilliant.
What you need:
Paint Kettle £1.40
Emulsion paint
£1.10 for 75ml / £15 2.5 Lt
Plaster of paris £3.50 1.5 kg
Paint Brushes £2.50-£5
Plastic spoon / stirrer
Method:
The ratio you need to create your paint is three parts emulsion to one part plaster of paris. Mix a little water with the plaster of paris to create a paste and blend thoroughly with a plastic spoon or coffee stirrer until smooth. Add the paint and stir, stir, stir until the lumps are gone. You are now ready to paint your chosen piece of furniture! Start with a relatively thin layer of paint as your first coat then on your second you can really slap it on to create some texture. If you have never painted furniture before I highly suggest some practice and research.
The Plaster of Paris Paste
Scotch Grey by Sanderson
My Bureau Before it was Painted
The First Application of Chalk Paint
The Finished Bureau!
Painting this piece has really brightened up our bedroom, I liked the original wood but it was so beaten up and dark I think it really needed updating. You can also see my decorative bits and pieces a lot better now as the colour really makes them stand out. I have also painted our dining table and I'm planning on painting the chest of drawers in the bedroom charcoal grey tomorrow, I've caught the painting bug!
