Chalk Paint can Transform Furniture

I have been feverishly working on a piece of furniture that I bought for 5 dollars, yes 5 dollars.  It is a really nice piece that was made in Maryland.  Nothing is made in Maryland anymore.  I am pretty sure all furniture is made outside the US except some fine pieces made by craftsman.  So I was pretty excited when the guy said the price.  As a matter of fact I thought I should probably run to the car with it in case he changed his mind.

Any way I sanded the top down like I mentioned earlier.  It had some soft white gummy stuff on the top.  I wish I had taken a picture of it, but I didn’t so here is what it looked like after I sanded it.  Then  I  started the debate in my mind about whether I should stain it or paint it.  I decided on painting it.  I do not have a lot of fun painted furniture in my house and I think I definitely need some.  Thinking about what color to paint is even worse.  I want to paint something red but I did not think this was the right piece.

I decided to mix 2 Annie Sloan Chalk paint colors together, Aubusson and Graphite.  They made a blue.  I might have mixed more graphite to make it darker blue but this will work.  Then I just started painting.  I couldn’t wait till the next day to work on it so I started last night.  I put the piece up on my counter top to finish it because I am short and I wanted to see everything well.  The hardest part about painting furniture is watching for drips and finding all the crevices.

I think it looks really good.   What do you think?

Painting furniture is not hard especially with chalk paint.  It goes on easily, it does not need a fancy brush and it is very forgiving.  I would recommend it for anything.  You do not have to sand before you put it on, I just did because of the mess that was on the top.  You just pop the can open and apply.  I have used several chalk paints and have even made my own.  I have just found that Annie Sloan is so smooth and goes on evenly in pretty thick layers.

Try it sometime.  Honestly, Janet