Yard sales are one of my favorite activities. I am not much of a shopper, but I will go to a tag sale. Finding a sturdy piece of furniture and making it my own is the reward of going to a yard sale. Painted furniture using chalk paint makes it easy to transform a piece. I know some peoples skin will crawl at this idea, but painting a piece of furniture is the way to go. You can buy inexpensive pieces and transform them in a couple of hours. I tried to go every Saturday search for pieces I would like to transform.
Looking For The Perfect Piece
Even though I do not NEED anymore furniture I still like to look for pieces I can chalk paint. I came upon a piece of furniture I could not walk away from. All morning I had seen several small pieces that were just too much for me to jump on, but this end table spoke to me. It called my name out loud and when I asked the young man how much it was and he said, “five dollars.” I said, “I’ll take it. Sometimes when I find a neat piece like that I almost feel like I need to run to the car with it in case the seller changes his mind. Anyway here is the picture:
To Sand or Not To Sand
It is really cute, isn’t it. I wasn’t sure where I would use it or if I would even keep it, but 5$, I couldn’t walk away. So I thought about just finishing the top and the pictures are of it already sanded down. The top had some kind of gunky stuff on it and it sanded off pretty easily with my orbital sander. I bought this one here, sander It does the job nicely and is pretty easy to handle. Using sand paper can be done also, but it will take you a lot longer. Using this orbital sander make the sanding process really easy. With just a few swipes the gunky stuff on top was gone, as well as the old finish. If you would like a sander the one I bought sits nicely in my hand. I have also used it for floors recently and it did a really good job. Just click on the highlighted sander link and it will take you there. Not all pieces need to be sanded. The top of this one was in pretty bad shape so it did need to be sanded, but ONLY the top.
Painted Furniture Using Chalk Paint
If you bring a piece home and you like it the way it is, by all means do not paint it. I really like to chalk paint furniture. It is instantly gratifying and almost always makes a piece look more contemporary. So after sanding the top I decided to paint it.
Chalk Painted Furniture?/Reasons to Use Chalk Paint
- No sanding necessary, for real
- It gives a nice matte finish.
- Chalk paint does not take a lot of coats.
- The finish is very durable.
Picking Colors
I could go on and on,but I did decide to paint this pieces. The time it took to sand it down was worth it. The belt sander made the task fairly simple. If you do not have a belt sander I highly recommend one for this kind of job. Just click on the little sander icon above and it will take you to Amazon where you can buy one like mine. There are so many types of paint for furniture, but if you are an amateur like me, well chalk paint is the way to go. Picking the perfect color is another problem all together. I love blues and I really thought this was going to dry to a more navy blue than it did. I ended up mixing two colors of chalk paint that I had by Annie Sloan.
Annie Sloan or DIY Chalk Paint
I have used Annie Sloan chalk paint before and really like it, but there are lots of reviews about that on line, if you want to read some articles about them DIY Beautify talks about it. Just click on her highlighted name and you can read all about it. I have also made my own with all the recipes that are out there. I just did not WANT to make it this time. The DIY recipes are good but Annie Sloan Chalk Paint it the best. It goes on like butter or icing a cake. The coverage is fantastic and it dries really quick. I decided to mix Graphite and Aubusson. The Graphite is a soft black and the Aubusson is a very rich blue.After I painted the table my husband commented on how much he loved the color. Let me know what you think.
Buy Pieces and Make Them Your Own
I love how it turned out. For 5$ a took a nice piece of furniture and made it into something I really love. It didn’t take that long.
Yard Sales Are The Way To Go
Getting up and going to yard sales, tag sales and estate sale can be a lot of fun. It can also very rewarding. I rarely buy new furniture. Both of the chairs beside the table were bought at yard sales. Good furniture is out there for you to buy. It can be recovered or just used the way you buy it.
The Finished Product
Everytime someone comes over they comment on the table. I think it is called a library table. I am so pleased with it.
Give it a try. Maybe you have a piece of furniture already in your house you can try to paint. A bar stool, a dresser or even another end table of some kind.
There are many brands of chalk paint out there and companies are making more and more of them. Don’t use the spray paints though. They are just not easy to use. The can and paint brush are the easiest way to go.
Honestly,Janet
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