My 1st Chalk Paint Project

My 1st Chalk Paint Project

I love painting furniture with chalk paint!  I've tried plain house paint & spray paint and I've attempted multiple techniques for creating that just perfect aged effect.  Dish soap, Vaseline, bar soap, glaze, windex, bleach, Cleansers...  While I liked the results of some of these materials I had trouble getting a consistent outcome.

Next up, chalk paint.  The brand name paints were WAY out of my price range so I tried a homemade recipe found online.

1 cup latex house paint

2 1/2 tablespoons Plaster Of Paris

1 1/2 tablespoons cool water

But, first things first.  I found this bed at a yard sale for $15.  Yes, that's right.  The whole Queen sized frame for $15.  It needed a little something to give it that "shabby" look.  Using a plastic stencil and some spackling paste I added a 3-D feature to the headboard and foot board.

I used a wide plastic putty knife and slapped the spackling paste on...thicker than paint but not too substantial.  If the paste is too thick the formation of the stencil won't show the detail.

 

Once the paste is dry be sure to gently put a coat of basic house or craft paint over it before applying your chalk paint.  This way it will maintain it's shape through the more rugged swish-swash of the chalk painting process.

The bed frame was blue and gray originally.  I put on two coats of chalk paint with a brush, sanded a few spots to let a small amount of the gray show through, then finished with two coats of clear wax.

A pretty, bright white bed with that wonderful, shabby look I just love.