Chalk Paint

Ever since I first laid eyes on a piece that had been painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I fell in love.  I read blogs and scoured Pinterest for tutorials and galleries.  I finally decided to take the plunge into the world of chalk paint.

This is not to be confused with chalkboard paint.  This is not chalk board paint.  This is a calcium based paint.  The biggest and best feature of Annie Sloan's chalk paint is that you don't have to sand, prime, or do anything else really to prepare your piece to paint.  Clean off the dust and dirt and that is about it.

 The paint comes in 1 quart containers but it is thick and covers just over 140 sq. feet.  My house looks like an oak tree threw up in it.  All the cabinets are oak and my crazy fireplace has an oak mantel, among other ugly elements!   I have lived with the oak for almost 9 years now and I am sick to death of it.

I have done other painting and distressing methods so I wasn't too scared to try the chalk paint.

Here is the ugly oak mantel.  While we're on the subject of ugly, note the chair rail and the token pieces of ugly ceramic tile.  Not my favorite but in time...it will all go away.

As I mentioned, the paint is really thick so it goes on easy and has good coverage.  I did water mine down just hair.  I should mention here that the longer the paint sits out, the thicker it becomes so I poured a little into a small pie tin so I wouldn't waste the whole quart.  To that, I added about 2 Tablespoons of water.  

The beauty of this paint is that it is so easy to distress.  Unlike latex or oil base, you don't have to use Vaseline or sandpaper to start distressing.  Once I had it painted, I rubbed off the areas where I wanted the wood grain to show through with cheese cloth or a blue scrubbie.  It was easy! 

 When I painted it, I left some of the areas with the wood showing through since I knew I would be rubbing it off anyways.  I also ignored the areas where I didn't get 100% coverage; it added to the distressed look I was trying to achieve. You remove the paint from areas you want distressed, after you paint and before the waxing.

The paint dries super fast so you hardly waste any time before moving on to the next step, the waxing.  The clear wax goes on first and seals the paint and hardens it.  It also adds the most beautiful depth and patina you don't get with other paints.  I was so happy with the wax and it was quick and easy to apply.  This little dab did the entire mantel.

 This is the brush that you apply the wax with. You apply it in circular motions, pressing hard into the painted surface.

 After the clear wax has been applied, I added the dark brown wax.  This is where you really push it into the grain and crevices, giving it the aged look.  You can apply this as heavy or as light as you wish.

 Here is the mantel all finished!!  I absolutely love it!  I can't wait to get the kitchen done.
The finish has a softness that I love and it is velvety to the touch.

There was a part on the mantel where I took too much paint off and realized after I waxed it all that I really didn't like that much distressing.  It was no big deal!  NO sanding out the mistake, I just painted over it, waxed it again and it blended right in.  You can't even tell!!

The mantel was a good place to start.  I think I have the technique figured out so the cabinets should be a snap.  The color I used was called Old White.  I also bought Paris Grey because I wanted to do the island in a deep grey but after experimenting with that, I have decided to do it all white.

Once the cabinets are done, I am painting the whole house and wonderful greige that is really going to set my new cabinets off in a beautiful way!