Monday, January 30, 2012

Chalk Paint Makeover- Dining Room

Recently, right in the midst of my moving and unpacking, I decided to give my dining room set a face lift.  It is a pretty nice looking antique set with rush seats.  I never had the nerve to do anything with it, while it was in a separate dining room.  Now, in this beach house- it is pretty much the center of the house.  I just wasn't happy with all that dark wood constantly in my view.

I heard about this chalk paint (Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint) from a decorator in my weekly painting group. She told me how she had tried it and that -most importantly- NO stripping, sanding, or priming of the old finish.  This set is really old and has been stained more than once.  I decided to go for it.  What's the worst that could happen, other than completely ruining an antique dining set?  I wasn't happy with it the way it was, so I figured it was worth the possibility of having to strip it down to bare wood if it didn't work out!  I looked online at many blog posts about people using it and it seemed to be pretty popular already.

I had ordered 2 cans of the paint and the soft wax used to seal it.  The paint is pricey ($35 per quart) but goes a long way.  I used the same quart of Aubusson Blue to paint the whole dining room- that's a table, 6 chairs, china cabinet, AND a buffet.  All with one tiny quart and I actually have a little left in the can.  All that, and a soap and water clean up!

I started out by trying it on my dark wood wine racks- using Old White.  I quickly realized how much I liked the paint, and was brave enough to move on to the larger furniture pieces.  The painting was easy, and then you just brush on some of the soft wax and buff it off.  I did buy the Annie Sloan wax even though I had read that Johnson's paste wax worked just as well.  I have to say that I used both waxes and the Johnson's was less soft, but also worked.

I definitely will be using this paint again. I have some wicker patio chairs just calling out to be painted- and a pint of Old White ready to go.



6 comments:

  1. Wow what a transformation! I love that new color. I've been wanting to paint my dining room table forever so I'm glad you posted this. I'll have to look up that paint. :))

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  2. You will love it, Crystal and there are tons of colors!

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  3. Wow - what a difference that makes. It does look a bit more appropriate for by the beach. But, you were mighty brave to give it a shot! Very nice result.

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  4. Well everybody said WOW, and this was the first word that came to my mind too, so here it is : WOW!!! I just love this transformation, gives such a different atmosphere, so much more up to date. I never tried this kind of paint, but it is really awesome.

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  5. I love the results you got. Never heard of chalk paint! So the wax gives the paint a sort of muted color effect?

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  6. Thanks, Teresa! Yes this is amazing paint- I just heard of it last year myself. Now I am hooked and going to order more for my outdoor wicker. It says it can be used inside or out, on almost anything. It is great over old furniture with wood stain on it since you don't have to strip it or sand it- I dreaded that part!

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Thank you so much for your comments- I love to hear what you think!