Chalk Painting My Way to Modern

The words chalk paint and modern do not go hand in hand. Or do they? I didn’t think so until I finished up my latest DIY endeavor. Believe it or not, I had never used chalk paint until a few weeks ago. Say what? I know, I just might be the last person on the face of the planet who’s able to claim this. But it’s true. I’ve painted way more than my fair share of furniture, but I don’t know, I guess I like to torture myself into making the process as painstakingly time-consuming as possible and apparently I heart sanding. Not this time though. It might just be me, but I believe you hit a point in your life where you never (ever) want to pick up a paintbrush again (and definitely not a sander), and that point, my friends, is where I’m at in life – hence the lack of completed projects lately. This project was long overdue though and one evening I decided I just couldn’t stand to look at the plain jane wood any longer.

I’ve always heard that chalk-type paints are so easy to use mainly because you don’t have to do any prep work. Music to my ears … except I was always under the impression that chalk-type paints left your furniture giving off that aged and distressed vibe, which isn’t always music to my ears. I do love that look but that’s not what I was going for with this project. Our dining room definitely gives off a vintage farmhouse vibe but I have a lot of funky modern elements mixed in as well. You guys know by now that I can’t stick to one design style. I wanted this buffet to give off a loud pop of modern to even out the design elements in the room. After a little bit of research I decided I could probably get the shiny look I wanted with chalk paint. In case you’re not aware, there are tons of chalk-type paints out there on the market. Annie Sloan coined the term “chalk paint” – who knew? So although I refer to the paint I used as chalk paint, technically it’s not because it’s not the Annie Sloan brand. Details, right? One thing all of these chalk-type paints have in common though is that they’re not exactly cheap. But when you take into account the amount of time you save by doing NO prep work, the price seems just fine to me.

My local boutique carries the Rethunk Junk paint line. I was looking for a navy and opted for Denim Blue. I was kinda nervous after the first coat because it was a bit lighter than I was hoping, but I kept at it anyway. I’m still not sure why I waited to take off the hardware until after the first coat was on. Oh wait yes I do, I’m the most impatient DIY-er. I forgot for a minute.

All I had to do to start was clean the furniture with a lightly damp cloth. That’s it! After I wiped it off and it was dry, I proceeded to apply 2 coats of paint total. I did remove the hardware after the first coat but I recommend removing it before you even start 🙂 As most of you may already know, there are all sorts of chalk-type paint finishing products to choose from. I passed on these and used straight up Polycrylic from good ole’ Home Depot. After the second coat of paint was dry I lightly sanded with steel wool just enough to rough up the surface a little, then I added a layer of Polycrylic. I repeated this step and then called it a day. So far so good. This buffet doesn’t get a whole lot of “use” so to speak. The drawers are opened to get wine glasses out and that’s about it. The wine rack isn’t currently in use because for some reason we can never manage to keep a stash of wine in our house. What can I say? We like wine. Some might recommend a total of 3 coats of Polycrylic if the piece gets a lot of use.  I used gold spray paint to give the hardware an updated look as well.

The Polycrylic worked perfectly to give this piece the sheen I was craving. And the gold hardware added the perfect pop of modern.

So if you’re one of the few out there who haven’t touched chalk-type paints for whatever reason, I highly recommend it. The ease of use is honestly incredible and now that I know first-hand that my furniture doesn’t have to end up looking aged and distressed if that’s not the look I’m going for, I see many more containers of chalk paint in my future. I may even look forward to picking up a paintbrush again. But probably not a sander … at least not for a while.