Homemade Chalk Paint Bandwagon...& Painting Tips.

Lately I have been a furniture makeover machine.  I just couldn't help myself.  I became determined to weed through the furniture hoard stash I have accumulated in our basement.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Craig. ;)

I started out with a dingy, old mid-century modern bedroom set that I turned into nightstands for me and hubby. {Btw, I still have another dresser and nightstand left over from this set just begging for attention/sale in our basement.}  Those pieces got the paint-dipped treatment from me, as well as some gorgeous hardware.

And since working on one project just isn't enough for my project-ADD self, I started tackling this dresser-turned-console.  {Like the set above, I'm not using the nightstand...so it's being hoarded stored in our basement for now.}

I l-o-v-e-d the detail on these drawers and the beautiful lines.  My first thought was to just add some new hardware and call it a day.  I put the piece behind our couch, and just didn't get the warm and fuzzy feeling I was hoping for.  Between the dark charcoal couch, the orangey-toned dresser and our chocolatey-toned floors....it just didn't feel right.

I thought about possibly staining the piece another color, but unfortunately the detailing on all of the drawers was plastic. Grrrrrrrr...

So much to the chagrin of many of you, I gave this baby the paint treatment.  And I'm loving how it looks!!

Since I had already dealt with sanding and priming the other laminate pieces I was working on, I did not feel like carrying this bad boy outside to sand and prime it...plus the detailed drawer fronts would be annoying to sand.  What is a lazyyyy girl to do?!?!  Duh...give homemade chalk paint a whirl!  I had seen SO many recipes and reviews for it online.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the last in the blog-o-sphere to give it a try.  I searched the interwebz for recipes, and a million and one came up.  Ultimately, I selected this recipe based on what I already had in my basement...latex paint and Plaster of Paris.

I started by pouring approximately two cups of paint into a plastic container.  Then I mixed the Plaster of Paris and water in a separate plastic container until everything was smooth and there were no lumps left.  Once the consistency was creamy, I mixed that into the paint container.  {FYI...don't pour the paint into the Plaster of Paris/water container because it will be harder to mix evenly throughout since that is what is on the bottom of the container.}

After that...it's painting time!

Here are a few tips that I always use when I paint furniture:

1) Before you paint the piece, and when you are removing the drawers, take note which drawers went where.  I always pay attention to how the drawers go in and out.  If they don't seem to fit right...move them around. Maybe they are supposed to go in a different slot, or perhaps the wood has warped over time causing the drawer and frame to rub against each other.  This is a fixable issue.  Just take out your electric sander {or if you are into self-tourture, you can sand by hand ;)} and go over the "sticking" areas a few times.  It'll pay off in the end...especially since you are adding some thickness with the layer{s} of paint. I have also gotten into the habit of labeling the bottom of my drawers for future reference.  It really comes in handy!!

2) Eliminate the need to buy paint tray liners or cleaning out paint trays by lining your tray with aluminum foil.  Easy peasy!!

3) Lightly sand your pieces with a fine grit sanding block in between coats, then wipe off allll dust and let fully dry before applying your next coat.

Now, onto the job at hand...

I double-coated the dresser in one night.  I know latex paint says to wait a couple hours in between coats, but I was impatient and this stuff dried pretty quickly....possibly because of the addition of the Plaster of Paris?!? Not sure.  Either way, I broke the rules and double-coated things. ;)

I used a low nap roller made for cabinets and smooth surfaces for all of the flat parts of the dresser.  Then I used a quality brush for the drawers since there was so much detail.  I was a little skeptical of this homemade chalk paint after the first coat...mostly on the drawer fronts.  {Note, I was not neat AT ALL with my brush strokes on the drawers.  Since I was experimenting with new paint, I wanted to see how the brush strokes would go with this type of medium.  Typically, I do loooooong, smooth and even brush strokes to minimize lines and, well, ugliness.}

But after a second coat went on...I started to feel much better.

I called it a night after two coats, but I wasn't all done with the batch of chalk paint I whipped up.

To store it over night, I simply wet a paper towel, squeezed out the extra water, laid it over my paint container...

...and then put that in a zip-lock bag.  {Make sure to squeeze out as much air as you can before it's zipped up tight!}

My paint was good as new the next day!  I just gave it a good stir, and I was ready to put the final coat {or what I thought would be the final coat} on my dresser-turned-console.

Stay tuned for a major blunder on this project...but how I saved the day with some awesome-sauce hardware!! ;)