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Do you have a piece of furniture that needs to be freshened up? Try this easy and inexpensive chalk paint recipe. There’s no need to sand before you paint. This paint gives texture to your piece, and it goes a long way!
I color matched a gallon of paint to Bug’s bedroom furniture. It’s off-white. I have only used a quart of it so far, and I have already painted her desk, a coffee table and side table with it. They really need to sell paint by the half-gallon.
I picked up this little desk from a yard sale last fall for $5.00. You read that right, five dollars. Someone had already painted it pink and put these obnoxiously big handles on it.
I wish I didn’t wait until I was done painting it to start looking online for handles. I learned that 4.25″ handles are not as standard as I thought they would be. If I had done my research first, I would have filled in the holes and bought any size handle I wanted. So, for a temporary fix, I spray painted the ones that came with it off white and put those back on.
This project needed to get wrapped up because school was going to start soon, and due to the pandemic, the kids have to do distance learning. Also known as “no break for mom.”
Bug will need a quiet place in her room for online learning. This little desk will be perfect.
I painted two coats of chalk paint and two coats of polyurethane. I sanded it after both coats of poly with 200 grit sandpaper. This is the perfect piece to shabby up, and I usually would do just that. But, then it wouldn’t match the rest of Bug’s furniture.
This is the exact 1lb bag of Calcium Carbonate that I purchased from Amazon.
CHALK PAINT RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 quart latex paint
- 1/2 cup calcium carbonate
- 1/4 cup warm water +or-
TOOLS
- 1 quart bucket with lid (or jar with lid)
- measuring cups
- stir stick
- mixing bowl
HOW TO
- Mix 1/4 cup warm water with 1/2 cup calcium carbonate powder in a mixing bowl. Calcium carbonate powder is basically chalk, so it cleans up easily. Don’t be afraid to use a container from your kitchen to mix this part. Using the stir stick, get the mixture nice and smooth.
- Once it is mixed well, pour into a reusable bucket with a quart of paint. (The nice thing about these little buckets from The Home Depot, is that they have measurements on the side.)
- Mix everything. (Some people use a Braun hand mixer to get it smooth, but mine is relatively new, so I didn’t want to use it.)
This mixture goes a long way. Luckily, it lasts a long time. So, one quart is an excellent size to make. You could also make a smaller amount by cutting the recipe in half.
- 1 pint of latex paint
- 1/4 cup calcium carbonate powder
- 2 Tablespoons of warm water +or-
One of the great things about chalk paint is that you don’t need to sand before you paint. So just go for it.
I used a foam roller for the polyurethane. I applied two coats and sanded after each one with this 200 grit sanding block.
I re-used the handles that the previous owner put on the desk. I just painted them using Rust-oleum spray paint in Heirloom White. It only took two coats.
I used a piece of cardboard to protect the lawn. Then, I stuck BBQ Skewers through the cardboard and into the ground.
This raised the handles and provided me with the opportunity to spray them well from every angle.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in the comments if you found this useful!
BLOOPERS
I should have measured and researched handles BEFORE starting this project. I assumed that 4.25″ handles were a common handle length. Wrong.
If I had known before painting and applying the poly, I would have filled in the holes. Once I learned that I couldn’t find what I was looking for in that length, I didn’t have time to fill, paint, and polyurethane the drawers a-g-a-i-n.
Once this pandemic is over, I plan to shop around for some better handles that go with the rest of her furniture.
