Search This Blog

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Chalk one up!

I had to try my hand at making chalk paint - I already
felt a little late out of the gate!  I mixed my flat
white (with a hint of turqouise) latex paint with
about 2 heaping tablespoons of white unsanded grout
(using about 2 cups of paint).  I ended up adding a bit
more grout - overall - I had a pretty good result.  I wanted
to test the "no prep" experience of using chalk paint - it didn't
really work that well for me - I wish I had sanded the chair
before I painted but the end result isn't awful.  The
chair was free so not a big investment if it didn't work!

I also couldn't find proper wax (I wasn't able to get to
a hardware/paint store) so I used bee's wax.  Again, not a
stellar result but not terrible. 


I do have a little tip I have been meaning to share - it's
served me well in recovering chair seats such as this one.
I always look for pillow shams at the thrift stores - most
often they are in new condition (lots of people never bother
to use them) and they are often in lovely fabrics AND best
of all, they are just the right amount of fabric to cover a
chair seat.  This one is a silky fabric that was actually lined
with quilt batting so double bonus for a buck! I've
also got some matelasse ones stored up for some
special chairs.


I guess I will continue to try and refine my chalk paint
process.  I made a really cool pillow to go with the chair
but frankly it turned out SO well that it deserves
 a post all its own.

Hope you are having as much fun as I am (oh how hard
it is going to be to go back to work next week!)


4 comments:

Peggy said...

Hi Peggy. Your chair looks great. I haven't tried making my own chalk paint yet but I guess I should give it a try. Thanks for sharing how to mix it.

Shabby chic Sandy said...

I love making my own chalk paint. Your chair looks great!

Yayi said...

Hola, mi nombre es Yayi.
Le has dado a esa silla un cambio espectacular. Te felicito.
Saludos desde Tenerife.

Lori said...

Oh my goodness, aren't you a smartie! I will have to look for some shams on my next thrift trip...Thanks for sharing, love the chair. I'm a new follower, so stop by anytime, cause' I love new blog friends, Lori