Since stating I’m trying to get better at ‘do-it-yourself’ projects, I’ve truly tried to improve my skills – being patient, taking my time, don’t rush… do you see a pattern? I’m always too anxious to get whatever project done quickly, that I end up getting frustrated when something doesn’t turn out perfect. Well, hello?? I rush through it and bang things around without thinking – no wonder projects haven’t turned out in the past.
That being said, I wanted to see success with this project. I was going to be redoing an old entertainment console for my office – people were going to see this piece – so I knew I needed to take my time to do things the right way.
I found this amazing blog, (you can find it here); a girl’s journey through completely renovating/redoing her 1970s home on a budget. She has a great tutorial on using chalk paint, and she made it look so easy, so I figured her blog post would be a great guide for me to follow.
I purchased this chalk paint at home depot, (keep in mind this is from the blog post that I referenced – that’s where the image is from), and I got started.
The blog tutorial claimed chalk paint can be used on any surface without sanding or priming. I crossed my fingers as I started painting, because I didn’t want to have to go back and do those steps if it didn’t work.
Chalk paint directions say you have to apply extremely thin layers, multiple times for the piece of furniture to finish nicely. So that’s exactly what I did:
I’m not quite sure if I’d use chalk paint again. If I would, it would definitely be on a smaller piece & I would definitely use some kind of primer before painting. Using a brush, the brushstrokes show when dried, very easily, and it doesn’t dry as fast as I thought it would.
Applying the wax was a bit challenging. I have never done anything like that before, and I didn’t quite know how much to apply. I used a lint free cloth, which worked really well. The wax actually dried really fast, and it dried so well, I barely needed to do any buffing.
The final product –
Prettttty happy with the results!