Adventures in Chalk Paint

I got to try something new on my latest piece of furniture... chalk paint. Someone asked me to describe chalk paint and I couldn't. Think of chalk dust mixed with paint, I guess. I've seen lots of furniture painted with it all over the Pinterest and wanted to try it for myself. Buying it is expensive, so I made my own. 1 cup of flat latex paint, and 1 Tbsp. unsanded grout. That's it. Easy peasy.

 It comes out really thick and kind of gloppy.

Here is the bench I was painting.

It went on really unevenly at first. I used a foam brush- I thought it would be easiest on all the spindles.

I switched to a roller and it went on thicker and more even.  Those spindles were the devil! They took for ever to paint- I wanted them to be painted evenly even though I'd be sanding it off eventually. 

So here is the finished bench!

So... would I use chalk paint again? No. Not the homemade stuff anyway. It wasn't different enough from regular flat paint. I'd read it was supposed to distress easily, but it wasn't any easier than other paint. Maybe someday I will suck it up and spend the extra money on real chalk paint. But, I am happy with the bench. It looks exactly how I wanted it to. 

One more time... before...

...and after!

If you are interested in purchasing this adorable little bench, let me know! Christinaann80@yahoo.com

You can also check me out on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/SeaShellsFurniture

Big Blue Beauty

This is my favorite piece ever! I'm sure I'll say that many more times as I continue painting furniture... but so far this is my favorite! I've been wanting to try something new. So, I picked up this package of stencils from Micheal's...

It sat around for a while until I found just the right project for it...

I've never stenciled before and in this case it was time consuming! The top of this dresser is big and my stencil was pretty small. I could only paint about a 6x6 section at a time then had to wait for it to dry before moving on...

It didn't always come out perfect. Here you can see I didn't line everything up well and overlapped some of the design. I wasn't too worried about that happening though, since I knew I'd be distressing the whole thing anyway...

It took 2 days , but I finally finished...

And here is the finished dresser...

Before...

After...

If this you and this dresser are MFEO (Made For Each Other), you can contact me at ChristinaAnn80@yahoo.com

Claim it Before I Paint it!


I've been picking up new pieces of furniture this week, and I'm offering them to you before I touch them. If you see something you like and have ideas about how it should be finished, just let me know...

Long low dresser, 6 drawers.

Smaller dresser, in my opinion this is a great height for a baby changing table.

Console table, with 2 glass inserts.

Detail shot of console table. I'd like to finally try glazing on this piece to bring our the beautiful carved detail.

I also have 2 finished pieces available...

I just finished this simple end table. Painted in cream, and sea green, distressed, and finished with wax for durability and shine. $75.

Distressing detail.

Top detail.

Antique farm table. $90.

It's been a successful day here in my little living room based furniture shop. I was able to sell 2 dressers today- making room for new items! One was a dresser I picked up off Craigslist and refinished according to my vision. The other one I picked up a used furniture shop and custom finished for a customer. (I have customers!!! Holy moly!)

This farm table is still available for $100.

If you are interested in the farm table or are in need of custom work, feel free to contact me!
christinaann80@yahoo.com

Welcome!

Hi! My name is Christina and I enjoy refinishing old furniture. I love decorating my home and being on a budget means thrift stores, second hand furniture, and DIY. While trying to make my home a beautiful place refinishing furniture has gone from a hobby to a passion. Now I am sharing my passion with you. I hope you enjoy my work!

Here are some examples of my work.