Hey, Martha Stewart! How Did I Do With The Chalk Paint? – Hank
Most of the furniture in our house is a little, shall we say, dated! OK, it’s old. Now, old furniture can be gorgeous when it’s refinished. They call those ANTIQUES. However, when it’s beat up, it’s just old furniture. Of course, sentimentality plays a big role in keeping old furniture.
So, we have my wife’s grandparents’ old dining room set. It’s about 80 years old and not in very good shape. Structurally it is sound and has lots of memories in it, but it needed refinishing. But, THAT is very expensive. So, at the suggestion of a friend, we decided to use chalk paint to refinish it.
Saturday, I went to a great gift shop called Brissonte in North Reading. They sell Annie Sloan chalk paint, which is supposed to be the best paint of it’s kind. So, I bought graphite paint, a dark grey color, a natural bristle brush and some sealing wax and off I went. One of the things that made doing chalk painting attractive is that they say you really can’t screw it up. No sanding or preparation is needed. You put the paint on, let it dry, put on a second coat, then rub on some wax and then wipe it off. The wax is the sealer and protector. It’s easy and beautiful! I also found a cool hack. The brass pulls were all tarnished. I went on line to see what I could use to polish them. Well, you need to determine if they are solid brass or brass plated. Take a small magnet and if it sticks, it’s brass plated. I did that and discovered they were solid brass. NEXT, squirt ketchup or tomato paste on the pulls. Let them sit for an hour and then rinse with soap and water. WOW, they came out beautiful!!
Here are the results!
Want to try chalk painting yourself?