Jun 13, 2013

kitchen chair makeover - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

**This is not a sponsored post. I purchased the paint and this is my honest opinion**

I've been hearing a lot across all forms of social media recently about Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. I had banned myself from investigating it as I had a lot on the go - but when I finished those two crochet blankets the other week I took a little look. The basic gist is that this paint goes on ANYTHING.

I've been refurbishing our kitchen chairs for nearly as long as we've owned them. At least 10 years. We had sucessfully done the table years before but never quite got the chairs right. We initially wanted to sand them back all the way and clear varnish them like the table. Then a couple of years ago I conceded that there were just too many layers of paint and too much time would be involved in sanding to wood so I decided they would be painted. Then a few months ago again I decided that I would paint them each a different colour. I go so far as to buy 4 different coloured paints and ask for a sander for Christmas.

Cut a long story short I got so far as to paint one chair grey. When I heard that the Chalk Paint would go on ANYTHING without any prep I decided to give it a whirl. I headed over to my local stockist and purchased the Paris Grey paint and the Soft Wax.


I decided to really test this paint out so I set it some fairly tough challenges. Dirty chairs with many layers of glossy paint, some chairs half sanded, big chips of paint missing.

After the first chair it become clear to me that I wasn't going to get the really sharp, glossy finish I had originally had in mind. Instead the paint is flat matte and then you add a soft sheen (and waterproofing) with the wax. I embraced my inner Karate Kid and 'wax on, wax off' I buffed the chair to a lovely sheen.


In the end I have embraced the product. To purchase the paint and wax is not cheap. But it does go a long way. And the savings you will make on time (prepping, sanding, drying) more than make up for it. You don't have to have super big muscles to buff the wax either, just a decent cloth. I even embraced a bit of the "Shabby Chic" look by giving the chairs a light sand to reveal some of the old paint colours and wood below. I actually like this as it reminds me of my Grandparents (the previous owners) and the original lives of the chairs.


Hopefully in the next couple of months you will see me tackle a MUCH bigger project with this paint.... stay tuned....


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The chairs look great and I LOVE the new blog layout.

Lena Gatti said...

This is brilliant bree - omg I love it !!! Awesome blog - you go girl xxx

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