Homemade chalk paint...

Remember that gorgeous aqua piano I showed you in Inspiration House #2, the one redone with homemade chalk paint?

Since meeting my friend Michele, and seeing her success with the piano, I've wanted to try using chalk paint myself. She assured me it wasn't hard and shared her recipe and the directions. I have a small sofa table my grandparents gave me years ago, and that's where I decided to start.

Ingredients for the homemade chalk paint:

2 cups of latex paint

5 tablespoons of plaster of Paris

3 tablespoons of water

Now the question was to sand, or not to sand. Michele did sand her piano, but several of the articles I read on line said it's not necessary. I decided to sand. I ended up buying this Skil sander from Lowe's Home Improvement. 1 - I had a gift card :-), and 2 - if I was successful, I knew I would want to do other pieces. I also left with a 3-pack of fine sand paper, paint brushes, polyurethane to seal it, and the plaster of Paris.

I was terrified when it came time to actually sand, but once I got the hang of it, it was actually easy and fun. And, it didn't take long at all.

I wiped the table down to rid it of the dust, and put the first coat of paint on. I let it dry for about an hour. I used a Benjamin Moore color - Shaker Beige (HC-45), mixed half strength. I wanted it to be a creamy, off-white color, and this ended up being a good choice.

I painted the second coat, and again let it dry.

Now it was time to give it the aged look. I lightly sanded it in places where it would logically lose paint if it was old and had been moved around. I probably could have sanded off more than I did.

And finally, one coat of the polyurethane. Polyurethane is thin and goes on easily. But, be sure to let it dry the entire time suggested in the directions - three to four hours. I found a spot that I wanted to fix before the time had passed and it messed up the finish a little.

Back inside...

and finished up for now. Who knows what it will look like in a month. Moving around and rearranging - two of my favorite things to do when I have a few minutes.

I can now say I have successfully repainted a piece of furniture. It wasn't hard at all. In fact, I might even say the process was pretty easy. Those of you who have been on this blog adventure with me from the beginning will remember I'm in the process of updating my son's room. I shared a few of my ideas for the room here. Now I'm thinking I might redo the desk in his room, too!

Have any of you used chalk paint to change up something in your house? Comment below and tell us how it turned out.

Have a great week!!

Kathryn