Pie Safe with DIY Chalk Paint

I hate painting furniture. Whenever I do, it always dries tacky and I am really awful at not getting brush marks in it. The only pieces I've redone that I'm totally in love with, are the kitchen island and Lilly's dresser. Both I painted from the same can of paint (which was free but normally high-quality paint). I think it's the quality of paint I must use that gives me crummy results, rendering me hating to paint furniture. Read: I'm cheap.

Which brings me to this concept of chalk paint. I've used chalkboard paint before, and I kept hearing people talk about chalk paint. I never knew what it was, until I started reading up on it. I'm jaded with painting things, remember? As it were, I decided to read up on this magical expensive paint. I really want to try Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but I didn't want the cost involved with possibly hating it. Chalk paint dries with a soft, matte, chalk-like finish, and lends itself awesomely to distressing furniture and waxing for texture and dimension. It also dries incredibly fast. Since it needs no primer, sanding or other prep work, I was on board. Did I mention, I hate painting furniture? The sanding. Anyway.

I opted to make my own, to give it a try on a few pieces that were in need of a makeover.

There are tons of recipes out there floating around Pinterest. This plaster-of-paris one is what I went with, and would definitely use again.

You'll need: 
- plaster of paris (Home Depot & Lowes carry 25lb bags for $15, but JoAnn and I'm sure Michaels & AC Moore carry a 4lb container for $6. Enter a 40% coupon, and you win.)
- paint (I have read flat paint works best, but the above paint was on clearance at Lowes, so I used that. It's Pantone  I used the above paint which are Pantone's Blue Haze and Blithe, in an eggshell finish. Each container was $7.)
-water
-cups, paint supplies

The recipe:

- 1/4 cup plaster of paris
- 1/4 cup cool water
- 1 cup paint

First, you'll want to mix the 1/4 cup plaster of paris with the 1/4 cup water in a container. Get those lumps out. Then, pour that mixture into the 1 cup of paint. Mix it up.

This gold solo cup got me 2 coats on the piece in this project and 2 coats on a pair of Ikea nightstands, so it goes pretty far.

Here's the offending pie safe...

I know, right? Snore. My favorite parts to this little safe are the flower door knob (Anthropologie, $7) and the hinges (repurposed from a pair of oak doors I flipped into our headboard). The white paint job is horrible, and I thought by adding a little chalkboard paint to the top and the front panel, it'd spruce it up some. It didn't.

If you're wondering what's cookin', that'd be nothing.

I wanted a farm look to it, so I went and used he only prep I know of: Frog Tape and Vaseline.

The Frog Tape is to ensure the chalkboard areas would remain, because I like to write messages and grocery items there on the fly. The vaseline I used on the hinges because tape would be impossible.

Also on the edges, corners, bottoms, and wherever the piece would naturally scuff and chip over time. This helps when you distress the piece after the paint is dry, so you don't have to sand your arm off.  Farmhouse, shabby chic, adorableness.

Once you're prepped, get to painting.

This is after 1 coat. I did 2, just to get it nice and even.

Once it's done, take your tape off, and wipe the vaseline off the hinges, and find a sanding block, steel wool, or sand paper, and go to town. I didn't have to use too much elbow grease because of the vaseline.

You're supposed to wax the paint to seal it and protect the finish, but I had none. I do intend to use some since it's in the kitchen, and we actually use it.

I swapped out the door knob for a yellow flower, also from Anthropologie. And I'm not cookin'!

After my experience with painting with my own chalk paint, I want to paint everything with it. It dries beautifully, and evenly, and is so simple to work with. I used the last of the paint to do a pair of Ikea night stands and a console table we had and still loved, but were just plain disgusting. I'll be sharing those on the blog later this week!

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What are some of your chalk paint projects?