Chalk Paint questions answered and a couple sneak peaks

Dear Emily,

You did it again! Another fabulous piece of furniture! 

What a transformation, too! I can tell from your photos that you moved a lot of furniture around in that room. You will have to send me pictures of all of it because, unfortunately, I have no idea when we will be down there again.

Now I wonder how the sanded grout would be added to paint? While I am sure, as you said, ASCP is far superior, I am going to try the homemade recipe with plaster of paris the next time I have something smallish to paint. 

Our cousin, Carole, asked about the roughness of it. I did not sand the hutch but nowI know I could have. When I went to Spring Market at Lucketts and got to see Miss Mustard Seed's furniture up close and personal, I was in awe of how smooth it was. Like silk. After painting and sanding a chair I am working on, I discovered that I, too, could achieve this smoothness, that it is not all in the wax. (sounds like I am doing an infomercial) In fact, I am not sure you can get that smoothness without some sanding. When i sanded the chair, I discovered where the name 'chalk paint' came from - the paint is like chalk when it is sanded. 

I found some great tips from Christie on this blog post over at Carter's Cottage. One suggestion I really like is to water down the paint a bit for the second coat. That conserves the expensive paint and makes it easier to distress. I wish I had seen this post before I distressed this chair. Christie prefers waxing before distressing. I distressed first. Oh well. This is what my chair looks like so far, pre-waxing. 

I'll get to the waxing later this week. I hope.

And speaking of waxing, it is recommended that you always use clear wax first. Then dark wax. Even if you are going for a darker look to begin with. Here is something from the ASCP site on using dark wax. That way, if you don't like the dark, it is easier to remove. Paint can also be added to the clear wax, particularly to make a white wax. And speaking of white...I also have this to finish but I want to put a graphic on the top from either my Silhouette images or The Graphics Fairy. (Have you seen that blog? There are some great free images there.)

It is a little dresser that was my nightstand when I was a girl and the finish was wearing. Caroline has been using it for her doll clothes. It is the perfect size.

Off the subject of chalk paint, here is a sneak peak at my buffet turned tv console. 

I painted this pre-ASCP but finally finished two of the drawers the other week. I will not tell you how long they stayed unpainted while the rest of the cabinet was finished. It is embarrassing. I think I was busy having a baby or something.

XOXO

Monica