Chalk Paint Virgin

So, I've been curious about chalk paint since I first started seeing pins on Pinterest that praised its wonders. Now I will admit that when I first read chalk paint, I thought they were referring to chalkboard paint - I quickly realized that these were two completely different animals, although both are equally admired by DIY bloggers everywhere ;)

This post by the Centsational Girl really piqued my interest, and started my quest for more information on the wonders of chalk paint. I read post after post that sung the praises of chalk paint, namely Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The only con that was rarely, but occasionally, mentioned was the cost - $38 for a quart of paint does sound a bit steep. Upon further investigation, I learned that this magical little quart goes a long way. Chalk paint isn't absorbed by your wood, it sits on top, giving you great coverage with just one to two coats, depending on the look you want to achieve. One blogger mentioned that she was able to paint five mid-sized dressers with just one quart of ASCP {Annie Sloan Chalk Paint}- that comes to just $7.60 per piece, which sounds not too shabby to me! Another plus is that you do not have to sand or prime your furniture - you literally wipe down your piece to remove and dirt/dust, open your can of paint and get to it. I loathe the prep that comes with traditional paint, so when I read this my brain went "ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!!" Now, I should mention that you do not need to use a shellac to seal your piece, you just apply two very thin coats of Annie Sloan's Soft Wax to protect your piece, and then buff.

After weeks of internal debate, I finally decided to just bite the bullet and make my first purchase. Much to my dismay, I don't have any ASCP authorized retailers in my area - whomp, whomp, whomp... I'm one of those people that needs to see colors in person, I don't trust my laptop monitor to show me true colors, and one person's description of taupe can be vastly different than mine - example: my Nan, love her, but she has the WORST sense of color of anyone that I have ever met, we continually debate colors! So what is a sad sap like myself to do? Totally out of character, I decided to take a leap of faith and just pick a damn color! After swapping out about four different colors from my online cart, {what can I say, I'm indecisive and a commitment phobe} Duck Egg was the winner. I also added the clear soft wax and a waxine brush and then hit "place order" before I could change my mind again...

For my first date with chalk paint, I didn't want to go away for the weekend {oh yeah, I am totally relating this to dating, even though it's been almost 16 years since I was in that game} I figured we should just meet for coffee and see if we click.

I picked up this little beauty with the curvy legs at my local Goodwill, and brought her home for a cool $10 - talk about a cheap date {wink, wink}
It's a little side table that looks like it did have a little drawer at one time, honestly, I didn't even realize that there was supposed to be a drawer until I started painting, because it looks great without it. This piece was no spring chicken, she has some minor dings and scratches, but I think that they only add to her character. I wiped her down to remove any dust or dirt that was on the surface, made sure she was dry, and got busy painting.
Another big plus is that ASCP is No VOC, so it's safe to paint indoors, and cleans up easily. I decided that I wanted a bit of a distressed worn look for this piece. To achieve this look, I applied one coat of ASCP, one coat of AS soft wax, lightly sanded where I wanted it to look worn, applied a second coat of AS soft wax, and then buffed my piece.

Doesn't she look great? And I am loving the Duck Egg!! It's kind of a soft greeny-blue in person, although it looks more blue in the pictures. Are you ready for a close-up?

Meow... am I right??

So there you have it, I am an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint convert, I'm ready to go steady and doodle our names together all over my notebook... swoon...
I think I may even go all the way and paint my kitchen table and chairs with the charcoal colored ASCP - squeal!