Years ago I grabbed a 3 piece brown bedroom set of my local Facebook yard sale group for $100. My dad and I spray painted it them (probably not the best DIY but they actually came out good it just left a lot of finger print marks). Our plan for when we move was to ditch them and buy a new bedroom set but then the other day I was looking at the dresser and realized how much I really loved the shape/style- it had good bones. I wanted to paint it white - so one extreme to another but wasn't sure where to start. I have refinished furniture in the past that required lots of sanding, priming, etc. and did not want to do that this time.
After a few hours of research, I decided to use chalk paint but then I realized there are hundreds of brands of chalk paint. I watched a few videos and read a few blog posts and narrowed down my list.
Annie Sloan chalk paint is by far the most popular but you have to order it and I was wanting to get this project done ASAP before I lost the motivation to do. BTW- from the decision to do this to when it was completed was within 24 hours, haha! I went to Lowes and they only had one brand in stock, Krylon; I read the reviews and they were not good so I went next door to Walmart. They also only had one brand, Kilz, but Kilz had good reviews so I gave it a shot. (Neither of these 2 brands were the ones on my list of brands I researched so I felt like I was going in blind and hoping for the best).
I used a total of 3 products that cost under $40.
- Kilz clear sealing wax
- 2 pack of chalk paint brushes - 1 is for the wax and 1 is for the paint (we used both for paint so we could both paint at the same time and then just washed the wax one before applying the wax)
- Kilz chalk paint (quart size)
I picked these up in store but if you're not in a rush you can order online. The chalk paint and wax at my Walmart was in the lock boxes with the spray paint, just a heads up! The paint was $20, wax was about $10 and the brushes were under $10 as well. The chalk paint brush that I was going to buy at Lowes was $18 for 1 so I felt like it was a steal. Some bristles from the brush came off but we just picked them off when we started to see one falling off- nothing too bad that I wouldn't buy them again.
Because we were taking the dresser from one extreme to the next it did take a few coats which is what I was expecting. I ended up doing 4 because I wanted a pure white. 3 coats would have given a distressed look which actually looked nice! The paint dries sooo fast that by the time I was finished with one side the other side was dry so it took me a total of 3 hours start to finish. If we used another color besides white I think 2 coats would have done the job!
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| Start (see all the hand print marks?! I could never get them out) |
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| 1st coat |
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| 2nd coat |
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| 3rd coat |
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| 4th coat |
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| Final product!! |
I am obsessed with the final product!! I honestly had no idea how the wax would be but it is so easy and really protects the paint. It doesn't leave the furniture oily/ waxy at all. The wax looks like this and you use a brush to apply it in circles over everything. This part is super quick, a little goes a long way. Once I was done applying I took a paper towel to wipe off the excess residue which was basically like oil and then the dresser was smooth and protective.
I ended up using about 3/4 of a quart of paint (4 coats) and 1/2 of the wax for this project! I have enough to do something else too. Not bad!! I used our existing knobs and we spray painted them with 99 cent black spray paint instead of buying new ones!
Hope this helps anyone doing their first chalk paint project and no idea where to start! Now onto the next project!!!
xo
Haley