Chalk Painted End Table

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If you’ve been following along, you know that the Artsy Family just moved to a new house, which has meant lots of DIY projects lately. Today I want to share with you one of the larger things I tackled, which was painting some of the furniture for our living room. It was originally a really nice wooden set {coffee table and two end tables} that we purchased 13 years ago when we got married. However, sometime in the last six months {as sometimes happens}, a misplaced glass without a coaster left a giant ring on one of the tables. There was really no way to fix it, but I hated to get rid of the whole set when I knew I could give it new life instead. Recently, I bought some of the new Krylon Chalky Finish spray paint and I was curious to see how it would work to transform my furniture…mostly to see if it saved time and energy for an impatient crafter like myself. It worked great on Little Crafter’s growth chart, so now it was time to put it to the test on one of my tables. Here’s how I did it…

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Materials:
– Medium grit sandpaper
Krylon Chalky Finish Paint {I used Misty Gray}
FolkArt Home Decor Wax {Clear}
Martha Stewart Crafts Vintage Decor Paint {Charcoal}
– Stencil and stencil brush
– Lint-free cloth

Step 1: Sand any rough or raised spots.
One of the beautiful things about the Krylon Chalky finish paint is that it requires absolutely no priming or sanding, so impatient crafters like me can just go right to town without any real prep work. However, since these tables had been downstairs and subjected to things like random craft projects and LC eating mac and cheese on them, there were a few sticky spots and areas where a few drops of paint got on the top surface. So, I cleaned off the top and did just a little bit of spot sanding to make sure the surface was flat and even.

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Step 2: Lightly spray an even coat of paint on the top and legs of the table.
Be sure to stand at least 6-12″ away and slowly move your arm around to avoid getting drips. I found that one coat did an awesome job of covering the wood, but if you want more coverage, you can let the first coat dry, then apply another. The paint should be dry to the touch in about 30 minutes and ready to handle in about an hour. If you want, you can flip the table upside down and spray underneath too, but I didn’t since no one sees the underside of the table anyway.

Step 3: Gently distress the piece as much or as little as you like using sand paper.
A good “rule” to use when distressing is to follow the natural lines of the piece rather than randomly sanding all over the place. Just use your sand paper to follow along edges and creases where paint would naturally begin to show wear over time. Remember, the point is to make it look aged rather than messy.

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Step 4: {optional} Place your stencil in the center of the table and gently apply paint using a stencil brush. Remove stencil and let dry completely.

Step 5: Apply wax with a lint-free cloth {I used an old bed sheet} and rub it in. Once it’s dried for about an hour, you can buff it to your desired sheen.

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It’s totally that easy! I’ve painted my fair share of furniture projects, and this was by far the easiest one due to the spray paint. Krylon offers a spray wax too, but I didn’t have that on hand in clear…I bet that makes things even simpler. This took way less time than painting the whole thing with a brush {which also always takes at least two coats}. I love the way it turned out and can’t wait to do the other end table exactly the same way.

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What do you think? Do you have some furniture that could use an update with some chalk paint?

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