How to Distress Furniture with Chalk Paint

Chalk paint is a gem in the world of DIY. With beautiful and bright colors, chalk paint creates perfect-painted finishes. Distressing furniture using this particular paint is also an art that combines the best in both worlds with the magnificence of impeccable paint and aged splendor of distressing. However, for you to enjoy the beauty of distressed furniture you need to have some basics on how to distress furniture with chalk paint. There are a plethora of ways to distress furniture, but this article will focus on distressing furniture with chalk paint. It is simple and it adds authenticity to your furniture.

But first what is distressing furniture?

Distressing furniture is simply the art of making your furniture look older or aged than it is. It is simply giving your furniture a weathered look. There are many ways of distressing furniture, it is up to you to choose the one that works best for you.

Distressing furniture is considered as a refinishing procedure, but this the contrary to finishing in a conventional sense. When distressing you intentionally destroy the furniture’s finish making it look old or less perfect. This is done using a paint stripper or sandpaper. For instance, the craftsman frequently removes a few paints however not entirely, leaving evidence of a few layers of paint dotted over wood grain underneath. This turns into the “completed” piece.

How to Distress Furniture With Chalk Paint

This procedure works best on big and small projects. With this technique, minimal preparation is required and the results are phenomenal. Before you start, you need to completely clean your piece with mild dish soap. At that point, your preparation work is finished! Leave the piece of furniture to dry totally and there you are to start.

With ordinary latex paint, the vast majority of the distressing begins after you have finished painting. Though, when making your furniture look weathered with chalk paint, you need to make your piece look old before you begin painting. This is genuinely simple in case you just got a dent item or scratch at the garage. In any case, if you are looking forward to giving your piece more authenticity, below are ideas that will work best.

• To get perfect circular grooves in your furniture, sand with high grit sandpaper.
• Bang the edges of your furniture with a hammer.
• To create a wormhole effect, use a hammer a screw, or nail into the wood in small groupings.
• Use an assortment of equipment or metal pieces and hammer them into the surface to make various sections and divots.

When you have finished attacking your furnishings, utilize a sander to ensure every one of your scratches, divots, and dings are smooth when felt.

Chalk paint is made to be thicker than standard paint, so your brush does not need much before you start. Chalk paint spreads effectively and is easy to work with, however, if you like you can add some water to it. You can decide for instance to paint slap-dash, figure 8 pattern, or with the grain. It might feel unreasonable but you are going for natural, not flawlessness.

When the first coat dries, now judge if the aged look pleases you, or you will want more than it looks. The subsequent coat has a major effect, so continue after the first coat dries up, it takes around half an hour to dry. After achieving the coverage you desire, distress once more. Use sandpaper to sand areas that are likely to receive tear and wear like edges, corners, drawers, etc. Begin by sanding lightly and continue until you get the look that you want. Brush or wipe off your sandy pieces with tack fabric, and you’re prepared to wax.

Distressing wax protects and seals your furniture more than polyacrylic on a piece painted with latex.

Use a clean lint-free piece of cloth or a wax brush to apply the wax into a small area at a time, the same way you apply lotion. The color of your furniture might get darker, but that is normal. The same way you wax a car, use a microfiber piece of cloth to wipe the wax again. It is a straightforward task, just wipe towards the direction of the grain to get rid of extra or excess wax.

In case you would like to include another layer of wax for tabletops that will get a great deal of wear. You can decide to buff your furniture to give it an additional sparkle, however, this is optional. Splendid, aged, weathered pieces of furniture add character and light up any room leaving it looking authentic. Visit thetoolspick.com to have more information about some of the tools that can help you complete this task.

FAQs

How long should chalk paint dry before distressing?

Annie Sloan, the company behind chalk paint, advises clients to hold on for 24 hours between layers of paint to allow product performance and adequate dry time. In this way, be prepared to watch that first streaky layer of chalk paint dry for an entire day before you include a subsequent coat.

Do I have to put wax over chalk paint?

Wax is completely worth adding to chalk paint, particularly if you want to protect your furnishings and keep them looking sparkling for some time.

Should I use wax or polyurethane over chalk paint?

Polyurethane should not be applied over chalk paint because it will never cure and dry and it has nothing to grip onto. On the other hand, it is recommended that you apply wax over chalk paint. Wax makes chalk paint last.

Final Word

There are various ways to make your furniture look aged and every individual has his/her preference. However, because of minimal preparation, distressing furniture with chalk paint stands out from other methods. Distressing using chalk paint is a straightforward task that everybody can manage. Follow the guidelines above to have your room looking authentic and natural.