Chalk Paint Chair....

So as most of you know I had a list of projects I wanted to do before bub arrives and so far I've been on track but my chair below will be waiting for it's wax coat until after I'm home from hospital and in routine with bub now but it's almost done. The bigger project I wanted to do will  have to wait til after bub is home as I'll need to get into a routine with him and it'll take a week to get it done. However I did start something completely new to me, I've never used it before and being that once again we can't get it in Australia (story of my life being in the west) I've had to do some research into how to make my own....Chalk Paint that is.

 

Now I would like to ask you my lovely fellow bloggers if any of you have had the chance to work with Chalk Paint or made your own to use?? I first read about Chalk Paint over at Reloved Rubbish and Amanda had me intrigued as with this paint as you don't need to sand, there's no need to prime the sufarce before application, just start putting the paint to the piece you want to revamp and it'll adhere.....Sounds great right?? Yep sure did to me too until I went to see if we could get it here and of course we can't. Now I really wanted to try this painting style and as I can't buy it I thought the next best thing to do would be to make it, so after some research I found Liz at Naptime decorator who generously shared how to make Chalk Paint and it really is quite simple. It's basically 2 parts paint to 1 part plaster of paris and if the paint is a little stiff then add slowly a few drops of water and mix. If while painting the paint stiffens a bit just mix it around and loosen it up, it'll remix.

Armed with this new knowledge I thought, right I'm off to Bunnings (naturally lol) to get some plaster of paris and get my chair done. And that is what I did....now my mixture was a little too stiff when I started so I had to add more water to get the right consistency. The first coat was looking a little scary but I was sure once it dried and I got the second coat on things would come good.

One of our dining room chairs...ready to be revamped...

The reason I've only done one dining room chair so far is because our setting originally had six chairs but one night when I was mopping the floor at the old house I accidently knocked a chair off the table and it hit the ground so hard that the wood split and broke the leg......so now we have five and being that five is an odd number (and I don't like odd things, ever) I only have four around the table and the spare sits in the kitchen for when we need it. However if all goes well with the first trial chair then I'll be revamping the whole dining suite.....

After popping out a couple of screws I removed the cast iron work that I love...

With the first coat of my home made chalk paint...I used the duck egg blue...

As you can see with the first coat things were looking a little scary from my point of view and once the paint is dry it feels quite rough but then it is chalk paint...I've been assured that once the wax is on it has a lovely finish and a nice feel to it.

My chair with the iron back in so you can all see how things are going...one more coat of paint and then a waxing and all will be done...however it may be a few weeks before I can finish it..

Considering once again this is a first attempt at something completely new I'm very happy with how it's going so far and I'm loving the colour...it seems the plaster of paris has made the Duck Egg Blue a little lighter once dry but I quite like it as it's a softer blue. Obviously there will be a part 2 to this post once I've finally finished it so keep your eyes open to see how things go once the wax is on....For now I'm off to do a few last minte things before bub makes his arrival so take care for now and Au revoir....xo

Michelle