I have not used chalk paint, but have you seen the liquid sandpaper stuff that basically de-glosses a finish so paint can stick to it?

If I were to tackle this, I would start with that product and use many, many thin coats of spray paint. Do you have a garage where you can make a little spray booth for yourself with plastic sheeting?

And ... Safety first, if you do this make sure you get adequate breathing protection. A dust mask isn't enough, but you can probably get a decent respirator mask for under $50. I think that's how much I spent on the one I used to demo a moldy bathroom last year.

I have tried chalk paint, but it didn't work out for me. I made my own following a recipe from one of the decorating blogs, which involved mixing calcium carbonate and latex paint. It was a throw-away melamine shelf so I couldn't see forking out the $30-$50 for the Annie Sloan brand. However, it didn't cover so well and needed umpteen coats. I had drips and streaks. A coat of paste wax somewhat improved the finish but I ended up throwing it out. If I had your piece I'd definitely try the Annie Sloan brand based on all the reviews. I don't think you have to distress it. Good luck and post a photo when you're done.

In the past few months, I've done 6 or 7 pieces of furniture with the chalk paint. You definitely do not need to sand or prime!!! Many of the pieces I did were oak pieces from the 80s--they were stained and had a shiny finish. The first coat of chalk paint kind of slips and slides on--not fully covering. But that first coat is enough to provide some real "bite," and the second coat definitely adhered. For many of the pieces I did three coats, mainly to cover the oak grain better since that is a very open grain.

I'm not into distressing, and the chalk paint provides a very smooth even finish. It is a very flat finish, much like milk paint if you have used or seen that. But I did wax the pieces (with the Annie Sloan wax), and that gives a kind of shine.

The chalk paint is pricey, no doubt about it. But I found what many have found--it goes very far.

Online, I've seen lots of 1970s Mediterranean-style pieces painted with the chalk paint. In the before pictures, the pieces looked very dated, but the paint brings out the carvings in a very pleasing way! I'd go for it!

I haven't used chalk paint, and don't have good luck with spray paint, especially with a larger piece like a dresser. Maybe if a sprayer attachment was used,the finish would be more even, but every time I've tried(right out of the spray can)I get high/low areas of sheen. I either brush or roll, depending on the size of the project, and always use acrylic paint, not latex. ; o)

I JUST bought some expensive chalk paint, and watch a four minute online video... I'm in LOVE with this paint! It is the easiest paint I have ever used. I did distress my 2 items I painted ... but didn't have to. It is super smooth, no streaks, or drips. You could wax or laquer over your piece so a super smooth finish. I loved this stuff so much, I just spent another $200 on other colors!

P.S. I should mention, I have never painted furniture before, so these are my first projects.

don't look at the mantel decorations.. I just finished painting it yesterday! For me, the pure white was too white and the old white too dark, I mixed my colors to get the color I wanted.
{{!gwi}}From 2012-06-30

little old stand... my first project. {{!gwi}}From 2012-06-30

Anyone have your before and after pictures?! Would love to see more.

My3dogs, do you transform furniture professionally? All the marvelous pieces I have seen in various posts simply cannot be in one house.....can they??

Would you consider providing a link to a photo tour of your home? I understand if you don't want to--- but I would really like to see all the things you have collected, transformed, improved and otherwise decorated your home with, in situ.

Aw, thanks, kswl! I do all of this stuff just for fun, and honestly don't have a place to put it all. The Union Jack resides in the cellar, and the decoupaged bureau remains in that state in my little woodworking shop (former garage in my 1937 house) under my office as I just haven't finished it.

I'm no pro at all, and have a full time 'desk' job, but do work from home, which I love. I just enjoy creating and changing things more than you can imagine, and always have. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to do all the things I enjoy. The woman who runs the shop where I buy the foam for the chairs told me that I just beam when I talk about my projects. It's a true labor of love.

My house tour right now would show a card table set up here in my office with another chair on it! I'm stripping off the old stuff to refinish and reupholster it. I know you saw the first upholstery attempt on the Drexel Heritage chair in another post. Here is the second one -

Before, a $10 garage sale find - Quality check by Sam

During - on my picnic table last weekend -

After, with a scrap of fabric I bought from eBay years ago. It's P Kaufmann 'Best in Show'. I had SO much fun with this!
I didn't even see the small rectangle on the frame below the seat front until I stripped off the old finish. I left the natural walnut, and coated it with low gloss tung oil.

I bought a very similar chair Thursday PM from CL for $25, although the seller was asking $50. This is my entertainment money. I'll enjoy re-doing it for days and then have it to look at forever, if I don't sell it.

I have it partially stripped, and carefully pulled out every hammered finish brass tack, and hope to re-use them, although some were bent when they went in, as the wood is so hard. I will start the refinishing on the frame this weekend. It will have this eBay fabric below on it, which I paid very little for years ago. I looked up the name in the selvage yesterday and it retailed for $129 a yard! It's Lee Behren Silks 'Katmandu', but it's a heavy linen. My first venture into neutrals! I'll post a pic when it's done. I'd love to see a post where ALL Of us who like to create showcase their work!

I, too, love chalk paint. AS Chalk paint - it does seem pricey, but you can get alot of painting out of one can. For a piece like yours, if you didn't want to distress it, you can wax it - using the dark wax in the carvings and it would look great! Just remember to first wax with the clear wax before using the dark wax.

Good luck!

tina

Oh my goodness, thank you all!

Engineer, I have nowhere to spray paint indoors, and I don't trust myself to do thin enough coats. I haven't tried the liquid deglossers but they would be a good idea for the vanity in my dd's bedroom which I would also like to paint (and it's small and plain enough for me to do with a roller). Do you have a favorite brand?

Scarletshouse, thanks for the warning about DIY chalk paint. I don't want to have to do the project more than once, and it will definitely be worth the cost of the paint if it gets me out of sanding all those curves.

Davisgard, Tinker, and My3dogs: You have inspired me to go ahead and try it.

All the projects featured look great. My3dogs, that fabric with the birds on it is heavenly, and I am in complete agreement with you that your projects are a fantastic use of "entertainment money". In my case, such projects are all that ward off having to spend a much larger amount on therapy ;-)

My3dogs, could you possibly be so indulgent as to describe in some detail the steps you used for your mirror?

I have one that is almost exactly like that one, and I've painted the black bits a much better color, but it's still pretty cheesy. I love what you did, and would like to try it myself.

Whoops - I'm asking you to hijack - perhaps you'd start another thread?

While looking into ASCP
Also check out the new CeCe Caldwell paints

I have not tried them yet but the reviews look good
Still expensive (I prefer to make my own CP out of calcium carbonate)

I like that CeCe is Made In The USA

Leafy02,
Your question could have been written by me except that the pieces of furniture I'm doing are a chest and a nightstand. I did not want the distressed or chippy look either nor did I want to spend the money for ASCP. I googled recipes for it and tried this one: 1.5 cups paint, 1/2 cup each of plaster of paris and hot (not boiling) water. Mix POP into water and then mix that into paint and stir, stir, stir. You can get sample containers of flat paint from SW for about $5, I think. I just used some old paint I had in the garage.

Not having tried the AS paint, I have no comparison but I did paint my chest last night and it looks great. It took 2 coats but it goes on very fast. This morning when I checked it, it had smoothed out beautifully and now I'll just wax it with some kind of clear soft wax.

Good luck with your project. I had resisted the painted furniture craze for a long time, but now I'm looking around for other pieces to paint and what I'm liking about making my own--other than the cheap price tag--is that I can afford to try a variety of colors.

My3dogs, that chair turned out beautifully! And the one in progress will be just as lovely--- that linen fabric is to die for! I can't wait to see the finished product there. And you have the union jack bureau in storage?? That's almost criminal.... I may have to report you :-) I saw a bureau like that a month or so ago in a shelter mag--- possibly traditional home--- that was $$$ and yours looks even better, truly. (Desk job? Have your painted it yet, lol?)

There are countless before and afters online if anyone wants additional examples.

I've painted a handful of pieces, and I generally like AS's chalk paint. My experience is that it, mostly, does not need primer. I bought a couple benches from PB that the paint would absolutely not stick to which resulted in a lot of wasted time (putting the coats on only to have to remove them later.) Otherwise, I've had good luck with other items.... end tables, a buffet, a mirror.

I have two containers of pure white and it seems that color requires more coats. My other colors went on thicker and required one or two coats (old white, graphite, duck egg, etc.)

You don't need to distress items!

I would try the paint on your piece. It sounds like a good candidate. Good luck.......

VickiShoemaker, thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge of the ASCP paint. I am planning to tackle the project once I come back from summer vacation. I would like my credenza to be a cream color, and it seems like there are lots of options for acheiving that. But I have another project I would like a real olive green for--or may be more accurate to say an avocado green. The photos online for ASCP show the super bright green and a very gray green--why no plain olive?

leafy, There IS an Annie Sloan Olive, as I have a sample jar of it. On the 3 Oaks site above, if you clock to see all the colors, Olive is in the 4th row down; the 4th color from the left.

Here is a link that might be useful: Olive chalk paint

My3, yes, I saw that olive, but in all the photos in Gogle images where it is actually on furniture, it looks very grayish brownish.

I don't know what other ASCP color I would mix it with to get more of an actual green olive/pea soup kind of olive.

my3dogs, what is the solvent in AS paint? Is it water clean-up?

Yes, clean-up with water! Leafy, I wonder if the 'Chateau Grey', which looks olive to me, is what you saw? Although on this link below, the Olive shown looks like what you described.

I see the prices have gone up on the sample jars. I paid $6.95 each when I bought mine last year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check the Olive sample here

I bought a 70's era sewing cabinet (dark wood, heavily carved) to use for storage in my craft room. I washed it down, let it dry then painted it a creamy white using a homemade version of chalk paint. I mixed it up in a margarine tub (only enough to do the project with) so I didn't have to mess with a can. I did have left over, and I saved it in a peanut butter jar (BTW, I've saved all my left over paints in plastic jars with screw on lids...MUCH better than cans)

I was willing to take a chance, I only paid $10 for the piece, and didn't want to spend the $$ for the ASCP. I was pleasantly surprised. The first coat made me doubt it's veracity, but after it dried and I applied the second coat (no sanding in between coats) it dried beautifully smooth. I did moderate distressing on the high points. I coated the finished piece with clear wax and it's holding up just great.

I also painted a coffee table with the same paint mixture (pop and paint only) and that thing wears like iron. I used my free quarts of paint from Ace Hardware to experiment and I'm a convert. Up next will be my china hutch.

Below is a link to an older thread on chalk paint. I did the white dresser in Annie Sloan's Old White, 2 coats, then a coat of MinWax paste wax. I let it cure a few days then have been using it daily. No distressing.

Right now, I'm working on my own "big ugly", a 70's style dresser that I found for $40 on craigslist. It was so ugly that I was ready to pass but Mr. Red had driven the truck across town and he said it was super sturdy. We want it for a TV media console. I painted it with a mix of Paris Gray, Louis Blue, and Duck Egg. I have a full quart of the Gray but just a little sample of the Louis Blue. I waxed with the minwax, then, distressed a bit, then, waxed with the Annie Sloan Dark Wax. I'm loving the way it's turning out and will post pix when done. And to think, I almost gave up on it!

I find the chalk paint amazingly simple to use. You can literally take a blah piece that you've cleaned, (I just use a rag with warm water and a little dish soap and wipe stuff down!) and start painting on your color. It dries fast so you can do coat #2 in about an hour. Then, a rubbed on coat of clear wax....Minwax, Johnson's paste wax, hannity's wax, or whatever. Done. Or you can layer colors, sand a little to distress, add some dark wax for interest, and have something else entirely.

I have a supplier here in town. I've paid about $35 for a quart and still have more than half a quart left after doing the white dresser. The sample jars are about $11.00, but they go a long way too.

Red
(See my Before pic of Big Ugly Below...)

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Chalk Paint thread

If we get finished this weekend will post After pix.

Red

Red, please do post after pix! Your Big Ugly dresser looks like a beauty to me, and I bet it will look fantastic with some color.

I am not put off by the cost of the paint-- thinking about what I would have to pay for an equally solid piece of furniture from a store makes it very easy to pay for a quart of paint at ASCP prices.

Really, the thing is so large and heavy that it's worth the cost of the paint just to not have to carry the thing up the stairs and out of the house.

Leafy, if you google "chalk paint dresser old white" you may see some images you like. I also linked to the yellow dresser turned media cabinet, NOT done with chalk paint, that inspired us to work on this project.

I'm not into shabby either. My finished cab looks a lot like high end antiqued furniture, which I DO like in small doses in my house. A couple of things I wanted to say about using the chalk paint....buy a pack of little foam brushes. It spreads easier with these and you can still use a paint brush to get into crevices and swirls. Also, if you don't mind spending a little to try it, you can so easily paint over it. It can be done and undone so quickly.
Any chance of a picture of Giant Ugly Hunk???

Red

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage dresser to Media console!

Any more after shots, Leafy and Red?