HomeMade Chalk Paint Gone Wild

I must be the only person in the world

who has stirred up homemade chalk paint…

only to shriek in horror….

because I certainly don’t find any of these accounts on the internet.

Ok.

It was my first time.

OK.

I didn’t know what to expect.

But, even I knew that something had gone terribly wrong

when THIS indigo wall color..

turned into this color of baby blue….

……..when mixed with simple Plaster of Paris.

No……I can’t explain it.

I have no idea what happened.

I just knew it was time for Plan B.

Only….. I didn’t have a Plan B

…and

retreat is not in my vocabulary.

So…I just stood there…

staring at a baby blue concoction

and that awful oak chest.

…Then I decided it was time to saddle up…

time to get tough…

to forge this trail…

to go all Lewis and Clarke…

Daniel Boone….

and

Davy Crockett.

…GO FOR IT…

just like the great pioneers before me…

…and…

……see…….

….what happens.

*****************************************************************************

Day One: The Base Coat

I didn’t sand or use a primer.  After all, everybody says you don’t have to because chalk paint sticks to anything.  At the end of the day, I had great paint adhesion to a full-on baby blue chest.  Yea…the one there…in the middle.  Trust me,  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Sorry…this is the only pic I snapped……just shows you how rattled I was.  

A while later, Hubs takes one look at it…..

the color drains from his face

…..as he murmurs…..

“Are you going to put THAT in our grown son’s room?”

Now…… is the time where I toss back my hair back,

garner a twinkle in my eye,

and confidently reply,

“Don’t be silly……this is just a base coat.”

……..and then hope…….

he will just. go. away.

Day Two:  The Top Coat

The following morning, my new brilliant plan was to make red chalk paint to go over the blue.  After all, chalk paint is supposed to cover anything.  Then, sand down a few spots and do a black chalk paint dry brush over the entire piece.

Ok.

Black over red.

It looks like a boy.

It looks grown-up.

Yes….  Yes.  This will work.

So, using the same chalk paint recipe, I mixed fire engine red latex paint with Plaster of Paris…….and….whoohoo… the color didn’t change!

Now… I’m thinking…. things are back on track….

So, I joyfully started singing…. and painting…………until the chest….the chest……begins to turn purple!

And puddling..

Holy cow!

It was puddling and turning purple.

Oh WOW……two DIY meltdowns for the price of one.

Lucky me.

Then.. I thought….”Huuum… chalk paint is supposed to cover anything….and not …ahem….. puddle.”

So…why now?

As horrifying as this was….I kept going.

I figured that….at some point…I would turn this thing around…..but my bulldog determination was no match for that paint.

It kept puddling………and turning purple.

Grrrrr.

So….ok…whatever happens…good or bad…at least it’s consistent……….from top to bottom.

I was all in……..I tell you……..all in.

I painted the whole chest.

Later that day…….Hubs comes home….

and once again…..

the color again drains from his face….

as he murmurs….

“You do realize this is purple?”

What?  No comment about the puddles?  But…..I digress.

“Oh, yes.”  I replied with even more confidence than the day before.  “This is just the second coat.”

“And, for Pete’s sake,”  I thought to myself.  “Don’t blink……just keep smiling.”

…..and hopefully……

he will just. go. away.

Day Three: The Fix

The next day, I bounced into the garage with yet another grand scheme new plan.

 What happens to the color if this thing is sanded?  I mean…it’s not like I could make it worse.

 So, I gave it a go with some very fine grit sandpaper.

I can’t say it was any better…….but I can say it was no longer purple…….or puddled.

I also didn’t want to admit that my confidence in homemade chalk paint was waning.

So… I began to think about some of my other great saves.

After all, it’s not like I haven’t been down THIS road before.  🙁

Seriously.

I have.

Many times.

But, anyway, back in the day, I had tremendous results using glaze.  Just plain old Ralph Lauren latex glaze…in tobacco color.  My go-to…..my favorite….my friend.  It was the peanut butter to my jelly.  The macaroni to my cheese.  The wood filler to my bad miter cuts.  The ying to my yang.  When paint jobs went awry…. I could hit them with a little tobacco Ralph…in full strength or watered down…..and every little thing would be all right.

So…now…..I figured……maybe it’s time.

Time to whip out my old-time “go-to” guy………..and get this thing fixed.

Only…..ahhh oh.

New problem.

Did you know that chalk paint sucks up glaze like a dry sponge?

Yea.  Me, neither.

I applied it full strength …..only to watch it glob up and not move.  At.  All.

I promise you that this has NEVER happened.  Ever.

Time to regroup.

Again.

Ok….so I was concerned about too much water warping the wood.  After all, this is 100% oak….heavy as a tank….with zero veneer.  Believe it or not…this was this first time I paused….and gave way to the possibility that something could happen that I couldn’t reverse…or hide.

Not. Good.

Before panic had time to completely set-in, I opted to thin out the glaze (about one teaspoonful of water to one cup glaze) and apply it using a wet sponge brush.  I used as little water as possible, but made sure the glaze was even.  Absolutely no globbing allowed.  After the first coat… I saw some progress…..so I applied another……..and another.  Three coats later…..the baby blue turned purple turned baby blue chest was beginning to show signs of life.

Day Four:  The Hardware

Once the final color began to take shape, it was time to deal with the hardware.  One thing I knew for sure……the original antique brass had to go.

After a light sanding and two coats of spray paint…..

Day Five:  The Assembly

After everything had cured……about 7 days later……we reassembled the pieces to the frame….which had been refinished in the bedroom.

Hubs came home some time later……

…only this time

…the color didn’t drain from his face

…as he murmurs…

…”Looks good.”

…and I no longer had to hope he would go away.

I don’t know if I will ever tell him how I scrambled to wrangle the homemade chalk paint gone wild.

Maybe, some things are best kept and simply shared to fellow DIYers…in the sheltered confidences….of the internet.

But, I surely do appreciate the excitement as I pioneered into furniture refinishing.

And, better understand……..even if it’s only in my little corner of the world……the rush the Great Ones must have felt as they explored America for the very first time.

Yea, guys.

I get you.

Me and my little adventurous heart.

**************************************************************************************

Until next time,

Happy decorating,

Suz