With all of this staying home lately I've been making the time to work on a few home projects. I built a shelf for the back patio to hold alllllllll the miscellaneous toys and was so proud of how it turned out. I braved a couple cuts with the circular saw and it was my first piece I built from scratch. I've been trying to finish up some odds and ends around the house inside as well. Lately I've been scouring our local Facebook Marketplace for an entry table. I was totally fine redoing one or buying one already done but everything I could find was more than I wanted to pay. I finally stumbled upon the perfect one (for only $20!!!) from a local church trying to get rid of things. I instantly texted my husband (who so lovingly embraces all my home projects) to pick it up the next day.
My favorite thing about using chalk paint is that it takes almost no prep to be ready for paint. Just a wipe down of cobwebs and dust that was on it and it was ready for paint. Over the different projects I've done I have used pre-made chalk paint (Annie Sloan) and have made my own. I find it much more economical to just but different matte paint colors and then I can make calk paint using plaster of paris and water when I need it for furniture. I happened to already have some bright white flat paint and plaster of paris on hand. To make the chalk paint first mix 1/2 cup plaster of paris with a 1/2 cup warm water. Make sure the plaster of paris dissolves. Then add about 1 1/2 cups of your chosen paint color. This will create your chalk paint. I usually need to do two coats, but much prefer two thinner coats to one clumpy one. Here is what it looked like after my two coats of paint:
This was already a huge improvement. I could have just been done here, but really liked the entry tables with two shelves. So off to home depot I went for some 1x4 boards. I cut the boards to 14 inches each to place on the bottom. I have had a Ryobi circular saw for almost a year now but have been too scared to use it. I used a clamp the clamp the wood to a table and cut the board and was pleasantly surprised with how easy (and not scary) it was to use! The edge pieces required a little more work but I am proud that I was still able to do it. Each piece got painted with the chalk paint before attaching it.
Once the pieces were painted I used 1 1/2in drywall screws to attach to the frame that was already there. They have a sharp thread but I did pre-drill the holes to make it easier for me to screw them down.
After everything was attached I gave it a quick sanding with some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the paint and make it super soft. The last step was to apply two coats of a polycrylic. I like to use Minwax Polycrylic. I have also used Annie Sloan wax but find the process to be more labor intensive and doesn't last as long. You can get the polycrylic at any Home Depot or Lowes. I apply one coat, give it another light sanding with 220 grit paper and then apply a final coat and allow to dry.
All that was left was to attach some new hardware. Here is a
link to the ones I used. I filled in the previous holes with wood putty before painting. And Voila!! It was all done!
