Transforming a Garage Sale Find with Chalk Paint

My mother-in-law is the queen of garage sales. She’s a woman of many talents, but her garage sale skills are top notch. She once bought a high top wooden kitchen table with four chairs for $5. After four years, we still have it in our house. That’s skill!

One of my favorite finds that she brought home last summer was a coffee table/end table set that she got for $30. The set is great quality, super sturdy and heavy with black iron piping on the bottom shelf.

When transforming a piece of furniture, I think it’s so important to start with a quality piece in order to transform it into a quality piece.

Fixing this baby up was super simple… if you’re willing to dedicate the time, anyone can do it. Here we go:

Supplies

•  Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape
•  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint – pure white
•  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint – old white
• Annie Sloan Soft Wax – clear
•  Various sizes of paint brushes
•  Sandpaper
•  Clean rag or shop towel

1.  First off, I made sure to dust off the tables really well. Then I took some hot soapy water and wiped it all down. It’s imperative you’re starting with clean furniture before you begin to paint.
2. Next, I removed the drawers and took off the knobs. Two of the drawers on the coffee table were faux so I couldn’t take those off. So I just did my best to work around them, and not to paint them in the cracks to look like they were painted shut.
3. I used Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape to tape off the bottom area where the wood met the iron piping. It’s important to use tape if there is any part of your furniture that you’re not looking to chalk paint. If you don’t do this, and you get messy, the edges will not turn out the best.
4. I mixed the Annie Sloan pure white and old white together 50/50 for the perfect off white combination. I didn’t want the set to be super white, and the old white just looked a little too yellow for me.
5. Now the fun part… I did 3 coats of chalk paint for each piece letting it fully dry between each coat. I also painted all the drawers and knobs to match. I know there are special Annie Sloan brushes you can use, however I picked up an assorted brush pack from Farm and Fleet, and they worked just fine for me. Plus they were only a fraction of the cost.
6. Once they were fully dry, I sanded the edges and corners and really all over to give it an “older” look. The best part about this step is that you really can’t mess up… it’s all about your personal taste and how you want it to look. I used a sandpaper Foam block, because I found it very easy to work with. However, regular ol’ sandpaper will work perfectly fine too.
7. After I got it looking the way I wanted, I used a clean rag to rub on the Annie Sloan Wax to seal it and give it a little more sheen to it. I ended up using quite a bit of wax for this part. It definitely soaks in very fast so just keep rubbing it in with a circular motion until it looks fully covered. (This step is optional… if you chose to leave it off, it would have more of a matte finish and the chalk paint could still rub off. It’s up to you!)
8. Finally, after a few hours of drying with the wax on, it was all completed. I put the drawers and knobs back on and ta-da!

And that’s it… it’s just that simple. I hope this inspires you to transform your next garage sale find into something beautiful.

xo,

lauren

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