DIY Distressed Furniture & Chalk Paint Recipe

Happy Saturday!

Something you might not have known about me is that I LOVE repainting furniture! One of my favorite things to do is to find an old piece of furniture at a thrift store or even on Craigslist and to bring it back to life. Some of my favorite pieces in our home I bought from flea markets and re-did them myself. Today I’m going to show y’all how to make your own chalk paint and distress your furniture.

One of my friends gave me the recipe for this chalk paint and it is so easy to make and use! I always go to Lowes for my paint and get their sample size tubs. They are only $3, it doesn’t look like much paint but it will last you awhile! I was able to re-paint an entire dresser with just one of these little tubs. The paint I’m using for this project is Valspar in the color Ivory Lace. This is my go to paint color. It’s a perfect light creamy color and looks really pretty when you add a dark glaze and distress it. I’ve used this on a mirror in my dining room, my coffee table, and a dresser. My coffee table was $25 at a flea market and someone actually gave me this frame and I got a mirror installed into it! You can make such beautiful/ expensive looking pieces if you know where to hunt!

Dining room mirror painted in Ivory Lace with a dark brown glaze

Coffee table painted in Ivory Lace with a dark brown glaze.

Chalk Paint Recipe

1 cup of latex paint

1.5 TBS Non-Sanded WHITE grout

1 TBS water

To make your chalk paint you need Non-Sanded WHITE grout. Make sure that it says Non-sanded or this will not work. Mix 1.5 TBS of the grout with 1 TBS of water, if it does not dissolve or still seems really thick add a few more drops of water until it is more like a paste. Scrape the grout mixture into your cup of paint. I put it right into the sample container from Lowes and stir with a plastic spoon. Mix very well.

Now you’re ready to start painting! The best thing about chalk paint is that you don’t need to sand or prime your furniture before painting it! It cuts out so many steps! Paint a layer and let it dry. Then apply another coat and let it dry completely.

Once your piece is dry it’s time to distress it. I use a medium grit sanding sponge and lightly rub onto different places of my furniture. Going over the edges and corners with your sanding sponge gives it a nice aged look as well. You can do as little or as much distressing as you like! Usually after I distress my furniture then I add a dark glaze to make it look even more aged. For this piece however I’m actually leaving it like this because I wanted it to be a brighter creamy color for my bathroom.

If you wanted to add a glaze as shown above on my coffee table and mirror all you need is some dark brown paint, a cup of water, paintbrush, and a lot of paper towels. I work in small sections and always paint in the same direction. Dip your paintbrush into a cup of water, then dip it lightly into your brown paint. You only need a small amount of brown paint on your brush. Paint it onto a section of your furniture, then immediately wipe it off with your paper towels. Wipe it in the same direction you painted it. This will give a nice antiqued look but you have to wipe it fast and in small sections so that it doesn’t become too brown. If your furniture has a lot of crevices dab your brown paint into the cracks and it really brings out the detail in the furniture and makes it pop! I always feel like my furniture finally looks complete after I finish glazing but again for this little stool I’m skipping the glaze this time!

There’s no need to seal the paint once you’re done. For pieces of furniture that are used a lot like my coffee table or a dresser I do like to brush a coat or two of polyurethane just for extra protection but you don’t have to!

Now I’m finished with my bathroom stool! I have a separate DIY post on how I recovered the stool if you want to check it out here!