Cedar Hill Farmhouse

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Homemade Chalk(y) Paint, A Cautionary Tale

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NOTE: Since posting this post, I have found what I feel to be the best homemade chalk(y) paint recipe.  You can find it here.

I did it.  I painted my inherited chairs.

The guest room actually started out with this chair.

When I realized that I would get getting six of the new chairs, I knew I needed to make room, so this old chair (and its twin) went to my friend Peggy.  (Sorry Peggy, looks like the kids spilled something on your new chair.)

This is what the inherited chairs looked like when they arrived.

In my post on the new bed and chairs, I asked readers whether I should paint them or not.  Some of you voted to keep the chairs the way they were, but most of you said to paint them, and paint them I did.  I also changed out the fabric on the seats.

Here’s a close-up of the old fabric,

and the new.

And what was this fancy fabric I used, you ask?  (Okay, if you didn’t ask, then just pretend that you did.)  Why, it’s painter’s dropcloth of course.  I bought a 9 ft by 12 ft one for about $25. I recovered all of these six chairs, AND I have lots left for some more projects.

Now let’s talk paint.  Many of you have starting making your own chalky paint.  I found a recipe for chalky paint on No Minimalist Here, and Larissa Hill Designs.   You can also Google homemade chalky paint (without the ‘y’) to see what others are doing with it.  (Once again, I know another one of my blogging buddies did a post on the paint, and I can’t remember who it was.)

I used my own chalky paint for these chairs.  But here’s my cautionary tale.  I mixed one part plaster of Paris to 2 parts of paint and I got a glob of something that looked like very stiff mashed potatoes.  Then I thought, oh, I will simply add the plaster of Paris in smaller amounts, stirring in-between.  The result was VERY lumpy paint.  It was a disaster.   And that was the last of my paint.  I had ruined a half a gallon of paint.  Yuck. And the nearest paint store was almost 30 minutes away.  I didn’t have time to go to the store to buy more paint.

I decided to stir like crazy and try the paint any way.  Oh yes, I did.  After painting, if I had to describe the table in one word, it would be “Lumpy.”  Remember the kid on Leave it to Beaver named Lumpy?  (If you don’t know what I am talking about, then go to your room, right now!)  For the first time in my life, I had a table I could name “Lumpy” and no one would have to ask why.  All they would have to do is look at it.  Then they would turn their heads sideways and ask, “Oh.  Did you mean to make it that way?  Is it supposed to have those bumps all over it?  Is that the new look?”  To see Lumpy, click here.

So here I was with a lumpy table and mashed potato paint. I was NOT happy.  So what’s a girl to do?  I could have easily obsessed over the table and had a miserable day, or I could choose to have a good day.  I chose to have a good day, and you know what?  I DID!!  I simply set the table out of the way, and pretended that it wasn’t there.  I even took my glasses off when I came near it, so I couldn’t see all of the lumps. I knew I could sand them off later any way.

Back in the city,  I bought more paint for a third try.   This time I took a different approach, I mixed about 1/2 cup plaster of Paris with a 1/4-ish cup of water and completely dissolved the powder, THEN added it to the paint.  The plaster of Paris did not mix very well and needed to be continued stirred but it did work!  I was able to use this formula to paint all six of my chairs.

After sanding them slightly for some distressing, I waxed them with Annie Sloan clear wax. Here are some close-up views of the chairs.

Since then I have heard that calcium carbonate works even better so I went in search of that elusive elixir.  At first I asked for it at the health food store.  The clerk gave me a weird look and asked what I was going to take it for.  I explained that it wasn’t for me… it was for my chairs.  Now I got an even stranger look. I said perhaps too quickly, “Oh well, it’s actually for the paint that will go on the chairs, not for the chairs themselves… since chairs don’t… actually… eat anything.”  Now not only was the clerk staring at me, but the other customers in the store had joined in, and they began to move away from me as if I were a leper or a CRAZY person.  (I have teenagers so that look doesn’t really work on me.)

The clerk informed me that they don’t carry calcium carbonate and if it is something one adds to paint, then one should look for it in a paint store.  At this point, I decided to cut my losses.  What was the point?  There was no need to explain that paint stores don’t carry calcium carbonate, that normal people don’t buy it for paint, only crazy bloggers.  Well there you have it, perhaps they were right all along, I was a bit odd.  So I smiled at her, thanked her and left.  Then I did what any “crazy” blogger would do… I went straight home to my computer, got on the internet, and ordered it from Amazon.  It arrived in the mail a week later.  I hear the calcium carbonate dissolves the best, so I can’t wait to try it.

Here’s a look at the rest of the room.

Oh my, I don’t sound crazy to you, DO I???  BTW, I repainted the table and I’ll share that with you later, Darlings.
Want to see more of this room?

You can click

here to see the post on the chest,
here to see the paint technique used on the shutters,
here to see the new headboard
here to see the post on painting the night stands, or
here to see the post on painting the lamps.

Comments

  1. Oh, you crack me up! You sound like me! That is about how my projects go. I read that article about the chalk paint! I even got some. I haven’t though gimped up the stairs to try it out on the dresser yet though. I want to do that one day really soon though. Your chairs look awesome! Now after seeing your result I want to do it even more. Love the new fabric too!

    Reply

  2. You went through a lot but your chairs turned out great and thats what matters. I admire your persistence.~! but it does make me feel a little guilty becuase I didnt post 3 weeks ago about adding water to the pap before adding it slooooowly to the paint.. That would have at least saved you some of the agony you went through.
    I never even posted the items I painted. I am a baddddd blogging buddy:)
    The whole room looks wonderful and I am certain your guests will feel like they are in a quality bed and breakfast. well done indeed..
    May I ask where you got your bedspread? I’d love to have one in that style.
    thanks and again- GREAT JOB~!
    Sonny

    Reply

  4. yay on the chairs….they look fabulous dahlin! I spent the day with Sherry of No Minimalist Here and we discussed chalk paint at length. Would you believe, I have yet to try it. 🙂

    We moved to the country when the kids left for college. The property we bought was on a gentle hill overlooking a lake. The land is full of beautiful old very large cedar trees and lots of tall pines too. Thus the name: CedarHill. Here is a link to a post I did when I first started blogging in 07 that shows a bit of the land. 🙂 ~ Lynn @thevintagenest

    http://www.thevintagenestblog.com/2007/09/down-country-lane.html

    Reply

  11. Hi Anita!

    Your chairs look great! And your story about trying to buy the calcium carbonate had me laughing out loud! My kids are past their teen years, but sometimes they still give me those looks.:)Here’s to you for persistence! My homemade paint recipe used unsanded grout. It was ok, and I’ll probably do it again, but it’s a little gritty.
    -Revi

    Reply

  16. Hi, you commented on my post about my brother Lance, so i came to see what you do. This is fun. I also did some repainting furniture and my kids happily distressed it, used crackle paint and piccachu yellow with smurf blue.

    Glad to find your site, and once again, thank you for the kind comment.

    Dixie Goode
    echo’s voice

    Reply

  18. I love that you never gave up!! How great. I love the chairs and how you painted and recovered them. The room is beautiful. I love, love, love the bed!!! You always amaze with your skills!!

    Reply

  19. Your story was so funny! I make homemade chalk paint too….It can be a bit tricky to get the mixture to a paint able formula..It can be a bit gritty but I did not have MR. Lumpy, you are so funny! I love the chairs though..Hope it goes better next time. Thanks for stopping by my home tour @ Coastal Charm….I appreciated your sweet!

    Reply

  23. Your lumpy paint sounds like my lumpy paint from today a la plaster of paris. I’d done it before and really didn’t see much of a difference from regular latex, so today I went all out and did a 50/50 mixture. solid, my paint looked like gritty play-doh. I added some water, but it was still quite lumpy. I decided to slop it on and see what happened (I was painting a beat up little table, so I didn’t haveanything to lose) The result is hard to describe…gritty and a lot of work to distress…I should have it on my blog later in the week…it needs some more love first. Nevertheless, your end result is very pretty!

    Reply

  25. Anita, how funny! Oh, I know about lumpy paint. I used Calcium Carbonate and put it in a blender and it was fine. I also used Sherry’s mixture recipe. I admire your persistence! Your chairs turned out lovely! Everything looks amazing!

    Reply

  28. hi i could find calcium carbonat so i ask my sister-in-law (btw she a science teacher) who told me it’s just chalk so i’ve used my pestle and morta and hey pesto calcium carbonate

    hope that helps

    colette b

    Reply

  29. Found your blog when I was searching for homemade chalk paint on google. Love the chairs and the sense of humor, I’m your newest follower!

    Reply

    • to purchase a smaller amount I bought
      Calcium Carb at Art supply shop 1 lb for $4.90 Canadian
      Opus art supplies victoria, BC

      Reply

  31. Since this time have you used the calcium carbonate and did you like it better than the plaster of paris? I’m getting ready to try making my own.

    ~Bliss~

    Reply

  43. I truly needed that laugh today!! Between the lumpy paint, the weird looks in the health store, crazy blogger comment, I am glad to have run into your site after searching “what to do about small lumps in homemade chalky paint” lol. Have a blessed day and thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

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