Chalk Paint - Yay or Nay?

I was scrolling through my Facebook wall one day early last year - laughing at jokes, admiring friends’ photos and watching the odd music video when something else caught my eye. It was an ad for  Frenchic, a new(ish) brand of chalk paint based here in the UK. After reading all the blurb - and remembering how much I used to enjoy furniture painting - I joined the Frenchic group and was awed by the photos of their work that group members had posted. Of course, I just had to go to the Frenchic website and put in an order.

As hubby and I were about to begin redecorating our living room, I decided that my first chalk paint project should be the fireplace tiles and mantelpiece. We planned on a much lighter colour scheme so the dark mantle had to go...and I didn’t like the tiles.

Happy with those results I decided to paint our dining chairs and the table pedestal. Again, I was pleased with the way they turned out once I had reupholstered the chair pads.

I did both of these projects according to the manufacturer instructions i.e. no sanding, no priming required. Has the finish lasted? To a point, yes, but the tiles on the fireplace have chipped in several places and there is a small chip on one of the dining chairs. I need to say that I loved working with this paint and now that I’ve used it (and other brands) on numerous pieces I would always recommend sanding and priming as I think prep is everything!

Since then I have painted many items and with proper preparation - and finishing with at least two coats of protective wax - have found that the results are much better. Thorough prep, in my opinion, is absolutely essential to achieving a perfect and long lasting finish.

So, do I use chalk paint on all my pieces? Nope. I do use it on some pieces but not all. Sometimes it just comes down to the finish I want to achieve or the higher price of chalk paint. Quite often nowadays I will make my own chalk paint from matt emulsion (more about that in another post).

I have two pieces of furniture in my craft room that I painted in the spring of 2010 that look as good now as the day they were painted...they were both done in an eggshell finish paint without any protective finishing coats.

Would I recommend chalk paint for furniture? Yes I would, but I think any good quality paint can give excellent results if you take the time to do a proper job. My next post will outline the steps I take when painting a piece of furniture, so please subscribe and come back soon!