Chalk Painted Hutch

I’ve considered painting this hutch since we purchased it from Craigslist a couple of years ago.  But I knew it wouldn’t be quick, and there were other more urgent projects.  Besides, part of me liked the green, just not with the brown on the back, shelves, and desk. 

I set a few goals for myself just before we took a break from school for Christmas.  Painting the hutch was one of them.

A little while back, I pinned a recipe for homemade chalk paint onto my DIY Pinterest board.  The recipe was simple:  Dissolve 1/2 cup of plaster of paris with 1/2 cup of hot water.  Then mix it with 1 1/2 cups of paint.  I decided to use the rest of the gray paint from the boys’ steps, since I liked the color (and it meant I didn’t have to make a special trip to Menards).  It seemed much stiffer than regular paint to me, more so than what I had seen on the internet, so I added a little more hot water until it had a smoother consistency. I had read a few articles about how to apply chalk paint, as opposed to regular paint, and I felt ready to go!

 

As I painted, it continued to get a little stiff, so I occasionally added small amounts of water a little at a time, plus I had to keep stirring it every few strokes with a paint stick as I was painting.  It went faster than I had hoped, though, since there was no sanding or priming to do.  Before long… I was finished!

The online instructions said to do a thin first coat, without going back over my brush strokes.  Then after about 2 hours, do the second and final coat.

You can see the finish looks a little aged and the original green kind of shows through the brush strokes.  This was what I was going for.    If you want to achieve this look, but don’t like the original color of your piece, you can use a different chalk paint color for the first coat, and then your final color for the finish.

 

   

I sanded lightly with a fine grit sanding block between the two layers, trying not to make it too shabby.

 

                       

The finish is definitely more gritty than regular paint, and since I move my sewing machines around sometimes, depending on what I’m sewing, I made sure to put 3 coats of polycrylic polyurethane on top.  I lightly sanded between the 2nd and 3rd coats of polyurethane.

                  

I love it!  I think it looks more graceful, somehow.

 

                         

 

In other household news, Olivia ended up getting sick, although not as bad as some of the others.  I am the lone survivor of the influenza this time!  Whew!  Thank you for praying for me!