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Projects from our Paint & Design Studio in Australia. Inspirational and instructional how-to tips on chalk, milk and mineral paint as well as refinishing furniture, upcycling and before and after projects!



                                          
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Creating the White Washed Coastal Look with Chalk Paint

28/9/2014

10 Comments

 
One of the questions I am asked most often is....
How do I make my dated furniture look modern and coastal?

There are variations of this style and technique of course, 

from shabby chic to French-style, white-washed to driftwood...
 with each of these the interpretation is subjective and colour and finish is a personal choice. 
Some prefer warm, aged cream and ivory, others very cool, blue whites.

For this post I'll focus on a contemporary coastal style
using a pale grey as a base and soft white to finish.


Knowing we love a challenge, a neighbour offered us these beauties...how could we say no?
dated-pine-furniture-gets-restyled
Headed to the landfill...a project for For The Love Creations!
before-after-timber-chair-makeover
Waiting for some love
no-sanding-no-prep-paint-australia
Even with peeling varnish, only minimal prep is required
No sanding, no prep, simply paint straight over 
the chipping, peeling varnish. 

Because I didn't want the yellow/orange of the wood coming
 through the finish, the first step was painting with 
a neutral grey colour.

painting-old-chairs-chalk-paint
Before and after side-by-side
One quick coat is all it took.
I prefer the variation of some timber peeking through. 
The dated floral fabric on the seat base was also painted.

Even though the paint was dry in about 20 minutes, 
 I  allowed it sit overnight to prevent the first coat from wiping away too easily
or sticking to the brush when applying the second coat.

The next morning I used  a combination of dry-brushing and
a wet rag to wipe away excess.

I varied the strokes, the pressure, the amount of paint and the amount of 
paint or timber I exposed (depending how hard I wiped).

This technique is completely flexible.
You may prefer a more solid finish with only hints of the colour peeking through. 
Or,  as shown, you can very lightly dry-brush allowing a fair amount of undercoat to show. 
You may prefer it somewhere in between...or you may 
want to skip the first coat altogether and let the timber work its magic.
It's entirely up to you!


white-washed-driftwood-painted-finish-chairs
First coat only (closest) with white-washed chair side-by-side
old-world-chalk-paint-shabby-chic
One coat of base grey on the left with the final dry brush of white over on the right
autentico-paint-australia-coastal-furniture-diy
Detail of white-washing

For a smoother, more even finish, water down the top coat and use a rag.
For more obvious detail (like above) use the dry-brush method.


Go heavier in some of the details like the "seams" where 
paint would naturally have settled.
And one more tip...if painting spindles like on this chair 
it helps to use a combination of brush and rag techniques to finish each spindle.
Don't do one side, then the other, it can leave a line or look choppy.
Complete each spindle.

And Cling On Round Brushes are a secret weapon for 
anything with spindles. They hug the curves and
make life MUCH easier!

how-to-diy-paint-furniture
Just waiting for the final step...wax!
The last step is the most fun...waxing!
Waxing seals and  protects the furniture and keeps the finish 
from chipping, peeling or discolouring. 
It also makes the paint colour intensify and creates dimension. 

These beauties have certainly gone from dated to divine. 
From trash to treasure. 
(Do you think the neighbour is going to want them back now? he he)
before-after-shabby-chic-chairs
AFTER — Ready for indoors or out!
painting-furniture-achieve-coastal-look
Before & After
It's all here...for the love...
Sada
10 Comments
Jasmyn Travers
1/8/2015 12:20:33 am

Hi, I'm just wondering if this technique would work as well over solid varnish that isn't peeling? Thankd

Reply
Sada
1/8/2015 03:18:53 am

Hi Jasmyn,

Yes, it would work pretty much the same on a solid-varnished (or painted!) surface!!

Let me know if you have any other questions, I"m here to help!
xSada

Reply
Pauline
17/2/2016 08:01:23 am

Can this paint be used on rattan cane furniture

Reply
Max
12/5/2016 03:56:40 pm

Have very well built pine furniture in ex order wish to "shabby chic " I wish to spray paint and after scrubbing relief can I spray say a matt epoxy to protect surface instead of wax ?

Reply
Martin swale
11/8/2016 10:13:09 pm

Can you chalk paint jarrah timber ? And can you polyurethane over chalk paint ?

Reply
Sada Vee
13/8/2016 08:42:24 am

Yes, you can Martin. I'd just be careful of bleedthrough as jarrah can be quite red and filled with tannins! If you're wanting to avoid that, you can always seal first. And yes, you can use an ordinary poly over Chalk Paint. HOpe this helps!!
Thank you,
Sada

Reply
Jason
19/7/2017 09:52:21 am

Is this technique suitable for cedar paneling (indoor) that is approximately 30 years old?

Reply
Ingrid link
5/11/2017 11:40:10 am

Hello, I bought a driftwood heart which is quite large and it is yellowing a bit which I don't like.
I've read that I need to bleach it in a solution for a few days which would be quite awkward and I wondered if any of the paints you use might lighten/whiten it?
Thank you in advance
Kind regards,
Ingrid

Reply
Ricardo
16/5/2020 02:22:06 pm

I want to chalk paint a walnut stained, pine wood kitchen hutch. Can you just slap the paint on without having to sand? Pretty much follow the steps above.

Reply
Pauline Burgess
21/11/2020 10:31:07 am

Could you possibly tell me what is the grey paint?

Reply



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