Antique Looking Chairs
Chalk paint creates a shabby chic look.
Shabby chic offers a design theme where furniture is aged, chipped, worn and rustic. Painting a piece of furniture in the shabby chic look involves two coats of paint and a little sanding. You can finish almost any type of furniture to look shabby chic including wood veneer furniture that is made of particle or fiberboard with a wood or laminate veneer on top. Chalk paint provides an excellent choice for finishing wood veneer furniture. You do not need to prime or prep the furniture, and the chalk paint texture adds to the shabby chic look.
Place the fake wood furniture on a dropcloth and cover any other furniture in the area with a dropcloth for protection. Remove any hardware and set aside.
Wipe down the fake wood furniture with a damp cloth to remove dirt and dust.
Open the first color of chalk paint, add two to four drops of water to the paint, and stir to make smooth. This first color will only show through in the areas that you sand, so choose a color that is complementary to the other colors in the room.
Paint the furniture with a coat of chalk paint with a quality paintbrush. It is OK if some paintbrush marks remain, as this will add to the texture of the piece. Allow the first coat of paint to dry to the touch and add a second coat if you are not happy with the amount of coverage.
Open the second color of chalk paint and apply a coat to the furniture piece, allow to dry to the touch and apply a second coat if desired, though you may want to only paint one coat of the second color to add to the worn look of the piece.
Use a piece of 320-grit sandpaper to carefully sand away the second color of paint in areas where natural wear would occur such as the tops or dressers, seats of chairs, legs, edges, drawer faces, around hardware and in the front of the piece.
Wipe the piece down with a tack cloth to remove the paint dust. Dip a clean paintbrush into the can of finishing wax and apply to the piece to seal the chalk paint. Without finishing wax, chalk paint will rub off in time. Let the wax dry 10 to 15 minutes and then buff with a buff cloth to produce a smooth finish. If you want to give your piece an antiqued look, apply a second coat of finishing was in a darker color and buff when dry. Reattach any hardware.
