This piece rocked my socks off from the first time I laid eyes on it. We were at an estate sale, and this bad boy had a $15 price tag on it. $15??? For a trunk that I could lay down in? I knew exactly how valuable this could be for us. Our master bedroom is upstairs and has no linen closet for sheets, towels etc. this sits at the foot our our king bed and has been SO useful!
This was one of the first pieces that I painted, and it was obvious after I first finished it that I made a huge mistake. I didn’t know how to properly seal the paint once I was finished. I did some research and knew that I needed a polyacrylic clear coat to seal in the piece that would inevitably get knicked or scratched in upcoming years. What I made the mistake of is getting a polyurethane sealer instead of polyacrylic. Polyurethane can cause a slight color change, so when I placed it on my ivory paint it looked a little yellow. The other thing about polyacrylic/polyurethane is that it dries FAST. It goes on like water- super easy to spread around, but like water, it drips easily! If you aren’t watching for drip marks closely, you will lose your opportunity to smooth them out with your brush and the drip mark will be permanent. I didn’t know either of these important things, so for 3 years I’ve looked at this piece begrudgingly. I love the piece but all I saw was the yellow drip marks on it.
In prepping for our move, we are being very selective in what furniture we are going to take with us. And anything that we are taking with us that needs some extra TLC is on my radar. This piece is definitely going with us because it is both Aesthetically pleasing and extremely useful.
I was picking up my favorite spray paint (Rustoleum) while grocery shopping last week and I stumbled across this: Rustoleum “Serenity Blue” Chalk Paint. I was intrigued. I have never painted with chalk paint before. (I know… how could I not?) The main reason: it’s expensive. But this was $16.99 for a pint, and I had a coupon!
So why chalk paint? In theory, chalk paint boasts great coverage without having to sand and prime a piece. It has a, well, “chalky” appearance which appeals to many. I decided to give it a try!
First I DID sand my piece to get rid of the yellow drip marks from the polyurethane. Then I applied two coats of the paint. I initially thought it looked too “baby blue” in color versus what it looked like on the can but once it dried, the color grew on me.
I then sealed with my go-to polyacrylic that has a clear satin finish. Suddenly the chalky texture was gone, and I missed it. So I threw on a coat of the chalk paint over the poly. Time will tell if the chalk paint is durable enough on its own! Here are the results!
