Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint

I am so excited to share a new paint line with you today!  I am also going to include a step by step tutorial on how I painted the Sweet Coral Dipped Chest with these fun paint products.

The new Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint is currently available online at Home Depot and will be coming to the stores soon. You can have it shipped straight to your front door, or have it delivered to your local Home Depot and pick it up to avoid shipping charges! 

Be sure to visit the DecoArt Chalky Finish website for more information.

I started with this beautiful antique chest of drawers.  It was in great condition considering how old it is and had all the original hardware in tact.

There is no prep work needed when using Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint.  No sanding...no priming!   Just start PAINTING!  How awesome is that?!

If you have ever painted a piece of furniture and had old stain or knotty wood bleed through, you know how frustrating it can be.  That is why the Stain Blocker Sealer product is a dream come true.  This is not a necessary step for most furniture you paint, but there were some places on this old chest that I knew would probably bleed through.  Just brush some of this sealer on (follow drying and curing times on bottle) and then you are good to go.

I decided to mix 2 colors together to get the right shade of gray.  Yesteryear & Relic are both stunning colors on their own, but mixing them gave me just the right shade.  You can mix any of the Americana Decor Chalky Paint colors together.  I use really sophisticated supplies to mix the paint... a plastic food container and some straws that happened to be laying close by. :)

I like to add a tiny bit of water to my paint (give or take a tablespoon) to thin it out a little.  Then I apply thin coats of paint with a good quality brush.  This helps to avoid paint stroke lines and gives a more professional appearance.  This paint covers great and I got it done in 2 quick coats!

I wanted to highlight some of the details of this piece and thought my hand was steady enough to paint the intricate places...I was wrong! :)  I was using a tiny little paintbrush but still could not get the detail work to look clean and nice.  Then I discovered a method that was much easier and actually worked. 

1.  Slop the white paint  (Chalky Finish in Lace) into the recessed areas and wait about 1 minute...NO LONGER!  Trust me. 

2.  Take a wet rag and wipe over the area using some gentle pressure.  

The excess paint will wipe away, but it will stay in the recessed parts. AHHHHH...so much easier.

I thought the legs of the chest would look cute with a POP of color.  I used some Frog Tape to tape off the legs. There is no other tape in my book, FROG TAPE is hands down the BEST! I decided to use the color SMITTEN for the POP.  Oh how I LOVE this sweet color.

I let the paint dry on everything, which does not take long at all.  I lightly distressed the edges and certain areas with a fine grit sanding sponge and cleaned all the dust off.  I use my leaf blower to blow all the dust off because I am classy like that.  Remember the straws I mixed my paint with?  Classy.

Now we are ready for the final step to make her all smooth and shiny!  The Americana Decor Creme Wax is amazing.  It is more of a liquid and very easy to apply with the waxing brush.

Once the wax is dry, you will want to buff it to a shine of your choice.  The more you buff...the shinier it will be.  I usually use a lint free dish rag to buff and I hate every second of it.   But that was before I discovered this LIFE CHANGING tool!  I will be sharing it with you in the very near future.  Promise.

Here she is!  All finished and lookin good.  Now go get some Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint and let me know what you think.