Chalk Paint Experiment

Erin and I decided to dive into the world of painting furniture.  She bought an adorable trunk at an estate sale and I had an end table in my living room that desperately needed some love.  So we set off to paint each piece.  We used 2 different products and I was very interested to see how they compared to each other and any pros/cons.  Erin used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that she purchased in Old Town Spring and I used Webster's Chalk Paint Powder that I purchased at a floral shop in Conroe.  

This was my lovely end table that I have had for quite some time now (at least 10 years).  I love this table and the detail on the legs.  Kind of wish I had bought 2 of them at the time - oh well!

A while back a wall flower (from Bath and Body Works) spilled on my cute little table and took some of the finish off - see below.  You can also see that my poor little table was a little rough around the edges probably from cars, trains, airplanes, etc. driving all over it!  Perfect candidate for a paint job experiment.

So this is what I used:  I bought a sample of Valspar at Lowe's ($2.98) to go with the Webster's Chalk Powder.  The Webster's chalk powder cost $14.95 for the bag below but you can mix that with a quart of paint.  The sample of paint I used was 1 cup.  So I only used 1/4 of the chalk paint powder on this project - make sense?  The directions for the powder are very simple - you mix some water with the powder and then mix it with your paint.  The advantage of using Webster's versus Annie Sloan is that you can mix Webster's with any paint you have laying around the house or like I did, a small sample from Lowe's. 

This was my table after one coat of paint.  Painting furniture is all about what look you are going for and I decided to do one more coat.

So after 2 coats of paint, distressing and then using the Fiddles & Sons light wax, this is how my table turned out!

I didn't use a dark wax on this table because to be honest I was very intimidated by the dark wax.  I was also unsure if I would like the way it looked on such a light color.  But after living with my table in my living room now for a few weeks, I plan to borrow Erin's dark wax at some point and put a little bit of it on just to give it a little more vintage look. 

Now this was Erin's trunk that she painted:

She used Annie Sloan - I think Paris Grey?  The advantage to using Annie Sloan vs. Webster's is that you don't have to do any mixing of paint.  Just open the can and you are ready to go!  I didn't see Erin put on her first & second coat but she did tell me it went on extremely smoothly.  This is where I see another advantage to Webster's vs. A.S. - if you plan to paint several pieces of furniture the same color, then a quart of Annie Sloan is the way to go.  Mainly because a quart of chalk paint goes a long way.  But if you only want to paint one piece of furniture one color and then another piece of furniture a different color, then Webster's would be better suited for you.  Guess it's all about your needs and your projects!

After Erin put on her 2 coats of paint, she distresses her trunk with sand paper and then used the clear wax.  After applying the clear wax and letting it dry, she used the dark wax and I think her piece turned out extremely well!  Can't wait to see where this trunk is going to live in her new house!

So when all was said and done, I think the 2 products were very similar and easy to use.  I have since painted another piece of furniture for my sister's house using the Webster's Chalk powder and I am extremely proud of how that turned out (sorry no pictures to show).  I would love to paint a piece using Annie Sloan in the future.  I am excited for my next project - not sure yet what it will be but I have a few in mind!