Red Buffet & Bar Stools {Homemade Chalk Paint}

 

As we’ve been working away at our downstairs makeover I’ve loved doing a few furniture painting projects because I was able to actually label something as finished.

 

 

I’ve always loved this antique buffet. It was bought by my aunt and uncle thirty some years ago, then passed along to my parents and it was in our home when I was growing up. Before moving across the country seven years ago, my parents passed it along to me. The stain hasn’t been my favorite, but I never really felt like committing to a color.

 

 

Since we’ll be installing laminate wood flooring soon, I finally had the motivation to paint—I felt like keeping the buffet as is would just be too much similar toned wood. I absolutely love the way it turned out and am so glad I made the change!

 

 

I made some homemade chalk paint using THIS recipe and Glidden flat paint in Candy Apple and finished it off with furniture wax paste. I really do love the results of chalk paint, and liked the process in that I could be sloppy and it didn’t matter and didn’t need to pre sand or strip the finish on the buffet. My paint did get really thick as I worked with it, though, so I just kept adding a little bit more paint and a little bit of warm water as I went along. My hardware came from Home Depot. The beauty of this technique is that the buffet looks like it has been painted this way for years and years. You wouldn’t think it just got refinished a few weeks ago.

 

 

While I had the paint mixed, I figured it would be fun to re-do my barstools as well. In the picture above you can see what the paint looks like in the three stages of use—the top stool is just painted, the middle is after giving a light sanding to even things out and distress a bit, and the bottom stool is post waxing. It really was amazing how beautifully the wax brought out the color.

 

 

Here you can see the contrast mid-waxing.

 

 

A look at the barstools in action. They make me smile.

 

 

One last look at the beautiful roses Nolan gave me for our anniversary, with my cheery buffet in the background. I’ll be using the same chalk paint technique on the buffet in our entryway, as well as on an old door I’ll be hanging above the buffet. I can’t wait to tackle that project!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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