Make your own Chalk Paint

I thought you might be interested in a way of making inexpensive chalk paint, which means you can have any colour you want, not just those offered by the ready made ranges.

I’m probably about 5 years behind the times here but hey, I’m not desperate to be on-trend. I like what I like and can’t be doing with decorating every time someone decides that what I’ve got is “dated.”

Anyway, I found this method for making the paint. It requires Calcium Carbonate powder, which is cheap and easy to get hold of.

To make one litre of chalk paint, simply put 240g calcium carbonate powder in a jar,

added 120g water and mix into a smooth paste.

Then add it to 1 litre of matt emulsion paint and mix thoroughly.

Here’s my surface, a polished Rosewood chest that was my Grandmother’s and has seen a lot of use.

First up I sanded the top down to get rid of all the old varnish and some of the marks. I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture but it came up a lot better than I expected. You can see where I tested the paint on the side.

I don’t want it pristine, it needs to look used.

Here’s the whole chest, I tried one of the new handles,

Then I removed the drawers and got started.

When the carcass was done I half inserted the drawers and painted the fronts and sides. This is after one coat.

Two more coats of paint later, I’d finished. I put the new handles on and waxed it. The top has been varnished as well so it’s ready to be refilled and used. Looking at the pictures, I can see that I got the slightly worn look that I wanted, the wood colour underneath gives the paint a slightly distressed look. I’m impressed with the homemade chalk paint as well, it went on easily and needed no priming.

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