Painting Tip-Chalk Paint Substitute

As I am redecorating my newly painted living room I realized that I ran out of white chalk paint. Gasp! I was in the middle of completing several projects so I did not want to stop what I was doing to go buy some more chalk paint, nor did I want to spend the money so I got creative and improvised.
I started out with this mirror that I had for a long time. About ten years ago I spray painted the frame satin black, but now that color was no longer going to work with my new color pallet. I wanted it chalky white so that it looked like it was old with layers of paint.
So without any white chalk paint, what was I going to do?! As I was going through my paint stash I realized I had flat white ceiling paint so I gave it a try.
I used my paint brush and dabbed it around the outside edge of the mirror and to my surprise it dried flat and chalky like chalk paint!
So I taped off around the mirror and finished dabbing my paint. After I dabbed a section I would go back over it with a second coat by lightly brushing a second coat.
Do NOT apply a liberal amount of a paint with long brush strokes like you would do when painting furniture. Less paint and more layers is best. I ended up applying two layers in most places and dabbed a third layer over various spots.
I love how the flat ceiling paint gave a fully chalky coverage!
This is exactly the look I was going for and I could use what I already had on hand! Perfect!
So the next time you run out of white chalk paint, check your garage for flat ceiling paint and give it a try!
Jennifer @ Decorated Chaos
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Mary Mary on Jan 19, 2016
    Brilliant and inexpensive!!!! Thank you bunches for sharing!!
  • Hannah V Hannah V on Jan 19, 2016
    Beautiful! It looks like it was made to be that beautiful crisp white!
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