Chalk paint - new to me, have some questions

Lori
by Lori
I have never used chalk paint and can't be sure I even knew about it until Hometalk but I have some questions. Can it be used on kitchen cupboards as regular paint or do you have to distress it and or add wax to it? I personally don't think I could stand looking at the wax because it looks like dirt or grease and I'd always want to be scrubbing it off. Is chalk paint always "flat" and does it feel "chalky". Is it the wax that makes it feel less chalky?
I am going to paint my kitchen cupboards and I like the sound of chalk paint, and so many people on Hometalk use it and love it. What are the properties of it that make it so popular?
  7 answers
  • Marguerite Marguerite on Dec 18, 2014
    I think that your cupboards will look great with chalk paint. I use Annie Sloan paints and even thought they are on the expensive side I think they are better than others. I learned a lot about using the paint on pinterest. I also took classes with a local person who sells her products. You're going to need two coats of paint. Don't get upset after the first coat because it will not look good. After that you add the clear wax and then if you want more definition you can add the dark wax. Do not add dark wax unless you used clear wax first. If you do, it will stain the paint. Waxing can be tricky at first. Read as much as you can about it. Good luck and let me know how they turned out.
  • Luba Luba on Dec 18, 2014
    Chalkpaint would work very well on your cabinets. I did mine because they were a cherry colored laminate and I wanted white. The chalkpaint adheres well to almost any surface. It does feel a bit chalky, but I did a very light hand sanding with a sanding block and it came out super smooth. You don't have to follow it with clear wax if you prefer not to - I did because I wanted a bit more protection for the doors. Good luck and I think you'll be very pleased with the look. By the way - I don't buy the expensive AS paint - I mix my own and have been getting fabulous results on everything I've done for substantially less.
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    • Sharon Kavanagh Sharon Kavanagh on Dec 18, 2014
      @Terra Gazelle Thank you for sharing your recipe Terry. I really appreciate it!!!
  • Lori Lori on Dec 18, 2014
    Thanks ladies. So, do I understand correctly, if I put clear wax on, it won't look like grease and dirt in the corners and crevises?
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    • MaryStLouis MaryStLouis on Dec 20, 2014
      @Lori I would never use wax on kitchen cabinets. Wax is subject to color changes from heat, can leave finger prints on the paint, and has to be renewed every year. I posted a comment with better recommendations. Wax is fine for pieces that will not be handled a lot and chalk paint looks just as nice under water based topcoats.
  • Sharon Kavanagh Sharon Kavanagh on Dec 18, 2014
    Chalk paint is awesome. However if this is your first time using chalk paint, I would recommend that you start with a much smaller project. You could find a chair or a shelf or small table at your local thrift store to "practice " on. That way you could figure out the correct color and technique. Agree you should invest in Annie Sloan. It is expensive, but you will be surprised at how much you can cover with those small containers. Good luck and have FUN!!!!
  • Shari Shari on Dec 18, 2014
    I'm probably in the minority here. I've used Annie Sloan chalk paint on a couple pieces of furniture and I am definitely NOT a fan. I've tried to like it--I really have. My opinion is that it is over-priced, over-rated and the results it gives are only so-so. Therefore, I, personally, would never, ever consider using chalk paint for kitchen cabinets but I know a lot of people are using it on kitchen cabinets and loving it--at least for now. To my way of thinking though, its durability over time has not been sufficiently proven to me, especially in a high traffic area like a kitchen where durability and scrubability are both really important. I also have deep concerns over using wax to seal chalk paint in a kitchen setting. Wax will not hold up to much heat and it seems like it would be a grease magnet. If you are adamant about using chalk paint, I think some type of poly sealer would perform better than wax. (A top coat/sealer will not adhere over wax--it's either/or, not both.) I whole-heartedly agree with Sharon: Before you jump in with both feet doing a large project like painting your kitchen with chalk paint, try it on a small project first. If you don't like the distressed and dark wax look (I don't either), you may not like the imperfect way chalk paint goes on either. I have some perfectionistic tendencies in my personality and I don't like my painted furniture to look like the paint was slopped on by a kindergartener. It is possible to get a finer finish with chalk paint but it takes A LOT of work. I find I can get a smoother, more even, professional looking finish with latex paint in half the time....and I don't have to spend time waxing or top-coating latex paint. There are several paints on the market now that have been developed especially for painting cabinets (even laminate cabinets) and one of them would be my choice over chalk paint. Painting cabinets is a lot of work and if you are going to go to all the trouble to put in the time, effort and money, you want it to last so you don't have to worry about doing it again anytime soon.
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    • Dee Dee on Dec 20, 2014
      @Shari I agree, I would never use wax in the kitchen. And yes getting cabinets primed and painted it a difficult job. I finally purchased a sprayer to do my bathroom cabinets. The only thing you could do if you want to use chalk paint is to seal with poly acrylic.
  • Marsha Schwarz Marsha Schwarz on Dec 19, 2014
    I agree Shari... very much over priced. I did try to make my own. You can find recipes all over the internet. Home Depot also sells some now too. I found mixing it from a internet recipe a pain but it can be done. I bought the mixer/beater thing and put it in a big bucket, but it was just a pain. Much easier to just open the can. I have painted several things with the cans of Annie Sloan, including a dining set of table and chairs. The good thing about it is how well it sticks to things. Some day I'm going to paint a fabric chair. It does NOT go as far on products as your local shop may tell you so plan for it to cost double of what you expected when buying cans. Wondering what you all think about those expensive round brushes the local shops suggest? I have them and I don't have a problem at all having quality brushes (I'm an artist) but wowser are they pricey. Any other brushes working as well?
    • Shari Shari on Dec 19, 2014
      @Marsha Schwarz Before I bought the Annie Sloan, I did try one of the homemade chalk paint recipes and was not impressed with that either. In fact, I hated it so much that I didn't even finish painting the piece with it--I switched over to latex. I actually like Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint better than Annie Sloan chalk paint but even so, I still prefer latex interior paint and I would not consider painting kitchen cabinets with Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint either. MMS milk paint comes in powdered form and has to be mixed with water and at first it was somewhat troublesome but I've used it enough that I don't mind it too much now. I have not invested in any of the Annie Sloan (or Miss Mustard Seed) brushes. Maybe if I used one, I would find it makes a difference in how the chalk paint goes on--I don't know. For latex, I'll sometimes use an airless sprayer, which is super quick and gives great even and smooth coverage but unfortunately, I do not have a good place to spray at this new house we bought a few years ago so I have been painting most of my furniture pieces by hand with Purdy brushes.
  • MaryStLouis MaryStLouis on Dec 20, 2014
    I use chalk paint all the time but when it came to refinishing the cabinets in our vacation home I decided to give them a base coat of white chalk paint, which I then sanded. Chalk paint sands beautifully and covered the oak wood grain better than any other primer. I then painted the cabinets with General Finishes milk paint (not a real milk paint but super easy to work with and a high quality furniture paint). After several coats of the milk paint I sprayed the doors with a few coats of General Finishes High Performance topcoat in Satin. I've attached a photo of one of the doors in progress. If you decide to use chalk paint I recommend protecting it with a water based top coat and my go-to brand is General Finishes. They are simply the best, both for ease of use, looks, and performance. I refinish a lot of furniture and won't use anything else.
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    • Lori Lori on Dec 21, 2014
      Thanks again, so much.