Create a Beautiful Textured Look With Clay Paint

Rachel
by Rachel
6 Materials
$30
3 Hours
Medium

Can you paint furniture with clay paint? Absolutely! This was how my first attempt turned out…


Half the fun of a new product is the trial and error of playing with it. Bonus point that I ended up with something that I love!


I haven’t used clay-based paint before. But I know that they are good for blending and creating layers. So, quite different to my normal clean style.

My canvas for this experiment was this side table. It was free from a charity shop. They gave it to me because they thought that no one would buy it. Perfect!


It was in reasonable condition. It had some watermarks on the top and a split in the leg but was otherwise fine.


To fix the split in the leg, I used superglue and a clamp. It was set within a few minutes. 


Some great advice I received is to make sure that you have your clamp before you glue anything. Very wise!


To prep the table, I cleaned it with White Lightning and rinsed it with clean water.


I then sanded the table with medium-grit sandpaper to rough up the surface for the paint to stick. And then finished with fine-grit sandpaper to get a nice smooth tabletop.

The metal screw holes were visible, so I added a touch of Slick Stick over them. Slick Stick is perfect for shiny and metallic surfaces to help the paint stick to them.


Then for the final prep step, I did a coat of BOSS primer on the tabletop and over the knots in the wood. I didn’t know how well Terra paint would cover those knots or if it would bleed through the paint.


Now onto the fun bit of playing with this new paint!

The main feature of these paints is that they’re good for blending and layering. So, I wanted my table to transition between my two blues, Blue Moon and Cerulean Blue. I imagined a lovely beachy, nature-inspired look.


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It’s best to lightly dampen the brush because the paint is thick and it helps to keep it moving.


I did a solid base coat of each colour to start with. I didn’t want the natural wood or the grey primer underneath to be visible after blending to create the layers.


Clay-based paint is not self-levelling. This means that it’s great for adding texture as the brush strokes stay visible. Perfect for an artistic, textured look with lots of depth.

I wanted some decoration on the top. I chose a stencil called  Enchanted Garden. It comes in two parts. One section has a repeating pattern and the other has a dragonfly detail.


I used stencil spray to attach the stencil temporarily to the tabletop. For the paint, I chose Prairie Dawn which is a creamy white in the Terra line.


I needed to move the stencil six times to cover the entire tabletop. Because the stencil was so detailed, it took at least an hour to do it all.


The tabletop wasn’t wholly smooth which worked nicely with the grungy look that I was going for.

I wanted to do something to make the dragonfly stand out more. So, I used Blue Moon like a watercolour paint. I applied the paint to the edges of the wings and blended it out with water to create a gradient.


Finally, I used my fourth colour, Daffodil, for the dragonfly’s body.


I added Prairie Dawn to the legs to create a bolder transition between the blues.

It was a process of using a mister bottle, chip brush, sponge and cloth to move the paint around to get a look that I liked.


After I’d added the white to the legs, I felt that the single colour on the shelf was a bit boring. So I added Cerulean Blue over the top. It settled nicely into the grain and created some more depth.

The most important thing about clay paint is that it is reactivated by water. This means that it will always come off unless it is sealed.


So, you always have to seal it. And seal it with something such as wax.


So, to protect the table, I used Easy Peasy Wax. Which is a light wax that you spray on and wipe with a cloth

It was a lot of fun playing with these paints. I don’t often blend paint but I can see myself doing it more.


And has made a statement of this otherwise destined-for-landfill table.

Like to see the paint in action?  Watch the short YouTube video!

These paints were gifted by Dixie Belle, all opinions are my own.

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Rachel
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  • Kelly J. Tinney Kelly J. Tinney on Jul 18, 2022

    What are the benefits are using the clay based paints? From reading your post, they don’t seem very user friendly since they aren’t self leveling, shows brush strokes, and will come off if not sealed.

    Thank you for the information.

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  • Ziki Ziki on Aug 13, 2022

    Lovely job.. how nice of the charity shop to give you this for free. always nice when you can give something back too :)

    • Rachel Rachel on Aug 14, 2022

      Thank you. Yes, I’m a frequent buyer and donater, much better all round.

  • Ziki Ziki on Aug 14, 2022

    Looks amazing and yes 😍 I do the same it's a good feeling . Hope you get many more projects as you have a gift:)

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