How to Improve a Basket With Chalk Paint
If you see baskets in the Thrift Store, snap them up. You can always change them to fit your style and that's what I'm going to do today! This project cost under €10 because I already had all the materials except Chalk Paint. I love using wicker baskets around the house. I think they always look great and are a really versatile storage solution. This one was old, warped and the wicker had turned orange so it was crying out for makeover!
My first thought was that I could stain it to make it look older so off went I to the DIY store to see what I could find. Once there, a stand at the end of one of the aisles caught my eye which had lots of mini pots of chalk paint on it! That threw me then…….mini pots of chalk paint! How could I resist that?
I used a small brush so that I could stipple the paint into all the nooks and crannies. I wasn’t too fussy about making sure all the wicker was completely covered with paint. It was supposed to look rustic and I wanted the original colour to show through.
I gave the wicker basket one quick coat of paint, leaving an unpainted rim around the bottom. Once it was dry, I went over it again because some areas looked a little patchy where I hadn’t painted enough.
Now, I could have used poly to seal the chalk paint but I wanted to up the white a little so I brushed on a layer of white wax using one of my round wax brushes. Afterwards, I used a clean rag to take up all the excess wax paying special attention to the inside of the wicker basket. The very last thing I did was to use my glue gun to glue a piece of felt underneath on one side of the basket so that it no longer stood lopsided.
You can make your own white wax by mixing white paint with clear wax. Read my blog post 'Riviera Maison Style Coffee Table Makeover' for details of how to do it. Find it under the category 'Furniture' You could also sign up for my free e-book which gives you loads of tips and tricks for sourcing, painting and finishing furniture.
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I'm grabbing some baskets and trying this today! Thank you!
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