'FolkArt Home Decor Chalk' Paint Review

I know you've heard me rave about how great Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) is on my blog.  I still think it's one of the best furniture paints I've tried.  But, guess what?  I recently discovered FolkArt Home Decor Chalk paint during a trip to JoAnn's.

The bottles were sitting at 2 different end caps on opposite ends of the store.  After passing the first end cap, I was intrigued, but after seeing the bottles again on the second end cap? I had to grab one.  Kudos to the zoning team at JoAnn's!

For starters, FolkArt describes this paint as an ultra matte acrylic paint.  The finish is truly matte and chalky, which is similar to the finish of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  The formulas for the FolkArt paints are slightly more runny compared to ASCP and the formulations for their waxes are totally different. Like ASCP, FolkArt offers a clear wax and a dark wax.  But the similarities stop there.  ASCP wax is a soft wax that is solid for the most part and softens as it's rubbed into your piece of furniture.  FolkArt wax, on the other hand, is very runny and gooey (similar to watered down Elmer's glue).  If you ask me, I like applying the FolkArt wax more than I do Annie Sloan's.  With the FolkArt wax consistency, I am able to apply the wax with a foam brush like paint because it is that liquid-y.  I just have to make sure that I'm spreading the wax as thinly and evenly as possible across my entire piece of furniture.  Once the wax dries, it can be buffed with a soft cloth to produce a shinier finish (like Annie Sloan's wax).

See how thin the FolkArt Home Decor Wax is?  

The major benefits I see for the FolkArt paint are availability and pricing.  FolkArt is available at JoAnn Stores at $7.99 for an 8 oz. bottle!  The price point is actually comparable relative to the size of ASCP, except ASCP is available in 32 oz. cans and they have smaller sample-sized jars.  I like FolkArt's 8 oz. bottle option better only because there are times when I work on small projects and I need more than a sample-sized jar of ASCP, but definitely less than 32 oz..

An antique sign I made using FolkArt Home Decor Chalk paint!

Overall, I really like FolkArt Home Decor Chalk paint.  If you have a hard time finding ASCP or the 32 oz. can just seems to be out of your budget for a small project, then I definitely recommend trying the FolkArt Home Decor Chalk paint.  Don't get me wrong, ASCP is still awesome and I will continue using it when I paint furniture, but the availability of the FolkArt paint can't be beat. The variety of colors makes it a true competitor for ASCP.  Also, how easily the wax can be applied makes it the #bombdotcom!  Stick around and I'll show you how I made the antique sign!

Dining Room Hutch Before & After

I finally finished painting my hutch!  Come on and say it with me...Hip Hip Hooray!  Hip Hip Hooray!!

This hutch was a hand-me-down from the same friend who gave me this side table:

I madeover the side table back in April, but held off on starting the hutch because the thought of sanding and prepping a piece this large was just too overwhelming for me.  After re-painting my vanity with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and seeing how easy the process was, I knew I wanted to re-do my hutch using Chalk Paint too!

This is what the hutch looked like before I put any paint on it:

I don't have a "before" picture of the top piece of the hutch, but you basically get the idea of how dark the wood was.  Overall, the piece was in pretty good condition.  There were only a few dings on the edges of the hutch, but that's to be expected for a piece that's over 20 years old!

Before I applied any paint, I made sure to remove as much of the hardware as I could.  I used goo gone to remove any sticky residue, then wiped down the hutch with a 1:1 alcohol:water mixture to remove any dust and residual dirt.

I started painting in the garage, but when it started raining, we moved the piece into the house and I painted the hutch in my dining room.  If you have ever used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint before, you would know that it is a water-based paint and it doesn't have the typical "paint smell" you would expect from latex paints.

This is a picture of the hutch in progress:

3 coats of paint and 2 coats of wax later...

Here's a close up of the distressing details on the hutch:

The handles were originally more of a brass-y finish, but I dry-brushed Rub 'n Buff in Gold Leaf to get the finish that you see in the pictures above.

Here are some more shots:

I know, I know...I hate my ceiling fan too, but this room is a work in progress...

And just because I started decorating my Christmas tree, I wanted to include those pictures too...you know, just for funsies!

Isn't she gorgeous?  I love this hutch to pieces and, again, I am so thankful to my friend Ben and his family for thinking of me when they wanted to get rid of their hutch and side table.  I feel like this piece adds so much character to an otherwise bare dining room!  Let me know what you think!


This post is linked up to:  A Bowl Full of Lemons Blog, One Project at a Time: 12/2/2014

How to Update an Old Vanity!

Hey guys!  Do you want to see how I turned this:

...into ...

this?

I recently bought some Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White for my dining room hutch and was inspired to makeover my vanity because the painting and waxing process is so easy for chalk paint!  With some chalk paint, a piece of glass, and a new mirror, I was able to completely transform my vanity so that it better suites my current decor and brightens up my office/ makeup room.

The makeover process was actually pretty quick and simple.  I started by clearing off the surface of my vanity and emptying out both drawers.  

As you can see, any kind of skin-colored powder foundation is extra-visible on black surfaces, which is another reason why I wanted to paint this sucker!

I then wiped down the entire vanity, including its legs, with some all-purpose cleaner.  When re-painting any piece of furniture, you want to make sure that your surfaces are clean and free of any dust or dirt.  You want to make sure the paint can "stick" to the surface you're painting.

BAM!  Look at what a little elbow grease and actual cleaning can do!  I could have stopped here and kept on using my vanity as is, but this is a post about a makeover, not cleaning.  Silly!

At this point, I screwed the knobs off of each drawer and started painting with the chalk paint.  No sanding or priming or stripping needed!...Yeah, do you hear that?  That's the sound of angels singing. Singing because Annie Sloan chalk paint is...AMAZING!

This is what the piece looked like after 1 coat of paint:

The coverage was pretty good, but I was a little nervous.  The paint is a thicker consistency and I was afraid that after my second coat, I would still have a bunch of streaky patches.  I wasn't sure why I was nervous.  I mean, nearly everyone who has used Annie Sloan chalk paint has raved about it.  This stuff is supposed to be awesome, right?  So I waited about 2 hours and applied my next coat.

This is what the vanity looked like after the 2nd coat:

The finish was opaque and there was no need for me to paint on another coat.  I was so excited, but nervous at the same time.  Is that all?  Can it really be this easy?

I let the vanity sit overnight just to make sure all layers of paint were dry.  Then I started lightly distressing areas of the vanity where you would normally see signs of wear and tear.  Annie Sloan chalk paint is described as a decorative type of paint that is perfect for distressing and creating that shabby-chic, antique-y look.  

I lightly sanded the edges of the vanity with a 120-grit sanding block to get a nice worn-out look.  I could have gone wild with sanding, but decided to be conservative and keep it to a minimum.  

After sanding and wiping down the surface of the vanity to remove any dust, I applied Annie Sloan Soft Wax in Clear.  I learned that a very teensy, tiny amount of wax goes a loooonggg way.  I used a paint brush to apply my wax then wiped off any excess.  The wipe-off process was the trickiest for me.  I started with regular ol' kitchen paper towels, but they didn't seem to absorb very much of the wax and the paper towels tore to pieces too quickly.  Then, I tried tearing up an old white t-shirt to wipe the wax off, but that sucker had so much lint on it that I started to see little pieces of lint embedded in my wax!  Aggghhh! This is when panic and frustration started to set in.  Did I just ruin my vanity?  Do I have to start over?  Nope.  Like always, I calmed down and figured it out.  My White Rags Paper Cloths by Tool Box Brand were the perfect consistency and had great durability.  There was also zero to no lint on these paper cloths so they were perfect!

I let the wax cure for 3 weeks and then had a piece of glass cut down to size at my local hardware store for about $13.99.  I bought the mirror on a HomeGoods run and the rest is history!

Please let me know what you think of this before and after!  This project is very budget-friendly and totally do-able.  You should try it!...I mean, if you want to, that is.