New Year, New [Old] Table: A Shabby Chic Chalk Paint Makeover

On a whim this weekend, I decided to tackle another chalk paint project, albeit a small one. That's the great thing about chalk paint -- once you make up your mind on what you want to do, you can just get right to it (as long as you have the paint and brushes, of course). No prep work required, other than maybe a little cleaning of whatever surface you want to paint! 

For those of you out there who like immediate gratification, this Before & After is just for you. Keep reading on for all the details!

So the subject of this latest transformation is a little end table we've had forever (I'm pretty sure it was a hand-me-down from my sister). In fact, it already underwent a basic black makeover several years ago. But the gloss black just wasn't doing it for me anymore, especially since most of our furniture is now matte and distressed. 

Rather than just donating the end table to Goodwill, which I did briefly consider, I decided it could come in handy down in our basement. Since the structure of the end table already had some similarities to my chalk-painted coffee table, the desired outcome was pretty clear. Bye bye, black and glossy -- hello, two-tone and shabby chic!

I already had all the same paint colors on hand, so it was just a matter of giving the table a quick wipe-down before beginning. I didn't even bother scuff sanding the high-gloss finish; that's how confident I've become of the adhesion ability of chalk paint. (Crossing my fingers every once in awhile doesn't hurt either.)

FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Furniture & Craft Paint, Rich Black 

FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Furniture & Craft Paint, Parisian Grey

FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Furniture & Craft Paint, Sheepskin 

Art Minds Pewter Chalk Paint

In order to match the look of the painted coffee table, I first painted a layer of Rich Black on the top and a layer of Parisian Gray on all the rest. Once that dried (which didn't take long), I painted one layer of Pewter on the top and two layers of Sheepskin on the rest. 

After that, it was time to start distressing. This is the most labor-intensive part of any chalk painting project, and given the 10-degree weather outside, I wasn't looking forward to it. But I was on a mission and it certainly wasn't going to get any warmer in the next couple days. So into the back yard I went and sanded until I couldn't feel my fingers, at which point I came back inside to let them thaw out. (Is it dumb to risk getting frostbite in order to finish a project? Probably.) 

The one picture I took outside, pre-sanding.

After a few of these sanding-and-thawing sessions, it was good enough to call "done" by my eye. The distressing worked like a charm for the most part, as the various layers of paint and bare wood were exposed depending on how hard I had sanded certain areas. That's another reason chalk painting is awesome; there is really no right or wrong as far as what the end result should look like.

After blowing off most of the paint dust and then wiping down the table with a damp cloth to remove the rest, it was ready for a coat of FolkArt Home Decor Clear Wax which I rubbed on with a t-shirt rag. 

I'm frankly pretty tickled with the transformation. Not too bad for giving renewed life (once again) to this old end table, eh? At this rate, she's gonna have more lives than a cat.

And you'd never know it wasn't originally meant to coordinate with our two-tone coffee table. 

(Don't judge our recliner. It's old but it's comfortable!)

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