Last Updated on February 15, 2021 by Katie Barton
When we moved into this house about five years ago, a few pieces of furniture were left behind.
One was this weird cabinet thing in the dining room.
I didn’t have anything else to put there, so I left it even though it was pretty ugly.
(I think it originally was meant to be a bar or liquor cabinet, but since I have no need for one of those, I began using it to store all of my kid’s extra craft supplies.)
I had planned to give it a makeover. Now, five years later, it finally happened.
Chalk Painting a Cabinet
I chose chalk paint because it requires no prep. You don’t need to sand or prime before painting. And since this piece had so many grooves, sanding seemed like a nightmare.
The supplies I used:
- Rustoleum Coastal Blue Chalk Paint
- These Brushes (I wish I would’ve bought smaller brushes.)
Here’s what the first coat was looking like…
Since the coverage wasn’t what I wanted, I waited for the first coat to dry, and then my painting assistant and I gave it a second coat. After it dried, I reattached the hardware.
Here’s how it turned out…
The Pros and Cons of Using Chalk Paint for this Project
In the end, it’s a definite improvement but wasn’t exactly how I had hoped it would turn out.
Pros:
- Chalk paint is super easy to use
- Speedy drying
- No prep needed
- Can be sanded or have antiquing wax added
Cons:
- The color on the paint can is NOTHING like how it turned out.
- It takes multiple coats to achieve a full coverage look.
In the end, I think chalk paint was a good product to use for this project solely because there was zero prep needed. However, I’d be a little hesitant to use it on projects that I don’t want to appear too rustic.
Katie Barton is the owner of Cabin Lane. She's also a home improvement writer for Bob Vila and Homedit. Her cleaning and organizing advice has been featured on Realtor.com, Yahoo News, GoBankingRates, and more. In her spare time, you can find her with a paintbrush in hand, searching for her next project.
