Giving an Old Shelf a New Life with Chalk Paint

I inherited this old corner shelf from my grandmother when she gave up her house. It has been traveling with me and has taken quite a beating. It was badly in need of sanding down and a fresh coat of varnish. And then it occurred to me that it could look quite fabulous if I treated it to a few layers of chalk paint. That is exactly what I did and I share the steps with you in today's blog.

This is the before shot of the shelf. I am purposefully holding it upside down so that you can more readily see the scratches and damage to the varnish.

After some contemplation, I decide to make the first coat of chalk paint a very dark one. I will apply the paint with a soft bristled flat brush.

The first coat is called Dark Pewter by VanDaniQue.

I then decide to paint a very light white over the black. I want to retain some black streaks and therefore use a hard-bristled flat brush to apply the paint.

This coat is called White Wash.

Now I am finally ready to paint the colour that I wish to dominate. I return to the same soft-bristled brush of before.

This coat is called English Rose.

When I am done, you can see signs of all three coats, but the most dominant is the last one that was applied. I then treat the shelf to a coat of varnish.

Once the varnish is dry, I apply some Dark Wax to the shelf, concentrating on the corners and sides.

Finally I am done and have a freshly painted shelf that was naturally distressed and has now been mock-distressed. Go figure!

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