How to Add a Glaze Over Chalk Paint on Furniture

Learn how to use transparent glaze or glazing liquid on your next furniture makeover to give it a straight from the factory finish.

Today, I have a makeover in turquoise to show you. I am going to paint and glaze furniture to turn a dark piece of furniture into a bright and cheery piece.

Image: Country Living

Furniture Makeover Using Chalk Paint and Glaze

Here is what the sideboard looked like before I painted it with chalk paint and glaze.

This sideboard is a hand-me down from my mom and dad. I have had it for about 4 years. As you can see it has traditional styling with a country twist, has beautiful lines, and is in perfect shape.

Even though it is beautiful piece just as it is, the orange-y brown color doesn’t excite me.  Since the layers of the décor in this room have been grounded in white, it is time to add the pops of color to get the room closer to my vision. 

This piece will be the first big color infusion. It is also the first thing you see as you enter the room and I want it to invite people into the room with a big smile.

The sideboard after.

It adds an entirely new energy to the room – exactly what I was trying to achieve.  All done with the power of paint and some new hardware.

There are still more layers of décor to add, things to change or remove, but the room is starting to have a personality again.

When I put the original pulls back on after painting, they were too dark and the styling was too traditional.  I loved the label pulls that were on the library file drawers I recently redid in my studioffice.

I went in search to find something similar to use on the sideboard.  I found these brass label and drawer pulls in the Van Dykes Restorers catalog.

I wanted un-lacquered brass, but they were sold out. I didn’t want to wait, so I opted for the bright brass and aged them myself to tone the brass down down a bit. Here is the link to the post on how I aged the brass.

I made chalk paint using the calcium carbonate powder recipe to paint the sideboard turquoise. 

Using this recipe over the non-sanded grout or Plaster of Paris DIY chalk paint recipes has one advantage – it does not harden at all after being mixed.  If you are painting larger pieces and need more than a small amount of paint – then I would suggest you use the Calcium Carbonate Power.

Go here to find all my Chalk Paint Recipes

How to Add a Glaze Over Chalk Paint Before Sealing

I made the paint color by mixing two colors of turquoise paint I had leftover from previous projects.  Glidden Peacocks Plume and Valspar Seafarer were the colors I mixed 50/50 in a bucket to come up with the color. I used two coats and let the paint dry.

I then added a white glaze over it to add more lightness and depth to the color.

What is a Paint Glaze?

Paint glaze is clear, but can made any color you want. It will be transparent when dry.

The reason to use it, is to bring out the details on a piece of furniture. It is like wax, but water-based.

For the sideboard, I wanted a whitewashed look, so I made a white glaze.

I used a coffee can to mix the glaze mixture using:

• 4 parts Valspar Clear Glazing Liquid
• 1 part white paint
• Optional:  1/4 – 1 part water – just a little to thin the mix if needed

Working on one area at a time, I brushed the glaze/paint mixture on very liberally, waited a few minutes and then dragged another (dry brush) through the glaze and wiping the brush in a rag to clean off the glaze, so I could repeat the brushing off process.

In the photo above – the glaze was just applied – I have not dragged the dry brush over it yet. Once you do – the white color will lessen. You can drag a dry brush over the area a few times to get the look you are after.

I wanted subtle.   I repeated the process until all surfaces were covered.

After the glaze was added, brushed off and dry – (wait at least 24 hours) I sanded all the edges with medium grit sandpaper to age the surface.

Many readers ask me how much they should sand a piece before painting. I sand everything before painting it with fine or medium grit sandpaper.

A quick going over with the paper attached to a sanding block is all that is needed to rough the surface a bit. It only takes a few minutes, but will help with lasting adhesion.

When distressing a piece of chalk painted furniture – it is up to personal choice how much aging you want to add.

I then added one thin layer of Fiddes & Sons paste wax, let it dry to a haze, and then buffed it with a soft cloth to bring out the shine.

If you look closely at the doors, you can see the white brush strokes of the glazing coat that was left on.  Any glaze or colored wax will add color depth to the painted finish.

You can do the same thing with liming or a white wax over a clear wax coat.

The new label holder drawer pulls add character and make the sideboard look more like a one-of-a-kind piece.

How to Make Labels for the Drawer Pulls

Using my word processor, I printed out the names I wanted for each label.  I traced around the rectangular part of the pull to figure out the size label I would need.  I set the font to Engravers MT -size to 22 pts. I printed out the names for each on white card stock.

I cut a piece of acetate from the top lid of a box of notecards to act as clear protective covers for each label. Then placed both into the drawer pull.

The labels slip right into each holder.

Did I Paint the Inside of the Sideboard?

When painting furniture with doors, I sometimes don’t paint the inside of the doors. If it was summer and I took this to my garage to paint, I would have removed the doors and painted both sides.

Since I had to paint the piece in my family room, I decided to tape around the lip on the back and just paint around the edges. When the painters tape was removed, the insides of the doors, looked nice and neat with the outer edges painted only.

How to Change the Color of Metal Drawer Knobs

I bought the glass knobs for the doors at Lowes. They had silver centers that I spray painted gold using Rustoleum Metallic Gold spray paint so they would match the drawer pulls.

Paint is truly a DIY decorator’s best friend. It is amazing how it can transform a space so quickly and affordably. It literally can change a room in only a few hours.  Now I gotta tackle painting my “mollifier” in the room. More to come on that soon.

To see more painted furniture projects head on over to my Furniture Makeover Project Gallery

You May Also Like:

• Before & After Mirror Makeover Using Glaze
• How to Paint Over Milk Paint
• How To Paint Drawer Pulls and a Dresser
• How I Transformed a Vinyl Floor for $10.00

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