Paint and Age Furniture Without Chalk Paint
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Long before Annie Sloan Chalk Paint came on the decorating scene as well as DIY versions of it, I used to age furniture with any brand of latex paint I had on hand and some glazing liquid.
It was quite easy and I still think the method is a perfect option for anyone who doesn’t want the expense of buying Chalk Paint or the time to make their own DIY version of it.
I painted the pale green pieces in my bedroom using the technique. All you need is latex paint mixed with glaze, a stiff bristle paint brush, and some sandpaper.
Bedroom Before
My bedroom Circa 1993. See the desk over in the left corner?
I painted and aged it and all of the dark wood pieces in the room 18 years ago without any chalk paint.
Painting and Aging Furniture Without Using Chalk Paint
supplies needed:
- Primer
- Latex paint
- Clear Glazing Liquid – sold at most paint and home improvement stores in the paint aisle or at the craft store. You do not need a lot for furniture.
- Paint brush for applying paint
- Stiff paint brush for removing paint
- Rag
- Sandpaper
- Mixing container
1. Sand the surface with 60 grit sandpaper.
2. Prime with Kilz Original Primer and let it dry. (Have primer tinted to the color you want to expose underneath)
3. Mix satin finish paint and clear glazing mixture (75% paint, 25% glazing mix). You can also add a few tablespoons of water to thin the mixture, if needed. Brush it over the dry primer.
4. Wait about 5 minutes – then using a dry stiff bristle brush – brush it over the paint and glaze coat to reveal the primer. You want to create a striated look. Let dry.
5. Use sandpaper to distress the edges to age the finish. Clean off sanding grit with a tack cloth.
You can seal it with water based polyurethane if you want, but since it is an aged finish, I did not seal it.
Adding glaze to the paint takes some of the rubbery feeling away from the latex paint. The finish is smooth even without wax. It has held up beautifully.
I do love painting with DIY chalk paint and wax, but this furniture aging technique is tried and true. If you want easy and inexpensive, you may want to give it a try.
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Please explain the paint recipe/portions in Item 3. Is it 75% satin paint to 23% glaze or water? What about the other 2%? I must have a total of 100%…LOL! I actually like this technique better than the chalk finish, too! Your style and projects are so fun and your tutorials are so easy to follow. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Hi Beth – Tt was a typo. 75% paint to 25% glaze. This percentage is not set in stone – you can mix it anyway – experiment to see if you like it more transparent or need more working time (more glaze) If you just want a little bit of transparency – the 75 – 25 ratio works well.
I’ve done furniture like this. I’ve also used satin paint for a smoother, less chalky finish. I’ve just sanded off some paint here and there where there would be normal wear. Much less work!
Quick, easy and budget conscious–I like it! I’ll pin this up on our Pinboard so our fans can check out your awesome method!
Thanks Jay XO
Just to clarify for my pre-caffeinated brain… You use 75% of a satin finish paint mixed with 25% of a basic clear glaze. Any advise if it is a flat finish paint? I have some extra ‘test’ quarts laying around and there are some inherited furniture pieces in need of some love. Also, I have gallons of white primer here at the house. Any recommendations for tinting it myself on a smaller scale for individual projects? Thanks for this post, and for your DIY chalk paint post. I’m determined to get these quarts used up and these posts are getting me motivated to bust out the drop cloth and get it done.
Hi Shanna – You can use any finish of paint. I happened to use the satin finish, but you can create the look using any finish of paint. As for your primer – you can buy tint at your paint store and experiment with creating the color you want. The tint is usually sold in tubes and cost very little. You can also mix the primer with a paint color that is already mixed. It would be like you were making your own Paint and Primer in One formula. I do this all the time. It works great, but makes it hard to tell readers what color I used since I created it by mixing it myself :)
The chalk paint finish is not all that appealing to me. Your method is just as pretty and a whole lot less expensive.