Why Not Just White?


Why use so many colors to paint a white chair? In order to create a finish that looks like ones you see on antiques and vintage furniture, you must create a depth and texture that extremely hard with one color of paint. If you look closely at the chair above you will see several colors that contribute to a white washed, bleached looking finish. It looks like it has been hand painted many times and over the years and through use and age the paint has been worn off in various areas. Its lack of uniformity and imperfectness give it character. Combining various shades and tints in layers allows you to create a vintage looking finish.

Sometimes painting white can be more complicated than a bold color. To see more ideas for white, click on my posts, Country Sideboard, At Your Service and Swedish Country Style.

I like Annie Sloan Chalk Paint  for my craft and furniture projects, but for walls nothing compares to Pure & Original Fresco Lime Paint. I love the natural variations of shades and tones the lime creates within one paint color. You have to see how gorgeous it is! Checkout my most recent interior design make overs with Fresco. It can be purchased online at www.502paint.com
Bohemian inspir
P.S  Pure and Original also makes a chalk based paint called Classico in 140 colors! Its amazing too!
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10 comments:

  1. I love the mix of colors in this chair. I would like to attempt the same on an apron and legs of a table I'm working on. Did you layer the colors in the order listed? I'm so glad I found your blog, you have an amazing talent and eye for color

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    1. Hi Ana,
      Generally if I want the end result to be a light finish, I will start with the dark colors and layer the lighter ones on top of them.By the end of the process I will be spot painting and dry brushing small areas rather than painting solid layers. Does this make sense? At that point i usually have 2 or 3 of the colors on a paper plate and using 1 brush, go back and forth between the colors to refine areas. It sounds more time consuming than it really is. I rarely sand colors back, but many people do. It's just a personal preference. I find it easier to keep adding paint, rather than try to take it off, if I make a mistake.Chalk Paint drys so quickly that I can touch up areas while other parts are drying. I have tried color combinations that ended up not working, but I've never had to strip the paint off and completely start over. Latex and acrylics are much less forgiving. I hope I answered your question, but let me know if I need to clarify any of this. Thanks for reading my Blog and taking the time to comment,
      Leslie

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  2. This is one of my favorite finishes and actually very easy to do because you really can't do anything wrong.

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    1. Helen, I agree. I think it is almost impossible to fail with chalk paint.

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  3. I think I need help understanding "dry brushing".....

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    1. Hi Jamie,
      Dry brushing is a technique where you put very little paint on your brush. I usually put a small amount on a paper plate and barely dip a corner of my brush. Even then its a good idea to keep a paper towel or rag handy so that you it almost looks like there is no paint on your brush. Its easiest to do on corners and edges so you might want to start there.Lightly swipe the bristles so there are uneven thin lines about the size of a pencil marks. It is easy but it does take a little practice. The effect is similar to that of a light wash. It is easy to get too much paint on your surface, but you can wipe it off and try it again. I usually work in small areas at a time. It will look like light feathering. This all sounds so vague as I write this. Im planning on adding some how to videos on techniques here but probably not until July. Shauna of Perfectly Imperfect blog has a good how-to video and there are probably others on YouTube. I hope this helps a little bit. Leslie

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  4. Absolutely, love this piece !!!!

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  5. Did you actually paint the chair above?

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  6. Watching you do your dabbing and swiping your brush, I have painted more the old way that you use with latex, trying to get it smooth, which is not as interesting with AS chalk paint. I am going to try this method with my next project.

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  7. Love these chairs. I have mahagony antique dining room chairs. Do I have to put a primer on first or can I just use the Annie Sloan paint straight on??

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