My friend and I went walking on the beach last week when I came across driftwood from a coconut tree.
Of course, being at sea for a while it had darkened
FRONT
BACK
My friend thought I was crazy, seeing as how we're surrounded by coconut trees, but it was something about this piece that caught my eye and I just had to have it.
To be honest, I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but I knew I wanted to keep it as natural looking as possible. I first became familiar with chalk paint when I read Begin Again Furniture blog where Allie talked about her experiment making her own chalk paint; she painted a beautiful chair. I had also did some reading on Anne Sloan Chalk Paint and I liked the natural soft look it gave to furniture. Of course, ASCP isn't sold here in the Bahamas so as usual I had to improvise.
There were several variations of making your own chalk paint but I found on No Minimalist Here blog where Sherry talked about using Calcium Carbonate, Whiting Powder or Plaster of Paris mixed with your paint. I couldn't find the Calcium Carbonate or Whiting Powder but I did find some Plaster of Paris. But before purchasing the Plaster of Paris I remembered I had some Lime at home, and because its suppose to be high in calcium and/or magnesium carbonate I decided to give it a try. I figured, it's a piece of wood and not furniture, so what was there to lose? I went with Sherry's formula 1/3 lime, 2/3 paint.
Here are the end results
I initially painted it red in spots before applying my chalk paint. I wanted an aged look, so I decided to go with crackle - (can you see the red peeking through?)
I then started distressing
The final results (BACK)
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| Why does this remind me of a baby's bottom???? |
Final results (FRONT)
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| I used a glaze to seal it and added a tint of color |
Displayed on my Kitchen Counter
