A couple of weeks ago I posted about my woven stool cover, and last week I finished my first furniture makeover with chalk paint. I bought this stool for $7, knowing that I didn’t like the color and grain of the wood, but that some paint could take care of that problem. And it did!


It was the perfect opportunity to try out chalk paint. The things I liked about it were that I didn’t have to do any sanding or priming, and the brushstrokes are pretty minimal due to the matte finish. Plus the drying time between coats is really short, only 30 minutes, so you can have your painting done in no time.

I used Amy Howard One Step Paint in the color “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and followed the directions on the can. An Ace Hardware employee advised me that mixing well is really important because the paint is highly pigmented with minerals that settle to the bottom of the can. So I took that part seriously.

The steps I followed:

1.  Turn the paint can upside-down, and let the pigments migrate from the bottom of the can to the top for at least 30 minutes.
2. Wash the stool with soap, rinse and dry.
3. Shake the paint for two minutes, then stir well.
4. Paint the stool. Let dry.
5. Shake and mix the paint. Paint again. Let dry.
6. Sand off paint drips and wipe off dust.
7. Shake and mix the paint. Paint again and let dry.

Calling the paint “one step,” kind of makes it sound like you’ll only need one coat. I needed three, and while I probably could have gotten away with just touch-ups for the third coat if I hadn’t had drips, that’s still three steps. But very minimal prep compared to other paints, so it’s forgiven.

Once I got the stool in my bedroom, with the cushion on top, I decided that the pink color in the weaving clashed with the light pink color of my rug. So I tore it out and rewove that part with different yarn, and now I’m much happier with it.

So, all-in-all, not a flashy furniture makeover, but a quick, highly successful one. Sometimes those are the most satisfying of all.