Have you ever been to the fair or been watching TV late at night and seen some spokesman touting the virtues of their product. The product is ALWAYS amazing....it will slice, dice, do the laundry and put it away without being asked. The presenter always makes it look so easy. At the fair, they will even let you try it and it's just as easy as they said.....until you get it home.
As an antique dealer in a "french country/shabby chic" environment, I have had to paint furniture. It goes against every fiber of my being to paint furniture...not only because it will reduce it's future value, but because I'm not a big fan of painting. I always think it will be fun and it never is.
For those of you that are in the antique or design world, you know the current cult...I mean rage is chalk paint. Chalk paint is a special type of paint that is in its own category. It is not chalkboard paint. It comes in regular, although muted, colors. Many painted furniture pieces are now painted with chalk paint. Those that use chalk paint are fanatical about the product. Those that sell chalk paint taut its benefits....no primer, no sanding, will do the laundry and even put it away. And it's very, very expensive but worth is...or so they say.
Today was the day I put on my big girl pants to paint. I had bought a small can of chalk paint (because I didn't want to feel left out and hey, I had some laundry that needed to be done). As I applied the first coat of paint, I'll be honest, I was completely unimpressed and looked at the can to see if there was a money-back guarantee. I applied the second coat to the table (no money-back guarantee so I better use every drop) and went back inside. When I came out to paint the table legs, I looked at the table and thought....are you kidding me?!?!? It looked gorgeous. A really smooth and beautiful matte finish. It was probably the nicest looking piece of furniture I've ever painted. And it used such a small amount of paint, I was completely shocked. (IMPORTANT NOTE: The picture shown is not my table, just an example of a table painted in chalk paint to give you an idea of what it can do.)
Now, like every product that touts a long laundry list of benefits, you have to read the small print and realize that the rep is regurgitating the material and adding their own spin. When it says "no sanding", this should actually be "no prep". If you have a piece that has deep chips, you are going to have to sand and prep it. Sadly, this is the case with one of my tables so I'm pretty bummed. And it didn't actually put the laundry away, but overall it fulfilled it's promise.
Someone pass the Kool-Aid...I've just joined the chalk paint cult.
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