Painting Laminate Furniture With Chalk Paint

Hey friends!  It is time for week 4 of the $100 room makeover, and I did not get nearly as much done over the past week as I would have liked.  I took a day over the weekend to spend with my son instead of work on the mud room, but it was worth it!   In case you are catching this for the first time, let me catch you up to speed.   I have committed to makeover a room in my house aaannndd stay within a $100 budget. That is a tall order, and a tight budget, and I am starting to question myself as to whether  I can get it done. But I am going to give it the old college try.   This challenge was created by Erin at Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry, and I am thrilled to be a part of it all.  The room I have chosen to make over is my mudroom.  I have until the next Wednesday to reveal this room, so that gives me about 1 more week to not only get it done, but style it and take photos.  Today I will be talking about painting laminate furniture with chalk paint.  If you are new to my mudroom makeover, or to Sweet Parrish Place, please make yourself at home and welcome!  Now, let’s see where we are for week 4.

 You might want to start by checking out week 1, week 2, and week 3. Go ahead, I’ll wait!

This week, I got started on painting the wall shelf, and I had intentions on painting the bench but never made it that far.  I had been holding out on painting these two pieces because I was hoping the weather would be good enough one weekend for me to take them outside and paint them with my paint sprayer. But that never happened, so I was forced to start hand painting them, which I was dreading from the beginning.

Both of these pieces are laminate, so they are not solid wood.  I decided to paint them with chalk paint because I was sure it would adhere really well to the laminate.  I used the same paint that I used on my antique trunk makeover, which I shared during last weeks post.  I already had this paint left over from a previous project, so I didn’t have to cut into my $100 budget for it.  However, I am not sure I will have enough to finish the bench and may have to buy more- fingers crossed!  the paint I used for both the shelf and the antique trunk is Americana Decor Chalky Paint in the color Everlasting.

Tips for painting laminate furniture with chalk paint

• I started out by cleaning this shelf with a deglosser.  I did not prime this shelf first because you aren’t supposed to have to do that with chalk paint, but what you are looking at right now is 4 coats, and it is still not fully covered- so frustrating!  It still needs one more coat, and then the clear wax, but I had my husband hang it back up here long enough to snap a few pictures for this post today. He was thrilled, NOT!
• I painted the first two coats with a brush, but I was not happy with the brush strokes I was getting, so I switched to a small foam roller, and was much happier with the result.  When painting laminatete, the foam roller seems like the way to go in my opinion, it went on much more smoothly.  I highly recommend that you lightly sand the piece down in between coats, you will get a much more smooth finish this way.  I did not sand between the first two coats out of sheer laziness, but after that I did sand between the third and fourth coats, and I will be sanding it again before the final coat.
•  I will also lightly sand it after the final coat, and then I will be applying the Americana Decor clear wax.  The wax is the last step, and do not skip this step.  It is what will give the furniture a smooth finish and make it durable.

Although the shelf is not finished yet, I am loving the look of the white paint!  What do you think?  It just feels so much more light and bright now.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like when the bench is white as well, and after the bench is finished, we will be trimming out the sides of the beadboard wallpaper with polar boards that we also used for the DIY Coat Hook Wall.  I am hoping this will give it a more finished and built in look.  The beadboard wallpaper also still needs to be painted.

You might remember back in week one, when I revealed all of my plans for this mudroom makeover, that I said I would be adding a cushion to the bench that had buffalo plaid fabric, well, this is the cushion cover and the foam pad, but I haven’t gotten around the putting it all together yet.  You can find this exact fabric by clicking here, and click here to find the foam pad I will be using.  I used a gift card to purchase the foam cushion, which was $18.95.  I paid for the fabric, which was $8.98 for one yard, and that was all I needed for the bench cushion.

A fellow blogging friend of mine, Carol from The Red Painted Cottage sewed this cushion cover for me. She used velcro for the opening, and that cost $5.50.  The cushion I purchased is actually larger than what I needed, but it was the best price I could find, so I have to cut it down to fit the bench, which should be fairly easy using a box cutter.  I can’t wait to see this cushion on the white bench, it is going to make the room look finished!

I revealed this DIY coat hook wall last week, and it is already being put to use.  I purchased this gorgeous bag at Michael Kors when I took my son shopping on Sunday, and I couldn’t resist hanging it here!

Naomi straw Tote

For your convenience, this post has affiliate links.  If you click on them and buy an item, I will receive a small percentage of commission.  By clicking the link, you are NOT paying any more than you  ordinarily would, and you are helping support me in keeping this blog up and running, so thank you for that!

I’m down to the wire and I have one more week until the big reveal.  My son has his first track meet this Saturday, so that knocks most of the say out.  I am hoping I can get major help from my husband and finish this up on Sunday.  If  you remember, I had debated whether to paint the laundry room doors black to match the garage door, and I think I have decided I want to paint it, and the other two doors int he space black, but I don’t think I will get them all done by the reveal, so I am going to at least try to finish the laundry room doors.  I have to work late today and tomorrow, so won’t be able to have any time to work on this space again until Friday evening.

My Budget

The total I have spent so far in this room is $91.75.  I really wanted to purchase dome matching baskets for the wall shelf, but at this point, I doubt I am going to find anything within my budget.  So I will have to make due with something that I already have.

As a reminder, here is the to do list for this space.  I even got to mark some things off!

MY TO DO LIST FOR THE MUDROOM MAKEOVER

• Hang antique mirror
• Upcycle some thrift store art for the space
• Add some bling to the drum shade
• Hang beadboard wallpaper and paint it white
• Add a buffalo plaid cushion to the bench
• Install  trim and hooks to small wall area behind door leading to garage
• Paint bench and shelf white- partially finished but not quite
• Paint and distress antique trunk
• Paint laundry closet doors black

I will be back next Wednesday with the full reveal,  I am really excited about these changes.  I sure hope you will join me for it!  There are so many awesome room makeovers going on for this challenge, so you definitely want to check all of them out.

If you like it, then you wanna put a pin on it!

Now, there are a whole slew of other bloggers who are also participating in this $100 Room challenge, so make sure to check out their spaces as well!