How to Distress Furniture with Chalk Paint

With these instructions, I’ll show you how to distress furniture with chalk paint into a modern look that will look great in your living room or den. It’s a cheap and easy furniture upcycle that will make a big statement in your home. And if you’d like to update upholstered furniture, check out our tutorial on how to make a slipcover for a chair. Put the end table in a clean work space with plenty of room.

Lay a drop cloth down to make sure the paint does not drip and ruin your floor. Clean the entire piece of furniture with the spirits to remove any dirt, dust or oils that may be on the surface.

If you have an orbital sander you can use this for the top of your piece and any larger areas to save you time and energy. Be sure to rough up the existing finish to expose the natural wood grain. Take another lint free cloth and remove all dust particles from the sanding process. Be sure to focus on any edges, drawers, or areas that might be visible to ensure full coverage.

Apply a second coat of paint to the entire piece of furniture. If necessary, use 220 grit sandpaper to lightly sand any areas of paint drips or build up.

Now is the time to check for any bristles from your brush or dust that was trapped in your paint. Using your natural bristle flat paint brush and Dixie Belle Moonshine Silver Bullet apply a thin coat to the entire piece.

You don’t want to glob on a lot of paint on to your brush, only a workable amount. Work the brush back and forth, without overlapping the paint, smooth even strokes. Only one coat of Dixie Belle Moonshine Silver Bullet is necessary on top of your base coat of Dixie Belle Bunker Hill Blue for an opaque finish. Don’t worry if you see brush strokes, as long as you didn’t drag the paint everything will flatten out once dry.

Using your Dixie Belle Bronze Gilding Wax dip your finger into the tin. Any hardware or detail that you would like highlighted simply apply wax the area. Using Rust-Oleum Chalked Protective Top Coat (Matte Clear Spray), spray all the areas you gilded with the Dixie Belle Bronze Gilding Wax. Hold the spray can approximately 8 inches away and coat the gilded details. The end table bar can take up to 30 days to completely cure and dry. And here’s how I updated a $3 upholstered thrift store chair with a fabric slipcover I made (and how you can do it, too)!