Our amazing and sweet doctor gave us this change table for free when I was pregnant with Rusty six years ago. She was done having children and wanted it to go somewhere that it would be well-used. We hadn't planned to buy a changing table, but we would take one for free! Although I didn't love the colour of the oak wood, free I did love, so we took it and use it we did, all the way through two babies. For a couple that thought we would not need a change table we certainly loved having it, and Kevin was loathe to put it away when each boy got too big for it.
Here we are with baby #3 on the way. I knew we would use the table again, but once my friend Britt sent me the gorgeous hand-made nursery set that had gorgeous tones of grey and pink in it, I knew it was time! It was time to paint that table and chalk paint was the way to go!
Off I went this week to Brick and Mortar in New Westminster where I picked up some Fat Paint brand chalk paint in the colour Pewter. I also grabbed a small pot of their clear wax, because I had read and heard that a tiny bit of wax goes a long way.
I started with this-a lovely shape and very sturdy, but not the colour I was loving:
Notice how I'm set up in the living room?? Yeah, it is totally non-toxic with NO fumes, so I could easily paint inside and not worry about it causing issues for my sweet babe! I found the paint really easy to deal with and it really did adhere the way they claimed. Our change table had sort of a glossy veneer on it that I normally would have sanded quite extensively, but the paint just went right on. It dried quite fast. Because I didn't get started until after 9 p.m. and I'm a super tired pregnant lady these days, I didn't wait to do the second coat that night but I do hear you can usually do a second coat pretty quickly after a first. The paint really had amazing coverage. I probably could have gotten away with just one coat, but I wanted a darker grey so I knew I would do a second coat. After the first night I went to bed with it looking like this. Better already, right?
The next morning I got up and did the second coat right away. This went super fast...like around 20 minutes! Because it had covered so well the first time, I wasn't super cautious about how I painted the second coat and I didn't seem to matter much at all. I did like the slightly darker colour that it had with the second coat and I really, really liked how quickly it went on!
The second coat was dry by that afternoon, and I did some slight distressing with sandpaper. this went pretty easily. I just rubbed at the natural edges, then used a Swiffer cloth to wipe up the excess and brushed it down with a dry, clean paint brush.
I couldn't get to the waxing process until that evening. Here is where things did not go as smoothly. The girl that sold me the wax said I would be fine without a wax brush and that any lint free cloth would work for application. While that is probably true, I think that the cloth probably also soaked up quite a bit of the wax, and it just didn't seem to go on very smoothly. It seemed so much harder than all of the tutorials I had watched and read. I also had bought the small pot of wax, and I could see that it was going to run out before I was done. This was a huge bummer for me, because I love to COMPLETE projects. It was 8:45 and our local hardware store closed at 9. I had read that you can use regular furniture wax for the waxing process so off I went. When I got there, however, the TOXIC sign and the skull and cross bones on the regular wax scared me off. When it said not to inhale the fumes I knew it wasn't something I could use for THIS project-remember precious wee babe within?-so I knew I had to give up for that night. I left it looking like this:
Today I was able to go to Haney Home Hardware in Maple Ridge. They carry the Ce Ce Caldwell line of chalk paints and wax. I thought I would try their clear wax and this time I bought the big jar. It was a bit pricier but SO very worth it. I also splurged on a wax brush. Again, totally worth it. I got home and cracked open this new wax-again, no fumes and totally safe to use-and it went on like a dream. I don't know if it was the different wax quality, the wax brush, or maybe a combo of both but this time it slid onto the change table like butter on hot toast.
I didn't buff it right away while it was wet because I didn't want a super shiny finish. Instead I just waxed the entire piece and then left it for the 2-4 hours it suggested. The waxing this time probably took me about 40 minutes...maybe a little less. It didn't seem like painful work because it was going on so smoothly. Tonight after the boys were in bed I was able to go in and do the buffing. I just used a ripped up old t-shirt of Kev's and rubbed until the piece had a nice sheen to it. Not TOO shiny, but nice and a good seal on it. I am so pleased with the end result! I actually love this piece of furniture now. It says to give it 24 hours to completely cure, so I'm doing that, but I can't wait to get it all set up and see it with the diapers and such set up on it. I would actually use this as a piece of furniture in our home and now I can't wait to chalk paint up something else! Here are some pics of the final result. I absolutely love the colour, the finish is silky smooth, and I'm even pretty happy with the distressing!
All said and done, it probably took me about two hours total of painting time (this may be generous...it seems like it was faster), about an hour and a half of waxing time-this would have been MUCH faster had I just had the Ce Ce Caldwell's wax and a wax brush in the first place!-and about 15 minutes of buffing time. Not too bad! It is a project that could EASILY be completed in one day if you had a day to do it, and the best part is that it doesn't need days or weeks to set...just 24 hours! I think my next chalk paint project with be our oak coloured china hutch. I like the hutch itself, but would love freshen it up a bit...I want to try a funky colour...suggestions!!???
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