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I got a message from a friend of a friend a few weeks ago.  She sent over a photo of a beautiful buffet she had painted herself, but she was not happy with the result.  You see, she had used one of the chalk paints that claims “no prep” – no sanding, no scrubbing, just paint.  

The paint had started chipping and flaking all over the piece.  Sometimes this chippy look would be desired, but she didn’t even like the piece distressed, much less chippy.  

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Prep is important!  There are so many brands of paint out there that claim “NO PREP” and it simply isn’t a good idea.  This is why.  

What prep should you do? On a normal piece, I recommend sanding lightly all over with 220 grit sandpaper and cleaning with a mix of Denatured Alcohol and water.  The sanding not only knocks the shine down on any existing varnish, but it also roughs up the surface enough for the paint to stick to.  The Denatured Alcohol and water mix make a great cleaner, because it leaves no residue that will interfere with the paint, and the alcohol helps it dry very quickly so you don’t have a wet piece.  (More prep details are in my furniture painting tutorial.) While prep is a few more steps, it usually doesn’t take very long at all – and it’s well worth it! 

How do you fix a piece with chipping? You start back at the beginning.  I sanded the piece down to raw wood and got off as much of the existing paint as I could.  Then, because this piece is mahogany I primed it with BIN primer.  BIN is not only good to seal in the red tones of the wood, but also is a great “sticky” primer that will help the new coat of paint adhere (no more chipping!).

We made a gorgeous shade of aqua by combining General Finishes Halcyon Blue, Snow White and Patina Green.  You know I’m not super precise on measurements, but this recipe was 1 cup Snow White, 1/4 cup Halcyon Blue and 1 tablespoon of Patina Green.  Mixed well in a kitchen jar, we had a custom color that was just right. 

My client has a lot of navy tones in her home too, so the inside of the cabinets were painted in Coastal Blue. It’s a fun accent color when you open the door. 

We kept the original hardware, just cleaned up by oiling it with Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil.  They had nice patina so no polishing, just a bit of cleaning. 

I love this style of furniture (Federal Style). Crisp clean lines, subtle details.  It goes with many styles and is really very classic.  

Crisis averted.  This piece goes home soon ready to give a pop of color and much needed storage to a beautiful dining room.  

Don’t forget to prep!  If you want more details on how to refinish furniture like a pro – check out my online video tutorial.

Until next time, 

Happy Painting! 

Jenni