Recycled Interiors Podcast 008: Chalk Paint Tips with Brocante In The Barossa

By Helen Edwards | August 26, 2016 |


In today’s podcast episode, we are chatting with Kim Valois, the owner of Brocante in the Barossa, a South Australian business that sells beautiful products to makeover old furniture and decorate the home, including Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan. Kim lives the spirit of her business, and has painted dozens of items in her own home. She loves colour, pattern and design and believes style in the home is an extension of the personal and individual style of the people who live there. More than anything, she loves how happy people can be when the make changes in their home that delight them.
We chat about chalk paint in detail, but also Kim’s tips for how to be more sustainable in your home and your life, including buying food locally and in season, reducing plastics in your home, growing some of your own food and cooking at home.
I hope you enjoy the show, and have a go at painting something with chalk paint! We would love to see what you create! If you enjoyed the show please head to iTunes or Stitcher to leave a review and subscribe for the latest episodes.

Things you will want to remember from the show

  • Chalk Paint is used for decorative painting, particularly walls, furniture, objects
  • It is a natural water based paint, no fumes or VOC’s – good for people with allergies
  • You can take old furniture and objects and very easily paint it over and create all kinds of new looks, as well as keeping them out of landfill. Painting allows you to update without throwing things away
  • The most sustainable thing you can do is to buy things that already exist – always see the potential in a piece, look past the current exterior, the sturdiness and quality of the piece are the most important – good bones
  • Look for timber over laminate – timber laminate is ok, but materials with a lot of plastic are not as versatile, although you can paint over them
  • It is often cheaper to do this than buy something new, not that there is anything wrong with having both
  • Look for things in the op shops and vintage stores that do not require a great deal of repair, unless you are prepared to do the work. Otherwise it will sit in storage and become clutter!
  • There is a lot of well built timber furniture from the 1900’s to the 1960’s in op shops
  • Nobody else knows what is under the paint, do not get too precious about that
  • Think about what you bring into your home no matter where it has come from, otherwise you just end up with clutter, or putting it back into the landfill cycle
  • WE LOVE CHAIRS (just sharing that!) 🙂
  • Process of using chalk paint – check my post here too
    • Clean the piece
    • Use sandpaper or a green scotchbrite pad to rough up
    • Paint 2 coats, occasionally a piece needs more
    • Occasionally a darker varnish will bleed through, especially from 1940’s era pieces, stop and let it dry properly before applying more coats
    • You can sand in between if you want but there is no need, except for something like a kitchen makeover
    • Kitchen cabinets require more work to keep consistency, and require a lot of cleaning to make sure there are no fats or food residues anywhere. Use sugar soap but be sure to wash thoroughly as there is oil in the sugar soap. For high traffic areas such as kitchens and floors you would ideally use 3 coats of clear wax after painting, and in between wax coats leave it to dry 24 hours before each next wax coat
    • Wax is important to give a protective finish and also helps achieve decorative finishes. You need at least 1 coat over paint work on normal furniture pieces
    • You can use one colour of paint with another on top to create a gorgeous look
    • There are new waxes in the range in addition to clear and dark, there is now black and white. Black gives an industrial, edgy look. White is great for a beachy or coastal vibe, but can be used over colour to give a soft rustic look
    • Wax is a fine finish and lasts for years, you can use a poly finish over the paint but should test carefully as it can crack the paint, and can yellow
  • You can roll chalk paint onto a wall and it gives a velvety matter finish
  • You can blend colours – there are 32 colours out of the tin – but you can create your own recipes for colour mixing. Kim can also assist you with this
  • Painting fabric – you want the paint to be absorbed into the fibres so:
    • dip the paintbrush into water
    • use the water and mix into the paint
    • you have to work harder as you need to work the paint into the fibres of the piece
    • 1 coat will not cover it, so you need to be patient – let it dry for around 3 days in between coats so it will not mildew or rot; 2 – 3 coats are usually needed
    • let it dry completely before waxing (again for 2 – 3 days) – yes you wax the fabric! It makes it supple and stops it from cracking, and allows you to wipe for cleaning
    • velvet – after painting sand with a really fine grain sandpaper, 800 or 1000 grit – then wipe dust off, wax and then another light sand, which helps the velvet to be softer after it is painted
    • vinyl – comes out beautifully, like leather, it is super fast – have a look here
  • Consider the colour for larger pieces very carefully, think about how it will sit in your home – for example if you are painting an entire lounge suite
  • Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan is only sold through independent design studios such as Brocante in the Barossa – which means you can get advice, workshops and more. This can be done via phone as well if you can not get to a studio
  • Remember if you don’t like it you can paint over it! Use a scrap piece of timber to practise on first

Links you will want to check out

Brocante in the Barossa
Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan stockists 

Helen
xx

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