Making Your Own Chalk Paint

I am a chalk-er! What's a chalk-er? Apparently it is a person who makes their own chalk paint. So now, I am a chalk-er.

I have admired the soft finishes that I have seen on furniture lately. I have wanted to try it myself but the cost of the paint was pretty expensive. Then I heard about DYI chalk paint. There are several recipes out there. I wasn't sure which to try. My criteria was simple. It had to work, and I had to be able to easily obtain all of the ingredients. I decided to go with the recipe that uses flat latex paint, plaster of paris and water. You can buy plaster of paris at home improvement stores like Home Depot. I tried two different plaster of paris recipes. I liked how the ratio of ingredients in the recipe that I found on Salvaged Inspirations.

The Recipe

3 parts latex flat paint
1 part plaster of paris
water (to your liking)

I found that what worked the best for me was to mix my paint directly with the plaster of paris. I actually left out the water. I loved the thickness and the texture.

So here it is. My first time both making and using chalk paint.

As you can see I bought a huge amount of plaster of paris. I plan to use it a lot. This size bag cost $15. You can get a normal sized box for $6.