Shabby Chic; Volume III

lucywillow

I managed to get 4 tins of the Aldi chalk paint in Whisper White.

I haven't used it yet but I intend to use it for the pine furniture in my daughter's bedroom in the next week or so.

I'll report back in due course....

Hoploz

Spent today repainting all my beautiful dining chairs!

They were lovely when I did them, but it took me forever to decide what varnish to use over the top of the leftover Matt emulsion I'd done them with, then after varnishing two I ran out of time without the children around.

Grabbed the opportunity today with the kids playing elsewhere to repaint the other 4 and they're looking lovely again. Hoping to varnish them tomorrow, but the kids will be here so it'll be difficult!

I couldn't believe how filthy they had got! But thinking about it, it's 9 months since I painted them so no wonder!

chalkysoil

I've been using the Aldi wax that hubs bought for me - it has a strong stench of petrol but that went by today on a small stand I tried it on yesterday.

Hoploz

2 more chairs varnished with the Wilko Matt varnish.

Will report back tomorrow whether it goes yellow

Hoploz

Ok all done now, reporting back as promised!

The Wilko varnish was ok to work with. Milky, so you can see where you're going, but it is a bit drippy, so I had to keep going over it sweeping up odd little drips as I went. This made it a bit more time consuming than it needed to be.

The finish is matt. It seems to wipe down ok on my dining chairs. It is quite hard on the ones I did a few weeks ago so should be reasonably hard wearing I think.

Regarding the yellowing. Hmm well I have inspected, since it was suggested by chalkysoil. The first pair I varnished a while ago were sage green, and there's no trace on those. The second pair are pale lemony yellow. I can see that where I've been today with the varnish there is a definite yellowing on the cracks between joints where there is some carved wood pattern on the chair backs. This will be where it went on thicker. The majority of the work is fine. Hopefully the other two which are still tacky won't show it up too much as again they're a stronger colour (pink.) However I notice that where a little puddle had accidentally collected in a corner the puddle was certainly yellow! I've dabbed that off with a paper towel now as it hadn't dried.

This is the first time I've used varnish at all, so have nothing to compare this to. I would recommend this product for straight woodwork, but if you're varnishing something with lots of carving to the wood you may find it's not great. I'd be interested to hear whether anyone can recommend another varnish over this one.

chalkysoil

I've used several tins of this varnish and it was always clear, it's only the last tin that shows yellow on white/cream in corners etc. It's still miles better than other varnishes I've tried and it is fine on big flat areas. Thanks for reporting back ♥

Hoploz

Ok if this is the best you've found I'm fairly happy with it. I did use it based on a recommendation from here, so thanks for that. Maybe they've changed the recipe a bit? There certainly aren't any yellow streaks, just at the joints.

Think I prefer using the silk or satin finish paint though tbh. No varnish required! Just for the chairs I was using old leftover emulsion I had in the garage from various walls over the years

Now, what'll my next job be .....?!?

lucywillow

Well as promised I thought I'd report back on the Aldi chalk paint I bought a few weeks ago.
To anyone feeling disappointed that they missed out, don't be!- it's thin, watery and after 5 coats I gave up and went back to my trusty Fired Earth eggshell (bought at 75% discount;))

I've painted loads of furniture but although the Aldi CP did dry to a nice matt chalky finish it had very little pigment in it so only gave a translucent coverage. I'm going to try mixing it with a different paint to see if that helps as I don't like to waste anything:D

Hope this helps someone in case Aldi stock it again in future.

stardrops42

Just completed our dresser, really pleased with how it turned out. We used F&B Shaded White and replaced the pine dresser top with an oak top.We also replaced the handles to match the kitchen cupboards. Although I picked the colours etc it was hubby who put in all the hard work;)
http://s183.photobucket.com/user/harveybw/media/2015-01-30%2022.47.38_zps5o4acrws.jpg.html]
http://s183.photobucket.com/user/harveybw/media/2015-08-30%2016.39.45_zpse7atlcvr.jpg.html]

Sorry if the pics are too big I don't know how to re size them:o

emg

your dresser looks gorgeous!