Trying some furniture looks

I have been painting some furniture.

This piece was picked up along the side of the road and looked like someone started to strip it and gave up.  I decided to keep the original blue and just touch up with a matching color, leaving a lot of the bare wood.

When it dried, I lightly sanded it, and topped it off with dark oak stain and poly.  I used that combo over the gray table too.  

I’m also experimenting with “salt wash”.  

So far, so good, I think I’ll like it.  

It involves a lot of steps, but is interesting to play with, so I don’t mind the extra work.  

First, a base coat of chalk paint or primer.

Second, the salt wash.  Instead of salt, I use  unsanded grout mixed in my paint until it’s as thick as brownie batter.  It messily gets dabbed on.

I let it dry over night, then add a coat of another color of either chalk or regular paint.  

After that dries, it gets sanded.  

Sometimes the sanding can look great, other times not, it often needs touched up with some of the top color.

After done, it needs sealed with wax or Polycrylic.  Personally, I am not a fan of using wax, but it does look good.  Polycrylic is easier.

On this, I did one more step.

Before the clear coat, I mixed some umber acrylic paint with glaze, brushed it on and wiped it off.

I used the salt wash technique on this table too.  Along with three colors of taupe and cream.

Big change, huh?

I am really enjoying the texture that the grout creates.

There was a bag of charcoal colored grout in my supply stash already so that is my background so far.  I bought some sand colored and will try that next.

Although the dark gray seems to do well under different shades of paint.

This new trick has been so fun!  I am on a roll repainting everything.