The skinflinting Thread!

Margaid said:
Can you please PM which brand it was Lady A, if you can remember. I was intending to chalk paint some furniture and there are three brands available round here ...

It was a brand called Autentico Vintage Chalk paint. I'm much better pleased with the units I've done with the satinwood! I'm even more satisfied with them, because yesterday I saw two nice, cream bedside units in a shop I was passing. And they were €170 each! :) :)
I had been intending to get a new light fitting for the bedroom. But yesterday, I changed my mind. The light fitting I liked was €70, and I would have needed an electrician to fit it (I don't attempt any DIY that has the potential to kill me!). Instead, for less money, I got a lovely new light shade and two matching bedside lamps. Very pleased!
 
The prices of things never ceases to amaze me. Last week I got a heavy duty sack barrow from Amazon for £34. This is a really useful bit of kit and seemed very reasonably priced to me.
Then I looked at a sheep roll-over crate which is a thing that you put a sheep in then turn a wheel and the sheep is then upside down so you can trim its feet. Basically just some metal welded together. £1000! No logic to it.
 
Hen-Gen said:
The prices of things never ceases to amaze me. Last week I got a heavy duty sack barrow from Amazon for £34. This is a really useful bit of kit and seemed very reasonably priced to me.
Then I looked at a sheep roll-over crate which is a thing that you put a sheep in then turn a wheel and the sheep is then upside down so you can trim its feet. Basically just some metal welded together. £1000! No logic to it.

I know. It seems sometimes that prices are pulled from the air, according to what the sellers think most people will be prepared to pay!
 
Just to jump in. My husband has done some shabby chic projects, using Rust-Oleum chalk paint from BandQ. Cheaper than Annie Sloane. He always waxes the furniture a few times afterwards, otherwise it will show up every mark, as LadyA has mentioned. If the colour is not exactly what you want, you can also add a smidegeon of normal emulsion from a tester pot - that's what he did to get it to the colour I wanted. Here is the before and after. The little table was £10 off ebay and you cannot see well, but it was quite scratched. :-)
 

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Oh, that's very nice!
The chalk paint did work very well on the unit I use as a bedside cabinet. It was a white bathroom unit, shiny mdf. I put a couple of coats of primer on first, and then the cream chalk paint, and waxed it well. Over time, my alarm clock has rubbed a mark on the surface, but otherwise, it still looks really good.
 
Looks lovely. I did an Annie Sloan training day and the board that was painted in three different ways (distressed, crackle finish and really thick like orange peel) has been outside for over two years. I don't think it was waxed and the wood has split which has obviously affected the paint but where is hasn't been painted really thickly( done to achieve two of the effects) it is still adhering well. The items I want to pint will not be distressed or crackled but it was fun learning how to do it!
I'll probably use a make called Vintro as their colour palette is more to my liking. They have a lacquer as well as wax so if I need it more hardwearing I can lacquer, but as most of the things I want to paint are in my guest room I don't think that will be a problem.
 
OK Hen-Gen - you asked for it! Annie Sloan was one of the first (the first?) people to come up with the idea of Chalk Paint. One of the local stockists runs "training days" - half days actually, where you go along and are shown 9And get to experiment) with how to create different effects with the paint and also mixing colours. I was' quite good fun although I don't like faked ageing, whether it's distressed, crackle finish or whatever. Some of the effects her stockists achieve with the paints and wax, stencils etc are quite amazing but I just want to paint two chests of drawers, a couple of bedside tables and a sideboard that is a "modern" painted item anyway. I'm also going to try it on a not very good quality Victorian sofa which is covered with brown Rexine (1930s leathercloth) as it is claimed you can paint fabrics with chalk paint. I have some tester pots so I can try it out on the back of the sofa. I've nothing to lose - the Rexine is horrible and this is cheaper than getting it recovered if it works. I need to paint the woodwork of the sofa as well but haven't decided on the exact colours yet. Don't hold your breath though as other personal affairs have to take priority at the moment and singing in three choirs, a couple of other activities every week and holding three committee posts doesn't leave any time for frivolous activities such as painting furniture.
 
Lovely Tweetypie. There are some very talented people on this forum.
I hadn't heard of Annie Sloan either Hen-Gen so you are not alone.
 

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