Chalk Paint in the Bathroom.

I am going to explain what I use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for

and what I don't.

I have found it useful for plastic:

This gold mirror looked fine,
but upon a closer look...

I scared myself when I realized I'd forgotten to put make-up on today.

Okay, that's not really what I was going to say,

although true.

What I realized was that it wasn't wood, like I thought,
but cleverly disguised plastic over the top of wood.

And the gold was peeling terribly
whenever I touched it.

So I opened some Annie Sloan Antibes Green
and Old White paint...

and sloppily painted the green on.
Recklessly?
Haphazardly?
I can't think of the right word:
I just didn't get into all the grooves of the detail.

I then watered down some of the Old White,
and painted a wash over the green.

I painted a second coat of the Old White
just on the plain part of the rim.

After it had dried for a day
(I find it doesn't scratch off non-metal items as easily before waxing
if you give adequate drying time)
I applied clear Fiddes and Sons wax
and then buffed that when it dried.

Waxing seems to really seal the paint:
I tried scratching and rubbing on it in several places
and it would not come off.

It looks right at the top of the stairway over the cupboard I painted.

Now it is green plastic.

Is that an oxymoron?

Another item I thought I'd try was my toilet paper holder in the

upstairs bathroom.

I love this independent stand...

but after a few years of use,
it was getting ugly
(not sure whether the shower humidity
or the abuse of successive toddlers had wreaked havoc to it,
but it was wearing on me to see it).


I got out Annie Sloane chalk paint in Graphite,
and painted a coat.

I had to be careful because unlike the thermos metal
which seemed to have a bit of a rough feel to it,
this metal was smooth,
and when I ran a fingernail on it,
it scratched off easily.


However, I've found with this chalk paint
that a second coat makes it much more stable,
so after I painted a second coat,
it wasn't so easy to scratch.



Once I applied two coats of the wax,
buffing them inbetween coats
and using some Rugger brown wax in one of the coats
 

to add a bit of color contrast to it,
it was ready for use.


I've had it painted for about two months now,
and I've checked it for any scratching
since my kids will certainly test the wear of any item.

I'm happy to say,
it has held up in a superior way,
and I'm superiorly happy to have a "new" toilet paper holder.


Oh, the things that make us happy.

This week,
I'll finish this topic with what I don't use chalk paint for,

the kind of paintbrushes I use to paint it,

why I think it's essential for some projects,

how long a can of chalk paint lasts,

and a few projects I plan on testing it with in the future.

(Okay, well, maybe I'll have to do two more posts.)

Linking up to:

Shades of Amber