Paint CansSo just how DO you get that perfect paint finish? Okay, this is quite a big one! Knowing the finish that you are striving for will make all the difference in what materials you use, what will work and play well with other finishes and what sort of prep you need to do.

This subject seems to drain people of confidence in tackling their Shabby Chic projects more than anything else so Iโ€™m going to outline the basic characteristics of the paints that I favour and what I try to stay away from.

Before I get into specifics though, please note that I have no affiliation with any paint companies so if I mention a brand itโ€™s going to be a non biased opinion based on my own experiences.

Right, when it comes to paint the two main groups are oil based and acrylic. Pretty simple? Yes!

Oil Based Paints:

The advantages of oil based paint are that they are generally more durable than acrylics, cover stains better and if a gloss finish is needed, offer a lovely gloss over itโ€™s acrylic counterpart.

The disadvantages are long drying times, smelly solvents in the paint and harsh chemicals needed to clean brushes. As these paints are oil based they tend to yellow prematurely as the oil content discolours over time.
The other disadvantage is that generally you need a good undercoat to get a good finish from an oil based top coat (also true of many acrylics, but weโ€™re getting to that!). The undercoat can be an acrylic primer undercoat to save some drying time but as many oil based finishes are quite translucent a good key and a solid undercoat are essential.
You will find it a little harder with oil based paints to scruff back your edges as you are fighting your way through several layers of tough paint. The other thing that oil based paints do very well (get ready for the nerdy bit!) is coagulate.

When paint is drying the molecules start out as separateโ€ฆ er โ€ฆmolecules! As the drying process takes place these molecules coagulate or clump together and bond to create one big membrane. A cold or damp environment slows or stops this chemical process, which is why paint doesnโ€™t dry so well in the cold, the molecules are all looking for blankets and not getting out there and bonding like they should!

Anyway, the end result is that once your membrane has set, particularly with oil based paints, itโ€™s tougher to scratch back and get that authentic time worn look that suits Shabby Chic pieces so well.

Idyllic Acrylic

In essence, anything that you can clean your brushes out with soap and water after using is an acrylic paint, itโ€™s a fancy way of saying water based.
For many years now paint manufacturers have tried to make their acrylic paints as durable as oil based paints as well as offering the same finish. That said an acrylic gloss will always look a little flatter than a good oil based gloss and acrylic paint is generally less durable, which can be a problem if itโ€™s going in a high traffic area or on something that needs to be scrubbed often.

As a result of this attempt to mimic oil based paints there is a plethora of derivatives to confuse and bemuse! Matt, Satin, Vinyl Matt, Acrylic Eggshell, Estate Eggshell, Kitchen and Bathroom paint, Chalky Matt, Acrylic Gloss, Satinwood, Chalk Paint, Milk Paint and a whole lot more!

Theyโ€™re all acrylic or water based, all look and behave differently and some are a good fit for Shabby Chic furniture and some not so much.
Whatever we paint onto furniture needs to be hard wearing and offer the right finish, therefore I would avoid the types of paints like Matt Emulsion or things that you would use on your walls. They are generally not tough enough and donโ€™t adhere well to non-porous surfaces like varnished wood. Even with a tough wax or varnish over the top these are likely to flake off and look poorly finished.

Generally speaking, Shabby Chic furniture favours a flat matt or eggshell finish as weโ€™re trying to make our projects look old and time worn.

The fact of the matter is that in times gone by, these fancy paints just didnโ€™t exist, nor did much of the wealth of today so if people wanted to paint a cupboard, especially in a place like rural France then often you would have to make your own paint!

This would be done with some colour pigments and a coagulating agent (remember the molecules!) such as milk or chalk mixed up into a liquid that could be painted on. So if we use the latest acrylic gloss, itโ€™s not going to be in keeping with that period look.

Now a couple of companies have really zeroed in on this segment of the market. There are probably lots Iโ€™m not going to mention but the two that I do have experience of here in the UK are Farrow & Ball and Annie Sloan.

I have to say right from the get go that these companies both make great paint, but they are both very different.

Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell is probably the closest thing you will find to an oil-based eggshell with a water cleanupโ€ฆperiod! It offers a great finish and for quite a while it was my go to paint.

Itโ€™s durable as it behaves like a traditional Eggshell but with none of the drawbacks, or so I thought. Actually the very fact that it behaves so much like an oil paint is the reason I changed to another brand for most of my projects. Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell coagulates just like an oil based eggshell, so I would find that when Iโ€™m scrubbing back an edge, large sections of paint would come away at once, almost in a strip. This could spoil the time worn look I was after.
I would also find that it was quite particular about needing an undercoat. Not just any undercoat but a good quality expensive undercoat. If this step wasnโ€™t used then the topcoat could be extremely fragile and chip easily.

Donโ€™t get me wrong F&B is awesome paint but time is money and having to undercoat sometimes twice or more and having a finish that would take a long time to fully harden are pretty big drawbacks for the serial Shabby Chicer. Maybe itโ€™s time to see what else is out there.

Slave To Sloan

Annie Sloan paint was a bit of a buzzword that Iโ€™d been hearing about for quite a while before I decided to seriously look at it. The reason for that is that I thought it was just another brand and not particularly a different type of paint. So what made me jump in and try it? One massive factorโ€ฆno prep needed!

Call me lazy, youโ€™re probably right but I thought if I could save a bunch of time and money with undercoats and primers then the extra cost of the AS chalk paint would be worth it, time to give it a go.

Since using Annie Sloan chalk paint itโ€™s pretty much all I use now and there are several reasons for this.
Firstly it really does go straight on without any prep, no undercoating needed. It also dries very, very quickly to a dead flat finish. It sticks to just about anything including handles and hardware (if you choose to paint them instead of removing them) and even covers waxed pine beautifully.
Some of the light colours may need a couple of coats but often the darker colours go over in one coat, which makes this a very efficient paint to use.
It is still necessary to make sure your base surface is sound as stains can still bleed through but weโ€™ll deal with that in a later chapter.
AS paint dries to give the old finish that suits Shabby Chic and doesnโ€™t seem to bind together as other paints do, so when you are sanding your edges or maybe the odd rogue run, what you get is a fine powder or dust rather than strips of paint being removed.
That said it is less messy if you wax or seal this type of paint before you distress, which leads me on to the only real disadvantage to Annie Sloan paint. You have to seal it with something to make it at all durable. Hey, nothingโ€™s perfect right!

Most people will use a brush or wipe on wax to seal this type of paint, which is easy enough to apply and is quite cheap to buy. It is another step though in the process so you will have to decide if doing away with prep saves you more time than adding wax, for me it does but as I said earlier, all of this is just based on my own experiences, yours may differ.
Even with the added waxing I find that I get through my projects much, much quicker. This means more money any way you cut it. Clean up is also so much easier as this paint washes out more easily than any other paint I have used.
Again, I have no affiliation with any brands and these are just my experiences but I hope they help you to decide which paint is for you so you can go on to improve your profits.

15 Comments

  1. we love your bits and pieces having recentley purchased shabby chic bed and some furniture keen on making bits and bobs to add to we would like to visit to purchase roses swags ect

    • we love your bits and pieces having recentley purchased shabby chic bed and some furniture keen on getting bits and bobs to add to .We would like to visit to purchase roses swags ect.

      • Hi Diane, Thanks for stopping by! Glad you like our items ๐Ÿ™‚ At present, we are only available on the website. Our range can be found on our website, if you need any help, please let me know. Kindest Regards, Sam x

  2. I really love the tips but just some constructive criticism, please try to stay to the point and not entertain.. It becomes so annoying to have to fast forward to try and get to the point and hope you don’t miss something. I am sure you understand with kids yourself, time is precious. Thank you for taking the time to post your knowledge.

  3. Yes stop your waffling & just get to the point !
    LOL seriously I love your blog , its so friendly & informative, & your great personality comes through,
    please don’t change the way you write,
    If people just want to “get to the point” go & buy a book , How rude !!
    Love Rachel xxxx

  4. Jennifer, since you seem to have such a busy life, perhaps you should not have taken the time out of your precious day to post negative comments. We enjoy Sam just the way she is. She is VERY entertaining, she doesn’t just “try” to be. Also you may want to consider that this is a Blog… a web log, or what others call an online DIARY. Just a suggestion, keep your negativity to yourself. Ohhh.. one more thing… have a lovely day. ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. Hi,

    I was wondering if you had tried anything other than annie sloan wax over her paint? I am loving the paint however, prefer it before it is waxed ๐Ÿ™ also any tips for table tops? My Annie Sloan disti told me to use a normal varnish on the top if the table was being used to eat off or needed to be robust (children etc) but I dont like the shiny effect ๐Ÿ™ just wondered what you use ๐Ÿ™‚ l love reading your tips xx

    • Hi Shelley, Thanks for stopping by! If I want a much more Durable finish, I use Polyvine. This is a brush on finish, and is just perfect for the job! You can find it on the Polyvine website, & they also sell it on eBay. I use the Dead Flat Matt finish. Others have used the Satin finish too & been happy with the results.
      Glad you are enjoying my tips & tricks!
      Take care, Sam x (PS if you need any more help, you are welsome to email me directly at sa*@ch***********.com )

  6. Hi Shelley love your blog very clear,wish the computer had been invented when I was younger love shabby chic but never knew how tofinish it [waxing was abit sticky to my thinking,but I could be doing it wrong,even tho I have the AS book]

  7. Hello Sam,
    Thank you for article getting ready to do my own project first time. I do have question what kind of wax do you use and do you cover entire piece of furniture with it or just Angles and corners?

    Thank so much,
    Terri

    • Hi Terri, I’m so glad that you started your own projects, hopefully you’ll enjoy them as much as I do. With regards to the wax I generally use Annie Sloan or Briwax. you should apply wax all over the piece and not just on the edges, sometimes a couple of coats are necessary but this will seal the paint and give it a hard wearing finish. Just be sure to apply it in thin coats in a nice even manner.
      All the best with your project, send me some pics when you are done I’d love to see the finished article.
      Sam

  8. I love your blog and will be trying out AS paint on a breakfast table and chairs for a shabby chic effect. Can the paint be applied with a sprayer? I have young children and was wondering if polyurethane would protect the finish better than wax. Thank you in advance for any suggestions you can provide. ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Hello Sam

    Can I use AS chalk paint as an undercoat to cut out the prep on an old court cupboard ???? & then paint over it with F&B eggshell paint.

    Kind regards
    Ann

  10. How do these two paints compare in terms of cleanability? I need to paint three bathroom vanities and would like to use some variation of chalk paint, and thus far I’ve used only ASCP. One of my projects was on a kitchen cart/island, and with the texture of the wax I’ve found keeping it clean to be rather difficult. In addition I will need to paint the top of one vanity as it’s currently topped with a scratched wood laminate that doesn’t match the other colors in the bathroom, and I’m wondering how the paint and wax will stand up to near-daily use and water splashes. I’ve never used Farrow and Ball but it appears that the finishes offered are more suited to this kind of project, even with the extra steps involved. Any thoughts?

    • Hi Terry

      I’m afraid I have not used Annie Sloan myself (THe old owner wrote this blog). However, I would highly recommend using a tinted varnish (eg polyvine wax finish varnish) instead of wax for items that will need regular cleaning. So much easier to use too! Best of luck. Becky.

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