To prove the "no preparation" part to myself, it tested it on a 20 year-old Target stool that I had been wanting to paint black. The stool originally had a hard, shiny finish but damned if two coats of the paint didn't cover it completely. I loved that I didn't have to sand or strip before I painted - you just get out the paint brush and start painting.
The paint is designed to be used with Annie Sloan Soft Wax (not cheap either!) - you let the paint cure for about 24 hours and then wax the finish. I love the wax too! It is so soft and unlike some other expensive wax, it doesn't stink. In fact I went quite crazy waxing every piece of furniture in sight.
So.....I have these railings on my stairs that I've hated for 20 years - they just scream '80s. The hard, shiny finish clashes with my rug and the furniture on the landing. I did some research on what I'd have to do to stain them a better color and it turned out to be more work than I'd consider - strip, bleach, restain, refinish...no. Then I thought about having the railings removed and replaced with simple black wrought iron. That would involve finding someone to remove them and probably repairing drywall and paint. And, some day I might do that.
But, in the meantime, it occurred to me that this might be a perfect place for chalk paint. For $40, what did I have to lose? If I didn't like it, I could always go to the iron railing plan.
I checked the paint swatches and Annie Sloan Old White is the perfect complement to Benjamin Moore Linen White.
The before and after:
I'm so pleased with the results! Even though it took three coats, I used less than a pint of the paint. They're "curing" right now and tomorrow I'll follow up with a coat of wax.
