Chalk Paint Comparison

Do you keep a journal? Well if you read mine it would go something like this:

(Date)  "I haven't written for a while..."

The next entry would start like this:

(3 months later) "Wow, it's been a while..."

Then maybe I have a few consecutive entries and again:

(a year later) "Well, since the last time I wrote I got pregnant and now have another baby!"

Needless to say, I have a history of not keeping a regular habit of writing anything.

I REFUSE to start this blog with another comment about how

"Wow, it's been a while..."

So I will just pick up where I left off and catch up with some projects I did a few months ago.

I have been following the Chalk Paint trend since it first found it's way onto the web. I have been right there with everyone else and said 

"It sounds too good to be true"

And then I tried it. 

I broke down and sold cookies on the street corner to earn the money and bought it! (ok, I didn't really sell cookies...but it sounded good, eh?)

I join with those who blog because we blog and not because anyone is paying me to do so. 

If that were the case I'd be sittin in a cardboard box typing this on my "speak-and-spell."

Before I get to the details of how I feel about chalk paint, let me briefly tell you a few things about me. I am a professional. I have been doing custom finishes on walls, ceilings, floors, cabinetry and furniture for about 12 years now. I have spent a LOT of money to take classes on the use of various products and have found that there is definitely something to be said for good quality products, there is usually a reason they are expensive. I have also been a struggling homemaker who has this huge desire to make my home beautiful and fun and decorated with little to no money to work with. I get the need to use what I have and go with "cheap" because I had to for many years. Now, my name is at stake. Now, my business depends on quality, or I don't get jobs. Another HUGE factor is time. Soo, after all of that, here are my thoughts on Chalk paint, in particular, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

A few months ago I had the perfect opportunity to put Chalk Paint up against a paint I had been hearing about from other bloggers. It is the new paint that Home Depot offers that is a paint and primer in one latex paint. I figured maybe it would be great and maybe I would love it.

I have a client that I've been working with for months as we have transformed her house room by room. We needed some tables for her new office/craft room and used one she already had, one that I had in my inventory, and one that I found and had modified just for her. Perfect, I would use chalk paint and the new paint and primer in one.

Green table: 

Top painted with 3 coats of the paint and primer, and then the stencil pattern and light wash done with ASCP. The legs were painted with ASCP. The whole thing got a coat of poly to help seal it up nice. 

Orange tables:

Corner table top done with ASCP. The long one done in the P&P. 

Details done with ASCP. Poly on everything.

So here's my opinion:

Both paints work.

I did not prime before using either paint.

P&P from HDepot took at least 3 times as long to dry, which slowed me down substantially.

Luckily, I had plenty of areas I was painting with chalk paint to keep me busy the whole time while I was waiting for the other to dry. 

I used about 1/3 less chalk paint than I did the other paint. 

Considering that I painted much more area with the Chalk paint, that is also significant. 

The cost of Annie Sloan is twice what I paid for the P&P, but I will get more out of the Chalk Paint. Besides the fact that it covers better, ASCP dries in a fraction of the time. For me, time is money. Saving the money on the paint, and then spending twice the time to get the job done doesn't have much value to me.

I sand in between coats to get a nice smooth finish. Chalk paint sands smooth in MUCH less time than the P&P. If time wasn't a factor and I wanted to wait a day in-between coats I'm sure I would like the way the P&P sanded, but for me, time is money and I didn't have the luxury of taking multiple days to get the job done. 

After all was said and done, I put an extra coat of poly on the P&P because latex always seems to dry softer than what I prefer, and since this is a table top, I wanted the extra assurance. This would be another factor in the cost breakdown. 

BOTTOM LINE:

If I was a homemaker doing a project for myself and was on a tight budget, I would get the Paint and Primer in one from HD and patiently take 2 days to do the project. I would like it, it would be inexpensive and would do the job.

I put my business on the line every time I use a product and hope that it lives up to what it is supposed to do. I have yet to be disappointed with ASCP, which happens to be the one I use the most. There are other brands, and homemade recipes, but that is a whole 'nuther post, for a whole 'nuther day! 

I hope this helped.

Soon I will have a post about the famous Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. 

Can't wait to show you!

Can I just say as a ending thought...

I'm so glad that there are brave, intelligent women in the world willing to put themselves out there, willing to try, and fail, and try again so that we can have such amazing products to make out lives happier! They inspire me to keep chasing my dreams!

Thank you Annie, and Marian, and all of you amazing women bloggers who have changed the world with your crafty, witty, entertaining, and informative posts.

If we only knew how much we influence people we have never met.

What a thought.

Happy day to Y'all!