Upcycling with Chalk Paint

Anyone who enjoys DIY knows how much fun it is to go "on the hunt" to rescue old treasures whose beauty is often only revealed at second glance. With chalk paints and chalk varnish, you can turn them into jewellery again - here you can find out what you should bear in mind when tackling your upcycling project.

Table of content

1. Upcycling: Before and After pictures from our prank community
2. Upcycling means doing it yourself
3. Get creative with chalk paint for furniture
4. Upcycling works with everything
5. Pre-treatment of your workpiece
6. Painting furniture with chalk paint or varnish - what you need

Upcycling: Before and After pictures from our prank community

Do you fancy giving an old family heirloom or your flea market find a new look and are looking for ideas and inspiration? Our MissPompadour prank community has already tried out some exciting upcycling ideas

Upcycling means doing it yourself

The term upcycling is made up of two English words, namely "up" and "recycling". And that means nothing other than not throwing away objects that are considered useless, but rather making them usable again by modifying and embellishing them.

Incidentally, this doesn't just work with old treasures. You can also use chalk paint to change and embellish a boring chest of drawers from the great Swede or a visually outdated kitchen and turn it into a piece of jewellery again - your very own, individual piece of jewellery.

We at MissPompadour have been doing this for many years. We have tested many chalk paints, tried a lot and invested a lot of work to develop our own range of chalk paints and water-based paints and varnishes. Only the best, the most durable, the easiest to apply and, of course, the most environmentally friendly chalk paints have been included in our range. We want to help you achieve a great result - for us, this includes not only easy-to-apply colours that save you sanding in most cases and high-quality tools, but also advice and support for your project

Get creative with chalk paints for furniture

MissPompadour offers a large selection of chalk paints. Chalk paints are particularly suitable for upcycling projects. The tiny chalk particles lie gently on the surface, creating a very special matt, slightly rustic look. And this look is particularly suitable for giving old furniture a new look.

In the CosyColours Collection you will find more than 30 beautiful, mostly pastel colour shades. The colour scheme ranges from soft, rather warm shades of blue and grey to natural, friendly greens. A balanced range of neutral colour shades such as various white or beige tones allows you to create a cosy, comfortable ambience with chalk paint. Some intense, dark, warm colour shades such as a dark brown, a mysterious green, a sophisticated anthracite and an almost black anthracite round off the colour scheme.

The child-friendly LittlePomp chalk paint collection also consists of chalk-based varnishes. Child-psychological aspects were taken into account when selecting its 15 colour shades. It was also particularly important to us that the colours are completely harmless to health. They are water-based and contain no solvents. This means that they (like our other colours) can be used by pregnant women without any problems and do not release any volatile compounds indoors where babies and small children live.

If you are looking for an even wider range of matt varnish colour shades, take a look at the MissPompadour Matt Varnish variant. These also wonderfully velvety matt paints do not contain chalk, but still combine all the good properties of chalk paint. They are available in over 90 colours.

Upcycling works with everything

Actually, all old furniture can be upcycled. Whether it's the cot in which your parents and you spent the first years of your life, or an old wooden chest of drawers to be used as a changing table, you can also breathe new life into a charming flea market find with a fresh coat of chalk paint. But even furniture that isn't that old, so-called "off-the-peg furniture", which may offer practical storage space but otherwise doesn't look good, can be given a more interesting look with a coat of chalk paint.

You'll be surprised how a coat of chalk paint can transform a boring piece of furniture into an individual eye-catcher. Don't be put off by the plastic veneers that are usually found on these pieces of furniture. If you follow a few tips, this material can also be treated with chalk paint

Pre-treatment of your workpiece

Once you have your workpiece at home, start by cleaning it thoroughly. It is best to use our mild but effective To Clean cleaner. This also removes old grease. While you're at it, give your workpiece a thorough inspection: Does anything need to be filled or repaired? Is the old varnish chipping in places and should you sand it down? Can hinges and handles still be used? Then comes the moment when you look at the furniture objectively, when you try to grasp its true character and choose the right colour.

Is the surface very smooth - are there plastic or stone surfaces? Or are you worried that the wood might bleed? Then prime it with our MissPompadour Primer To Bond & Block and then start painting with the chalk paint. Apply the colour twice, even if the first coat covers well. The look of the chalk paint will then really come into its own and your paint will be fully hard-wearing. That's DIY. And it gives us so much pleasure and satisfaction that you can almost become addicted to it

Painting furniture with chalk paint - what you need

If you find flaking old paint on your furniture, you will need to sand it. MissPompadour To Sand or even a sanding machine are then required. Intact varnishes can simply be painted over with the chalk varnish.

You should apply a primer to all smooth surfaces, including raw or stained wood that could bleed, as well as to heavy stains on the substrate. MissPompadour To Bond & Block is ideal for this. Of course, you will also need a brush and paint roller for your project. The great plastic-free and reusable paint tray from MissPompadour also makes your work easier.

To choose the right colour shade for your chalk paint, it's best to order the colour cards. The LittlePomp colour cards and CosyColours colour samples are hand-painted and not only show you all the colour shades of the chalk paint, but also give you the opportunity to feel the feel of the paint. The colour cards from the Just paint Collection come in a practical postcard format and can be removed individually.

If you would like to further stabilise the surfaces, you can seal the paint with our colourless Wax-Polish at the end. The matt finish of the chalk paint is thus largely retained. If you need an extremely durable surface, we recommend using MissPompadour To Seal