How to Refurbish a Wood Bookcase with Chalk Spray Paint

I think it’s obvious that I love to paint furniture.  From milk paint to acrylic paint, it seems that I’ve tried them all.  One type of paint I’ve been itching to try that I haven’t yet is chalk spray paint. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this stuff, so when I was trying to figure out what medium to use to paint an old faux wood bookshelf, I decided I would give a little chalk spray paint a go! I’m going to share my review and my experience of a faux  wood bookcase refurbish with chalk spray paint.

Let me show you a few before photos of this sad bookcase.

I’m not a fan of painting real wood, but when it comes to painting faux wood, anything is game!

Since I’ve heard mixed reviews about chalk spray paint, I decided to paint a bookcase that I wasn’t super attached to.

This way if the end product wasn’t to my liking, it would be no big deal to refinish.

Below is an affiliate link with the can of spray paint that I used. I fell in love with the color because it’s a grayish navy color. I felt like it would blend perfectly with the rest of my decor.

Here’s what I did next;

• • The first thing you need to do whenever you’re considering refinishing any piece of furniture is to clean the surface. I wiped all surfaces down with a rag and then after it dried, I made sure there was no dust.
  • I lightly sanded it with a fine grit sandpaper
  • Make sure you shake the can of spray paint to ensure that you get an even mixture
  • Start spray painting!
  • See how even the mixture sprays! So far I’ve been really impressed with it!

  • 
  • I sprayed two  full coats of chalk spray paint
  • Make sure both coats dry completely
  • Finish it with a chalk wax or a clear coat. My personal choice is Minwax Polycrylic water based in Satin top coat. My affiliate link with the product is shown below:

You can use a furniture wax, but I have found that the furniture wax does not hold up as well to continued use with lots of little hands (my kids) touching it.

• I used a brush to paint the bookcase with two coats of the top coat.

And that’s it!

I did have a few points I wanted to mention about using spray chalk paint versus the real chalk paint.

1. Regular chalk paint does not have an odor and is safe to use inside. The spray chalk paint, however, needs to be used in a well ventilated outdoor area. Like any spray paint, it has a very strong odor and is quite toxic.
2. Most of the spray chalk paint I’ve seen runs at least $5 per can. If you are planning on painting a lot of furniture, it would be more cost effective to buy regular chalk paint and not the spray can form of chalk paint.
3. I do love not having to worry about using or cleaning paint brushes!
4. Spraying the finish on was much quicker than painting it on!
5. I think the spray chalk paint did create a little smoother finish than if I had painted chalk paint on to the bookcase.
6. The spray paint did not seem as thick as the regular chalk paint. I do worry that this means that the paint will chip more easily. Time will tell.

Bottom line; The spray chalk paint was a quicker, maybe even a little smoother, method in comparison to using a regular old paint brush and can. The spray chalk paint is, however, more costly.

If you liked this post I would love for you to pin the picture below to Pinterest!

Thanks for stopping by y’all and I hope my experience with using chalk spray paint has enlightened you and sparked an interest to repurpose or up cycle something of your own!

To see more furniture projects like this head on over {here}.

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Lindsey**