Easy Chalk Paint Recipe | For Beginners

Simple chalk paint recipe to make your own chalk style paint at home. Along with an easy solution to mixing paint with no hassle and little clean up. 

It seems like this was the year to paint everything. We’ve painted the living room, dining room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. So instead of buying new bedroom furniture, we decided to paint our existing furniture to match.

Basically we wanted to fall in love with what we already have! Chalk paint was our go to, but the colors we found available to us were not the colors we wanted for our bedroom. So we decided to do a little research and make our own chalk style paint at home. 

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WHAT IS CHALK PAINT

You may already know that the chalk paint brand was made by Annie Sloan. I would love to tell you that I’ve tried her amazing paint, but I haven’t. Like most other people I usually buy what’s readily available to me and that meant other brands with their own chalk style paint like Behr, Rust-Olem and Kilts. Throw a little milk paint in there and we have our tested and loved paints. 

What makes chalk paint so popular is its matte chalky finish and ability to paint over just about anything without much prep involved. 

But when our local store didn’t have the color I wanted already made in a chalk style paint, I decided it was time to make our own.

CHALK PAINT RECIPE

I was looking for our own specific colors and an easy recipe to get the chalk style look we were going for. Matte finish with a chalky feel all with little prep work. 

• Latex Paint
• Water 
• Calcium Carbonate

Calcium Carbonate is the main component found in chalk and can be found fairly easily on Amazon. 

CHALK PAINT MEASUREMENTS

Using one quart of latex paint

We used one quart of matte latex paint in superior blue. 

• 1 quart matte latex paint
• 16 TBS Calcium Carbonate
• 8-10 TBS water

We decided to use a 48oz glass jar that was once holding our dill pickles. It was the perfect size for adding the other ingredients with a little extra room to mix the paint. 

Add a couple TBS of calcium carbonate at a time mixing in between to make sure not to get any lumps.

But you know, I had a thought… how can I mix this properly without the mess? Something I had on hand that could easily be cleaned and used again. And then it hit me, my old hand mixer.

We attached one of the ends to our drill and voila, perfect tool to mix chalk paint with something most people have on hand. 

1 Pint Chalk Paint Recipe

• 2 cups latex paint
• 8 TBS calcium carbonate 
• 4-6 TBS water

1 Cup Chalk Paint Recipe

• 1 cup latex paint
• 4 TBS calcium carbonate
• 1-2 TBS water

Why don’t you have an exact measurement for the water?

It’s going to depend on what you’re painting. For this project we used an old bookcase. The first coat I applied covered everything but was a tad thick. After adding another 2 TBS of water it was thinner and easy to apply. 

However, there are different factors to consider. One of being the brand of paint you buy. If you’ve ever painted your entire house… you start to notice which paint brands go on smoother. 

Start with the lesser amount for the water and adjust from there. 

Can I save this paint for later?

We sure have. We made sure to mix and store them in an air tight container in a cool dry place. In our case old glass jars and lids that we were saving for a project just like this. 

Is it exactly the same as other chalk style paint?

No, I would’t say it is. It gives a chalky texture and a chalky feel but it’s not an exact match. For us, we wanted the color we were looking for while trying to stick to a budget. This was a good compromise and I’m happy with the results. 

Do I need to seal it with a wax?

Yes, you should. Since this is a bookcase it will get a lot of use with books sliding in and out. We used a clear wax for this project but we have also used a sealer/wax spray paint in other projects. 

The wax you apply yourself was a tad easier to keep track of where you had already gone over and where you haven’t.

What’s so amazing about painting old piece is that you stop looking at what it is, and start looking at what it could become. 

Before, this bookcase was tired, worn, and really not much to look at, but now I love it! It’s a solid piece of furniture that just needed a second chance and a little DIY style chalk paint. 

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