"White Raisin" End table

People always ask me if I have a go-to brand or certain kind of paint I use on my pieces. The truth is, I use all kinds of paint! I tend to lean more towards chalk or milk paints for my pieces but I often browse the oops paint aisle in Home Depot or Lowe's for colors I can appreciate. For this piece, I found a color match for "White Raisin" by Sherwin Williams in Behr. 

For latex paints I always use a homemade chalk paint recipe. When using latex, I find that flat or matte is best to work with, especially when distressing and trying to smooth out brush strokes. My homemade recipe is:

1 cup (8 oz) latex paint

4 tlbs calcium carbonate

1 tlbs warm water

*Mix the water and calcium carbonate first, then mix into your paint.

I picked up this piece at a local thrift store, and it was in awesome shape. I knew I wanted to give it a country farmhouse look so I settled on a stained top and and a distressed base. We filled the existing pull holes and drilled out a single knob hole per drawer.

I chose General Finishes "Java Gel" for the top with a high gloss polyurethane. Because this piece was a soft wood, the one thin coat was absurd and appeared super-dark, nearly black. To the point where I panicked and thought I'd have to start over. But I just went over with a 220 sanding block and it lifted some of the stain leaving me with a comfortable shade. 

I think a lot of people are afraid of using latex paint because they are afraid the finish isn't the same as a chalk or milk paint. I find that sometimes, latex is easier to work with and as long as you do the prep that is required highly recommended, then your finish will always be smooth and beautiful. White Raisin turned out to be this beautiful, buttery lemon color that just makes you happy.

See? Barely any brush strokes visible!

For the drawers, the knobs were replaced with jute round knobs, and the liner is this really cool old-time balloon and gear gift wrap that I found at world market. Sometimes, the liner just makes the piece. In this case, it compliments it really well. Hope you enjoyed this transformation!