Love that layered paint look,  but don’t know how to get it? This post is for you! One of my most popular tutorials on YouTube has been a color washing technique.  I did it with General Finishes Milk Paint in a few different color combinations, and it was always one of my favorite looks.

I’ve gotten the question several times if it could be done with Chalk Paint.  I decided to pull out my Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint and give it a try.  The technique is slightly different (I’ll explain why here in a minute) but still gives a gorgeous layered paint look.  It’s so easy to achieve, but it’s one of those finishes that looks really complicated.  

Here’s the buffet I’m starting with.  I’ve always wanted a big gorgeous buffet like this, so I made this over and decided to keep it! It’s solid wood (heavy as all) but sturdy and just ready for a little refresh.  

This post contains affiliate links to help you find the products I’m using in this post.  Dixie Belle sent me free product to complete this project.  Purchasing from any of these links pays me a small commission.  To see my full disclosure policy, click here. 

Supplies for the Layered Paint Look: 

• Peacock Chalk Paint

• Palmetto Chalk Paint

• In the Navy Chalk Paint

• Brush

• Mister Water Bottle

• Hemp Oil

• rag or old t-shirt

• paper towels

How to Get the Layered Look:

After cleaning the buffet really well, I painted it one coat of Peacock Chalk Paint.  I only did one coat so it looked a bit streaky, and some of the wood was still showing through.  I wanted this though, it only helps add dimension to our layers!  

When the Peacock was dry, I used the mister bottle and sprayed the piece with water.  Not so it was soaking wet, but so there was an even layer of mist.  I then added Palmetto.  The water helps the paint move around on the chalk paint, it’s not just sitting in one spot, it allows it to move around so you can get an even layer of paint. 

Once that is dry, I misted the piece again and this time added In the Navy.  You can add each color as heavy or as light as you like, this is completely up to you and the look you are going for.  For some reason I am always drawn to this technique using aquas and blues, but you could do it with any color combination.  I always start with the brightest color and tone it down/darker with each layer. 

How to Distress Naturally:

One of the wonderful things about chalk paint is that you can re-activate it and use this to your advantage in the first 24 hours or so.  Since we are adding so many layers and water, the paint is re-activated which allows it to wet distress very naturally.  

Some of this will occur just with the friction of the brush as you are adding your layers.  You can also help the process along with a dry paper towel. This makes distressing really easy, and makes it look super natural.

Using Hemp Oil:

Hemp Oil is like magic in a bottle.  I’ve used it several times to restore old steamer trunks, it’s a great solution any time you have old, dry wood and need to polish it up.  I chose to leave these legs the natural wood tone, I love the contrast it gives to the bright paint color.  I cleaned the legs first, then took an old t shirt and applied the hemp oil.  

You can see immediately what a difference it makes.  As it soaks in and dries, it becomes less shiny.  You can apply multiple coats to increase the shine, or just one for a bit of a polished look.  

Once the hemp oil is applied, let it dry and come back to buff it after a while.  

The finished result is this beauty:

I love how the layered finish looks like water, it’s got depth and interest while still showing off the beautiful color. I chose some knobs I had left over from other projects, they were just the right bit of fun. 

I’m going to use this piece as a media stand in our basement.  It will hold games, electronics, and be a bright happy pop the basement needs (basement makeover on deck later this summer).  See? The layered paint look is so easy!  

What color combo would you use?

Until next time,
Jenni