DIY Chalk Paint Bed Frame

October 22, 2019 In DIY By Stephanie Sullivan

Hey friends,

This is a project that I have been thinking about for a while… We have been debating getting a new bed, maybe reupholstering the one we have… I knew I didn’t love our bed, but coming up with a solution can be a bit tough. I know, the easy answer is to buy something new… but I was trying to think of ways to renew, rather than buy new in this case.

Below I’ll tell you more about each step in the process, the materials we used and the finish result. I hope this is helpful for you!

Before Pics

Here is a photo of our last bedroom at the old house with this bedroom set. As you can see we sat our mattress on top of the box springs and used a bed skirt to hide the box springs. The main reason we did this is that we have a high mattress with a pillow top and it covered the tufted part of the headboard almost completely.

The process

I get whims and decide this the is the day I’m going to tackle a project… and the bed was on the list. I had several ideas first. #1 I was going to learn how to re-upholster and tuft the headboard with new fabric. That’s hilarious. #2 We were going to buy new bedroom furniture. #3 Why not use chalk paint.

1. Which type of "chalk Paint"?

Here it goes. In the past I’ve used Annie Sloan chalk paint and it works incredibly well and drys fast. BUT for this project I wanted to explore Rustoleum’s brand of chalk paint to compare. So I went with Rustoleum Linen White Chalk paint (link here)

2. Brush Type

It’s best to use this style of brush. It is a natural material and the one I choose was a lot less expensive than the named brands. Give this one a shot!

3. Sanding

I would suggest for any surface with big sheen to use a sponge sander. I used it only on the faux leather part… It had a sheen and wanted to make sure the chalk paint bonded. I had no idea if the chalk paint would work for this part of the headboard… but I thought what do I have to loose. Honeslty this bed is old, worth nothing and couldn’t look any worse than it already does. Haaaa, yes I painted everything, including the nail trim, faux leather, and wood. Here is the sponge sander we used… 220 grit is good for this project.

Here is the 1st Coat…

Here is the 2nd Coat…

4. Chalk Paint on Upholstery?

This is my favorite part… I’m SO SO excited with how the faux leather turned out.. Now it has a matte finish giving it a suede upholstered look. Exactly what this headboard needed. My faux upholstered look that cost me $20!

5. Clear Coat - wax Finish

You can use a matte clear top wax if you’d like to keep the color and keep the paint from scratching off your furniture piece. I wanted to give this bed frame a contrast and went with a dark wax top coat on the wood from Annie Sloan.

Matte Wax Clear

Annie Sloan Dark Wax

For the wax you can use the same brush that I mentioned earlier or use a small rag/towel. I used a small rag/towel to apply the wax. Make sure to wear hand gloves since wax can be a bit messy… and I applied with wiping on and smoothing in. It ended up creating a reclaimed/antiqued effect.

6. Last Step

We removed the box spring and put the mattress on the slats allowing the legs/frame to be exposed. I love this look so much better! We tried a couple of options for slats, but it is tough because the bed is SOOO big. We ended up buying this great product by Zinus Deepak... it is a metal frame with wood slats. Really stable, even on a big King bed!

Chalk Paint Love!

We’re so happy with our “new” bed and it really makes our room have a different feel now! It’s amazing what a little bit of paint can do. Now the next project is dying the carpet…. Seriously, my husband wants to! Haha… the tone is all wrong and too brown/beige.

Thanks for reading friends and hope you feel encouraged to tackle a piece of furniture or even your bed!

Xoxo

Stephanie

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Hi, I’m Stephanie!

Wife. Mother of 4. Designer. Sharing styling inspiration and home decor tips. Thank you for stopping by, and please say hi if you have any feedback!

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