One of the most amazing things about the Amy Howard at Home© One Step Paint™ is that it also doubles as Chalkboard paint! The main ingredient that sets our paint apart from all others is calcium bicarbonate, otherwise known as chalk!

I thought what better way to display all of the invaluable uses for our One Step Paint™ than with a multi-purpose piece of furniture for a child’s room. I decided to give a classic pine toy chest a special makeover with our naturally non-toxic product! With this particular project I chose a chest large enough to hold the entire alphabet.

Every project deserves a fresh start. Grab a handful of lint free rags and our brand new product, Amy Howard at Home© Clean Slate™ to remove all the evidence of use that has built up over the years! From wax and grime to dirt and grease it literally gives you a clean slate to start painting on.

I decided to get really creative and mix a custom color for this special project. Equal parts Lady Singing the Blues™, A Good Man is Hard to Find™ and French Blue™ came together beautifully. Stir all the colors together until a brand new seamless color appears.

Using and the Amy Howard at Home© synthetic tapered brush load just the tip with the custom color and offload excess paint on edge of can. With long clean strokes apply a ‘not too thick’ layer of paint onto the entirety of your project. Overlap each stroke to smooth out the previous stroke.

I allowed each application to dry for at least 30 minutes and then repeated the painting and drying process until full coverage was obtained. With some surfaces you may need to sand with a 1000 grit sandpaper between coats.

After your last coat has dried for a couple of hours, it is time to ‘season’ your new chalkboard chest before use. Simply lay your chalk long-side down and shade entire surface with a full layer of chalk. This crucial step preps your surface for years of use without blemish.

Gently wipe leftover dust away with a lint free rag, leaving a beautiful chalky base behind.

I decided to freehand a special alphabet design on my chest. A great artist’s tip is to always hold your chalk at an angle and layout a faint outline of your design first. The good news is that you can always start over if you don’t like it!

I decided to freehand a special alphabet design on my chest. A great artist’s tip is to always hold your chalk at an angle and layout a faint outline of your design first. The good news is that you can always start over if you don’t like it!