Heels’ Guide To Painting Over Illegal Orange Pine.

There are gazillions of You Tube tutorials on how to paint furniture using chalk paint, and I’ll share with you here, how I do it. My way might not be ‘right’, but I promise it works!
I always use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and wax. (Yes you do need the wax) the wax comes in two colours, I use the Clear wax. (The other type is Dark Wax and it gives a more ‘aged’ look)
So to start with, you need:
Orange Pine. Illegal Orange Pine as I call it – Or any furniture you want to paint.

I usually squint a bit, so I can see if I like the shape. The Shape is the important bit. This table cost me £10 in Oxfam
Paint. Have a look online for your nearest stockist and if you are painting something small, a test pot will be fine! (you know my little stool I put the radio on? That’s done with a test pot. You can even paint a small chair with a test pot)
Brush. I have a proper Annie Sloan brush, but a normal paint brush is fine! (you can apply the wax with a brush too if you like)
A jug of water. Sometimes the paint goes really thick – especially of the lid has been off for a while, or if it is a hot day. If it does, pour in some water and give it a stir to loosen it up. You might need to do it more than once.
Preparation. None.  Get rid of any cobwebs or loose flaky bits of paint, and any dust. Apart from that, no sanding is required. (if you google what this stuff can paint over, it’s amazing! I painted a leather topped card table and it came out fine!)
Start painting!Give it all a coat of paint (it dries really fast) If you are apinting a chair, turn it upside down after you have done the first coat and you’ll see all the bits you’ve missed. Chairs are the worst.
(oh yes, and I have an old plastic table cloth that I use to cover the floor – or the table if I am painting on the table)
I usually do at least a couple of coats. Bear in mind that you will be sanding after its painted  so it needs a really good coating. Also, old varnish sometimes grins through – especially if you are painting over old varnished mahogony. So definitely give your piece a few coats.
A note on edges. If you are after a distressed look and want to sand back to a different colour other than wood, I’d paint all the edges in the different colour (saves all the faff of painting the whole thing that colour first) Then take a photo of where you painted, so you know where to sand, otherwise it’ll be lost under the top coat.
When you are happy that you have painted enough, or when you are just bored of painting and losing the will to live, it’s time to sand!Just make sure the paint is totally dry. Have a cuppa.
Sand Paper. Fine to medium. Too coarse and you’ll end up scratching the paint, and the point is to soften the brush marks and gently distress any areas. The areas I go for are natural areas of wear. Edges and corners for instance.But beauty is in the eye of the beholder so if you fancy more, do more! If it’s looking too distressed, paint over it!
You can see how powdery the paint goes. (most tutorials will say ‘paint, wax, sand, wax’ here we differ. I have always done it in this order – paint, sand, wax.  It’s always worked for me, and besides, I HATE painting, waxing and sanding and just want the finished result asap!



After you have given everywhere a light sand, and distressed the parts you want to – or not – you can just have a blanket coverage if shabby chic isn’t for you – it’s time to get rid of all the dust.
I just hoover it with the brush attachment.
Now the last bit! Wax.
You’ll need a clean cotton cloth or two. One for waxing and one for buffing.
Ideally I’d use an old white cotton shirt – but this happens to be a t shirt,
If you use a coloured t shirt, you might end up with coloured fibers from the cloth, buffed in to the wax on whatever you are waxing and you’ll never get them out.
Here’s a pic of the table half waxed so you can see the difference.

Once everywhere is waxed, it’s time to get the elbow grease out and buff to a shine. It really gives a fab result- I concentrated more on buffing the flat surfaces here, and less on the legs as they are fiddly, but everywhere had a good coat of wax. You can easily see any bits you miss as the paint will still look all chalky and dry.
That’s it! I find the wax takes a day or two to really harden off, so if you are thinking it feels a bit tacky after you have buffed, don’t worry, it’ll sort itself out.
And guess what – after that, it’s waterproof!
Here is the best bit of all. You wash the brush in water. Yay! And if you forget for a few hours, it doesn’t matter! Yay again! Left the lid off? Add water and stir.
It’s pretty much fool proof.
Good luck with your project!
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24 Thoughts on Heels’ Guide To Painting Over Illegal Orange Pine.
    Karan Sheahan
    16 Jun 2016
    6:53pm

    Love the post but love your paint pot pose more:) you are one funny lady:) xxxxx

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:28am

      Haha I’ve been practicing paint pot poses ???

    Lisa Groves
    16 Jun 2016
    7:04pm

    Good post. Pretty much what I have done and, like you, i don’t sand after waxing…..too impatient! The table looks lovely….like that colour. So far have only tried old white (think that’s the name!) But keen to try more!

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:42am

      I love old white too – it’s such a useful colour isn’t it ?? glad we do it the same !

    Stacey
    16 Jun 2016
    8:40pm

    Thanks for this, I’ve been wanting to have a go at it for a while and now feel inspired to just have a bash! Love the blog x

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:43am

      That’s brill! Good luck with your project ! It’s a bit addictive ? Thankyou xxx

    Fiona
    16 Jun 2016
    8:42pm

    Does it ever wear off and need re doing ? Love it ?

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:30am

      Not really, but if you ever want to refresh it, you just paint straight over it. I’ve never redone anything though as it lasts really well, maybe I have the odd tea or coffee cup mark – really ought to be grown up and use a coaster. ???

      Fiona
      17 Jun 2016
      8:53am

      I’m going to give it a go ! Want to find something small to start on ?

    Jo
    16 Jun 2016
    8:46pm

    Love it, especially love your paint tin opener 😉 very glam xx

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:27am

      Oh yes, you know me? it is also a screwdriver-obvs ???

    Carole
    16 Jun 2016
    8:57pm

    Always loved AS….BUT loving fusion mineral paint more…!!! ?

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:26am

      I’ll have to investigate! Xx

        Carole
        17 Jun 2016
        5:13pm

        Me being the kind of person who likes to upcycle AND have time for a cheeky little number from the shady side of the vineyard…….it’s a LOT easier and NO waxing…..see if you can find a stockist and if you can’t find someone who WILL ??? x

    Helen Johnson
    16 Jun 2016
    9:17pm

    Well done Sally looks great! You’ll put me out of business! Another tip for you , you can distress with baby wipes. This won’t work as well with the two colours as it will take off the under colour too but it works really well when using one colour and not as scratchy as sandpaper. ( or as dusty) nice to see Im not the only one who uses cutlery to stir my paint.?

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:26am

      Ooh I’ll definitely try that! Thanks! And lol ? always the best cutlery ???

    Diana
    17 Jun 2016
    8:14am

    Looks great. Thanks for the post. Only used chalk paint once. I’ll definitely be using your tips next time.

    Fiona moss
    17 Jun 2016
    8:29am

    Does the paint rub off at all with wear ? ?

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      8:31am

      Ooh that’s odd I thought I’d replied! No it doesn’t is the short answer, but if you ever want to refresh it you just paint straight over xxxx

    Jan O
    17 Jun 2016
    10:24pm

    Sally you have made that look so easy I now have absolutely no excuse for giving this a try.
    Thank you – you are a star – twinkle twinkle ?

      GettingStuffDoneInHeels
      17 Jun 2016
      10:41pm

      I promise it is easy! It’s so nice when it’s all done ! That’s the best bit! Xxx ?

    Margaret McCormack
    9 Apr 2017
    2:38pm

    I need to repaint my entire kitchen units this week and next. Would this workind on very very much used kitchen cupboards?
    Thanks

      Sally
      9 Apr 2017
      7:55pm

      Hi Margaret – yes it would! It paints over anything! Good luck! xx

    Liz
    29 Jan 2021
    6:32pm

    Thanks so much for this. It sounds so easy and so fun too. I’m feeling armed and dangerous…!

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