The Paint!

I started my furniture painting journey when I moved to my dream location by the beach.  

I still loved all of my furniture but it just didn't have the beachy vibe that I was looking for.  I wasn't going to give my furniture away (it had great bones) and then buy new, how silly would that be? Soooo...I came up with the brilliant idea to paint it.  It is a fast moving trend that seems to be happening.

At first I created my own chalk paint, why?

Because basically I am cheap and the name brand paint on the market is not. It satisfied me at first, I was only painting furniture for myself and so it if there were issues with it I could deal with it.  At the time I was still working full time.  Painting was my therapy.  I began to paint everything in site.  Not too many months later a life changing event occurred that caused my to redefine my life and follow a new path.  Part of that path was taking an early retirement from my life long career job and trying to find something else to replace it.  Something that had more flexibility in it. People saw the pieces of furniture in my home that I was painting and began to ask me if I would paint for them too.  This thought was quite daunting as I was really just a beginner.  I thought at that point that I needed a better paint than my homemade brew.  No one around me was selling Annie Sloan and I wasn't going to drive 50 miles round trip for a can so I found a brand nearby.  This brand had minerals in the paint and it was ok at first but I was not really thrilled with it, plus, it had to be waxed!  

Finally a store nearby began selling official chalk paint and that is what I began to use.  I do like chalk paint overall, but again, the waxing was bothersome! Plus, at nearly $40.00 a quart my bottom line was being dinged pretty good!  

So, I began to search on Pinterest.  First I was just looking for a good sealer to use in place of wax, something that was water-based and would provide a nice finish with protection to my pieces.  I soon discovered Rethunkjunkbylaura products.  I started with the Tuff Top Sealer and quickly fell in love.  I then moved on to their paint which is NOT chalk paint.  It has no chalk or minerals in it, at all.  It does not require waxing, EVER!  Can I hear a woot woot and a hallelujah???

So today, not only do I use this paint exclusively on all the furniture that I paint for both myself and others, I also sell it in my shop and now can get it to you through this website as well!  I am going to blog about the different products that Rethunkjunk has created to make your painting life more enjoyable and successful.  First though, I thought you should know the story of why and how I got to this product.  It is also American born and made!  That may be one of my most favorite parts.  It is a family run business from Atlanta!  I am all about supporting small businesses, hey, I am one myself just trying to repurpose, reimagine, and redefine a few things in life.  It's a good journey and one that can be even more colorful with the right paint of course!