Chalk Painters Tips To Stay Creative During Quarantine

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Covid-19 Impacting Everyone’s Way Of Life

Everyone right now is adjusting to a new way of living during the Covid-19 pandemic! This tiny virus has the world turned upside down. Life as we knew it before Covid-19 has grind to a halt at least for a while. Most of us in the U.S. at least are under Stay-At-Home orders, from either state or local communities. Many are sheltering in place for an unknown time period! So, I have some top tips for chalk painters that can help you stay creative during this time!

While I blog about chalk painting, I also work full-time in healthcare. So I see this pandemic from both sides of the aisle. I am so grateful to those working in the hospitals. And to those on the front lines of the war with this virus that are our current heroes. I would never therefore want to make light of this pandemic and its impact on our current life and world.

And our most important objective is to focus on staying healthy. But, I’m not going to talk about ways to keep yourself and your family healthy. For this information I encourage you to use the CDC website! However, I am going to cover some tips on how we as chalk painters can stay creative during these stay-at-home orders. Because having a creative outlet can help us maintain our sanity!

At Home Or Still Working During Covid-19?

We are likely looking at another month or even more of this way of life. And most of us are spending hours upon hours at home. Many of us have become teachers to our children for their online learning. We are learning to eat at home more and more. At least for my family this is an adjustment as we used to eat out quite a bit. For many of us, our workplace has changed from outside the home to teleworking. And many are unfortunately out of work totally therefore having to budget significantly just to get by. I am hopeful that all of you and your loved ones are staying healthy, financially and physically, during this outbreak. But no matter our circumstance, it’s a time of adjustment for us all. For most it means many more hours spent in our homes.

You would think that having more hours at home would be a furniture painter’s dream! And it is, but if you are like me I seem to stay busy doing other things! More of our hours are likely dedicated to doing other things to get by. There are other things that take precedence, including cooking more meals. Also more time planning for grocery shopping, searching for toilet paper and other goods that might be in short supply. Spending time teleworking while trying to manage your household dominates our day. And for many it means being a teacher to your kiddos who are at home full-time. Other important things also beg for a prime spot in your 24 hour day, like finding time to get outdoors for a walk or run or other forms of exercise. And spending precious time with family has become ever more important.

Chalk Paint Tips: Chalk Painting For Stress Relief

While so many other things beg for our attention, I do feel that chalk painting can provide a much needed outlet for stress. And there is evidence that stress relief improves health! So chalk painting is therefore good for our health! I don’t know about you but that logic works perfectly for me! And if your house is like mine, I can look around and see a multitude of painting projects just waiting to be completed! One way to get through this stressful time would be to carve out some time for chalk painting. Set aside a time and place for you to work on furniture. It’s not always easy to fit time for painting into your busy day, but I have a few ideas that might help.

Chalk Paint Tips: Ideas To Carve Out Time For Chalk Painting

If you like to time block create a daily plan then block out time to paint and work on your projects. If you live with others ask them if they can help manage other things going on in the house while you get away to paint. Some people love to paint early in the morning, before others in the home are awake, while others prefer to paint into the wee hours of the night. You may need to get creative with a plan to build in some time for painting. But if you do create time to do some chalk painting, you might ask, what do I paint when the used furniture stores and Goodwill are closed?

But, What Do You Paint When Everything Is Closed?

I understand why the thrift stores and antique stores are closed for sure. We all have to do our part to help flatten the curve. But honestly when I saw that the Restore was closing for the pandemic I had a panicky moment, LOL. Seriously, I know that sounds ridiculous with all the scary pandemic news and healthcare workers running out of PPE and more important stuff going on in the world!

While I agree that these stores being closed is trivial and also temporary, it still begs the question as to where to get projects for painting? Many of us chalk painters and furniture refinishers get a majority of our projects from thrift and antique stores, Restore, Goodwill, and other used furniture suppliers. If your community is like mine, all of those places are closed right now. Other resources for used furniture are Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and local yard sale pages.

While you could still get stuff from Facebook or Craigslist I urge you to be very careful. Until the stay-at-home orders are lifted you may also be putting yourself at risk with picking up goods and exchanging money. So, a big question is what to paint right now? I created a free printable list of my top “Tips For Chalk Painters During Stay-At-Home Orders”. This printable is loaded with ideas on what to paint when everything is closed. I think you’ll find this list helpful and I’d love for you to check it out! Get it here with access to my free resource library:

Chalk Paint Tips: Chalk Painting Is Super Versatile And For More Than Just Furniture!

The good news is that you can paint almost anything with chalk and mineral style paints! There really is no limit. These paints have such good adherence to most types of materials and this makes them very versatile. So there is an endless of things you can paint for a creative outlet! Chalk paints are not just for furniture! In my printable list I’ll inspire you with some other ideas, many of which are things you have around your house! Also don’t forget to check your garages or basements. Also, don’t overlook furniture that you already have, either in stockpile to paint, or furniture you use everyday that needs an update! An even if it doesn’t “need” an update, that doesn’t mean you can’t change it up a bit for fun!

Examples Of What Else To Paint

I’ll show you some examples of furniture and household items that you can paint with chalk mineral paints.

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Chalk Paint Tips: Checking Your Inventory of Painting Supplies

So, if you find things around your house that you can paint, the next dilemma you might have is your chalk painting supplies are dwindling. And it’s likely that your favorite local supplier is closed. Another possibility is that you don’t have the funds to purchase more painting supplies. This means you have to make do with what you have on hand possibly. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a lot of chalk paints in my stockpile! I have lots of colors for projects I planned to do and hadn’t yet started. Or I decided to go with a different color in the end. I would even say that it’s almost embarrassing that I have so many supplies in my stockpile. But I think that is true of most creatives!

If you are looking for a helpful Chalk Paint Supplies Checklist you can get it in my free resource library below.

Creative Ways To Stretch Your Supplies

We all have those favorite go-to colors that we reach for over and over. But, having to work with our on-hand supply may mean branching out a bit. Possibly Consider trying some new colors or color combos. And don’t forget that you can create custom color blends by mixing paints. I have a free printable with my top “Tips For Chalk Painters During Stay-At-Home Orders”. In this printable I give you some tips on how to get by or “stretch” the paint supplies you have on hand. Possibly you can make your supply work until stay-at-home orders are lifted. And at least until it is safe for our favorite suppliers and stores to open back up. I know you’ll find these ideas helpful and I’d love for you to check them out! Get the tips for chalk painters printable here and also you’ll get access to my free resource library:

Also, if you are not having to budget too tightly and decide that there are some chalk painting supplies that you need to order, you can certainly order online! My favorite chalk paint brand is Dixie Belle and you can order directly from their site. https://dixiebellepaint.com/

In times like these I encourage other chalk painters, especially if on a tight budget, not to be afraid to use what you have on hand. This is true even if it isn’t your very favorite brand! I too am pretty brand loyal! However, I do from time-to-time pull out other brands just because I am in a pinch! In my supply right now I have a host of brands besides Dixie Belle, including Annie Sloan, Rust-Oleum, General Finishes and Wise Owl. I think you just have to be versatile in lean times.

Chalk Paint Tips: Don’t Be Afraid To Try New Chalk Painting Techniques!

Another option for making your paint supplies last is to try a new technique! If you don’t have enough of one color to complete a projects consider doing an ombre or gradient painted piece. Or blending to use more than one color. Another option is to use a paint wash which requires only a small amount of paint to cover a piece. Doing a weathered chippy look is another idea. I’ve seen other painters use waxes and glazes to paint with also. So really there are so many options! And you can always find good chalk paint ideas on YouTube and Pinterest. In my free printable, “Tips For Chalk Painters During Stay-At-Home Orders” I cover some ideas for techniques you can try when you have to work with your on-hand supplies. You can get that freebie above.

Summary And Be Sure To Get My Free Printable!

I know these are scary times for everyone! And most importantly my wish for you all is to stay healthy! But, hopefully during your time at home you can carve out some time to try a new chalk paint techniques and work on a project you’ve had on your to-do list for a while! If you want to find more info about chalk painting basics check out this post: https://simplyrefinished.com/how-to-chalk-paint-furniture-makeovers-made-simple/ And for more info on getting a super-smooth finish with chalk painting check out https://simplyrefinished.com/how-to-get-a-smoother-finish-with-chalk-paint/

Wishing you all well and safe during this crazy time!