9 of 10: Orange bench

Michaels sells a couple brands of chalk paint, so I decided to give them a try to see how they stack up against the Annie Sloan stuff. I took a little unfinished wooden bench that we've had forever and gave it one red coat followed by two burnt orange coats.

The paint went on easily and dried quickly. I can't report much difference between brands. I did use my Annie Sloan soft wax to seal it, and wow, what a difference that makes to the richness of the color.

I'm starting to wonder if you can get good results with any paint at all, as long as you seal it with the magic wax.

The detail shot above makes it look much more yellow, but in real life, it's orange. The Texas Longhorns fans that live with me are impressed. Theo is too young to know team colors, but he thinks it's a good place for stuffed animals to sit.

8 of 10: Chair makeover with chalk paint

My birthday month project has gone a few months beyond schedule. It's never too late to finish, right? Here's number 8, and I hope to crank out numbers 9 and 10 this week as well.

Surprise! More blue chalk paint!

My lovely assistant Matt cut a new drop-in seat bottom from plywood, and I covered it with one of the most delicious fabrics ever made.

The chair was black when I bought it at a thrift shop, and I painted a layer of lime green first, then blue. I wasn't planning on distressing all the way down to the black layer, but that's what happened, and it works for me.

 Here's the before and after:

I'd like to do the second chair another color, but I'm not ready to spring for another can of the good paint. Any chalk painters out there want to do a trade?