How to Create Amazing Textured Paint on Furniture with Salt Wash

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Textured paint creates such an amazing look for your painted furniture makeovers. Did you know that you can create an amazing textured paint finish on your furniture with salt wash? This texture painting technique is so easy and fun to do.

texture paint tutorial with wise owl chalk paint and saltwash

Disclosure: This how to create a textured paint finish with salt wash post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here for my full disclosure policy

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Supplies & Tools Needed to Paint Furniture with Salt Wash

Before we begin, this textured paint technique for painted furniture project is part of our monthly Furniture Fixer Uppers share. You know what that means! Make sure to stick around all the way to the end for more great painted furniture before and after projects.

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Check out all of my furniture projects with over 90 painted furniture makeovers: Stunning painted furniture ideas.

Unfinished Wooden Table

This cute little table is actually part of a set. Yep, they came as a pair. But I’ve decided to split them up – oh the horror. By splitting them up I am able to create different finishes on each table. So, in turn, its double the fun. Since they get donated to local fundraisers and charities they are also going to be able to help support 2 causes rather than one. Win-win. Here is the set as I got them.

two wooden round tables on the grass before paint

Now we are starting with just one table while the other remains in the back of my truck rolling around until I can get to it. (I’ll update when the time comes for that one)

light brown round wood table with clear knob

Textured Paint Project on Painted Furniture

Here is a list of the basic steps for creating a texture paint finish on your painted furniture project. We will get further into detail for each step as we move along. 

  1. find your piece of furniture
  2. sand your furniture
  3. clean your furniture
  4. prime your furniture
  5. You will need:
    1. a clean quality paintbrush
    2. quality furniture paint
    3. Salt wash texture paint additive
  6. sand texture paint to reveal the amazing finish
  7. seal your piece of furniture for protection

How to Clean Furniture for a Textured Paint Makeover

Like every painted furniture project we will prep this table the same as we prep every makeover.

  • Let’s start by removing the drawer and the hardware. remove drawer from wooden table to prep for chalk paint and texture paint
  • Grab your sandpaper and wrap it around a sanding block. I am using 150 grit for this step.sandpaper wrapped around sanding block, prepping wood furniture for paint
  • Give the piece a good scuff over the entire surface. sand the top of wooden table
  • Next, give the entire piece a cleaning to remove the dirt, grime, and dust. A scrubby sponge works great for this part. clean wood furniture with sponge before using chalk paint
    • You’d be amazed at how much yuck builds up on furniture. remove dirt and grime from wood furniture before chalk painting and using salt wash
  • Make sure to follow up with a clean water wipe down to remove any excess build up or cleaner left behind. wipe down furniture with clean cloth
    • Again, so gross! And this table isn’t even that dirty or old. Can you imagine what a super old beat up piece of furniture has built up on it? Eww. cleaning furniture before painting, how to clean furniture before paint
  • I think we are finally all clean and ready to move on. You can always check out my standard process for prepping furniture for paint: How to Prep Painted Furniture. round table cleaned to chalk paint and texture paint with saltwash

How to Prep & Prime Furniture Before Paint

Now that our piece is clean we can move on. I am starting with a stain blocking primer from Wise Owl. You may not NEED to use primer for your project, but you won’t ever regret using it. I like to err on the side of caution and take the extra steps to avoid any issues in the future. My husband is the type of person who never errs on the side of caution and has to fix his “oops” and mistakes. Where I am more of the play it safe kind of person who prefers to avoid having to deal with mistakes by taking precautionary steps ahead of time. That’s just me. 😉 If you are more like me, you can get this Wise Owl Primer online HERE (it comes in clear or white).

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Make sure to give your primer a good stir before you start. The color will appear to be a cloudy white, but it is actually a clear primer!

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Go grab your favorite brush and make sure it’s clean. I am using one of my flat Cling On brushes. I like to swap back and forth between Cling Ons and Zibra brushes. They both have soft bristles, are easy to work with and clean up well. (I abuse my brushes) To be honest, I like them both. Zibra brushes are a bit more affordable and can be ordered online (HERE). Cling Ons can be ordered online (HERE).

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With your brush go ahead and apply your stain eliminating primer the same way you would apply your furniture paint. You actually don’t even need to be as careful. Since the primer dries clear just make sure to get decent coverage over the entire piece without overthinking this step.

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Make sure to get the top as well. Depending on the condition of the piece and your intentions with how you intend to paint your furniture you may want to apply a second coat for good measure. For this table, I am only applying one coat of clear primer.

use cling on paintbrush to apply clear primer to furniture

How to Make Textured Paint with Salt Wash 

Now that the cleaning and prep work is complete let the fun begin! Let’s gather our furniture paint and Salt Wash paint texture additive. Since Salt wash creates a beachy weathered textured finish I am going with some great blues and greens for my paint colors. You can grab all of these Wise Owl paint colors and more online HERE. You can get Salt Wash online HERE.

saltwash, wise owl paint, blue chalk paint

Some projects start off without a plan, while others you tend to visualize the end result before starting. With this painted furniture project I can visualize the end result from the start. I am starting with a deep dark blue called Prussian blue from Wise Owl. To mix our paint with our salt wash textured paint additive we will start by adding the paint to a plastic cup.

chalk paint in plastic cup, blue chalk paint

Next, grab your SaltWash powder and add a little at a time to your cup. This is by far the easiest way for adding texture to paint.

saltwash texture paint additive, salt paint, saltwash powder

Mix your salt wash with your paint. You can actually use salt wash with any type of paint or chalk paint, as far as I know, to make your own texture paint. When you want to learn how to texture paint, I am afraid there is no specific measurement or paint to salt wash ratio. Or if there is, I certainly don’t use one. Depending on the paint that you are using your main goal is to mix until you have the consistency of cake icing.

how to mix saltwash, mixing salt wash texture paint

Using Salt Wash Paint Texture Additive

Now that we have our textured paint mixed and ready, get a clean paint brush. For this step, I am using the short handle Cling On brush. Isn’t it cute? You can find these online HERE.

small Cling On brush, mini cling on, paintbrush, chalk paint brush

When applying your textured paint to your painted furniture project you don’t want to apply the same way that you would normally apply your chalk paint. For this, you will want to use more of a stippling or smashing effect. Dab or bounce your brush onto the furniture creating small peaks as you lift the brush away.

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Remember I have a vision for this whole project? Bare with me. I only cover the bottom portion of the table with this blue textured paint. This only requires one coat since we will be going over it later on. Check out how cool one coat already looks!

blue textured paint on furniture, wooden table with texture paint

Following the same exact process, I continue moving upwards with a blue-green color called deep turquoise.

ombre paint effect, ombre painted furniture, shades of blue chalk paint

Then again with a great bright green color called northern lights.

beachy paint colors, coastal paint colors, ombre blues and greens on table

See here in a more close up picture of the cool crusty texture in the paint.

deep turquoise paint, crusty texture, weathered worn paint, vintage look paint

For the last paint color in the base coat, we are going with a soft miny green called Islandic Mist. You can also see this pretty color paired with deep dark green on my Drippy Paint Boho Cabinet project.

mint green chalk paint, light green chalk paint, wise owl islandic mist

Squirt some paint into your cup like before.

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Add in your salt wash texture paint additive and mix it thoroughly.

salt wash texture paint additive to chalk paint

Paint the remainder of the table with your texture paint mixture.

texture painting techniques, painted table in ombre texture effect

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Adding Furniture Salve for Easy Gliding Drawers

At that last step when returning the drawer to the table for a nice visual I notice that the wooden drawer doesn’t glide very easily. In fact, it actually sticks a bit. But we can fix that. I remove the drawer again and flip it over to gain access to the wooden track underneath. We need to lube this track with Lemon Verbena furniture salve. It’s like WD40, but for wood 😉

wise owl salve, how to fix sticking drawers

Simply scoop a bit of salve onto a cloth, old -Tshirt or paper towel.

natural furniture salve on paper towel, lubricate wood with salve

Generously rub the salve along the wooden drawer track.

rub wood drawer tracks so they dont stick, how to stop drawers from sticking

Also, go ahead and apply some along the track on the piece itself. This way both the wood of the drawer and the piece will be lubricated and improve ‘glide-ability’ drastically. This natural furniture salve works for more than just improving sticking drawers. This natural salve worked wonders on a steamer trunk restoration project and is also used to refresh the inside of the drawers for these decoupaged and painted nightstands. You can get Wise Owls furniture salve in this scent or numerous other amazing scents online HERE.

how to keep drawers from sticking

Painting Over Texture Paint

Yep, we are going to paint over the texture paint that we just created. Trust me, it will be great! To keep this makeover a bit soft, subtle yet slightly beachy I am using a super light gray paint called Oyster by Wise Owl. It’s the perfect neutral gray-white paint.

gray chalk paint, wise owl oyster, light gray paint

Storing Your Chalk Paint

As you can see, my gray paint is still in the can. I like to get my paint out of the can and into these nifty FIFO bottles. You simply squeeze your paint out like a ketchup bottle – no mess! You can get these bottles online HERE.

how to store chalk paint, bottles to store paint, fifo bottles,

This way when you need paint you simply squeeze some out onto a plate or into a cup. I find that I don’t waste much paint this way either, because I squeeze out a little at a time. You can easily squeeze out more as you need it. Toss a label onto your FIFO bottle and you are all set.

light gray paint, gray chalk paint, paint in plastic bottle

Painting Light Paint Over Dark Paint

The reason that we start our project with darker colored paints is so that when we apply light paint over dark paint we can really see that textured paint stand out. Let’s squirt some light gray paint onto a plate.

chalk paint tips, paint on paper plate

Next, grab a clean brush. This time I am using my flat Cling On brush. It’s larger than the brush I used earlier.

best paintbrush for chalk paint, cling on brush, flat cling on

In no particular order (top to bottom or bottom to top) brush your gray paint over the entire surface of the painted table.

paint over saltwash textured paint, cover blue paint with gray paint

Make sure to cover all of the blue and green textured paint from the first coat.

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You can see here how subtle the difference is on the top between the super light mint green Islandic Mist and the light gray paint Oyster as Oyster is covering up the Islandic Mist.

wise owl chalk paint, wise owl paint, light green and gray chalk paint

What kind of craziness is this?

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We can no longer see all those pretty blues and greens. But look at how cool this looks. If you are going for the look of textured concrete paint you can omit those blues and greens and just add saltwash to your gray-white paint. You may need two coats to get that textured concrete look. Easy huh?

textured concrete paint, textured concrete look, paint to look like concrete

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How to Sand Texture Paint

Now that the table is completely painted its now time to sand down and expose our colors underneath. It’s rather easy to sand texture paint. All you need is sandpaper and preferably a sanding block. Wrap your sandpaper around the sanding block and sand the entire piece. All of those peaks and bumps will be sanded to reveal the pretty paint colors underneath.

just the woods sanding texture paint, how to sand saltwash

I admit that while doing this step I am covered in dust from sanding away the top layer of paint. Lucky for me, both Wise Owl paint and Saltwash are zero VOC products, made in the USA and contain safe ingredients. See how pretty the colors start to come through creating a weather-worn look to your painted surface. 

saltwash weathered finish, weathered paint finish, weathered painted furniture, paint shows through paint

Saltwash Texture Paint Video Tutorial

I do go over all of this in the video for you as well. (To watch the video you must have your ad blockers turned off if you have them).

 

Sealing Painted & Textured Furniture

Like all of my painted furniture projects, we are using my all time favorite yellow applicator sponge. If you don’t have any of these nifty sponges, you can get them online HERE. (I know they do tend to go in and out of stock – so I stock up when I order just to play it safe).

yellow sponge to apply topcoat

I am using Wise Owls non-yellowing clear matte varnish. You can find this online HERE.

non yellowing varnish, clear topcoat, chalk paint sealer wont yellow

If you ever have questions about sealing your painted furniture project you can find a full tutorial with video on how to apply clear sealer here: Sealing Painted Furniture 

sealing painted furniture, how to seal painted furniture, video tutorial

Updating Hardware

As silly as it seems these tables were sold to me with clear crystal knobs, but I replaced them with new clear crystal knobs. I guess some things just don’t make much sense. Either way, new or old, these knobs are so simple and pretty. Can you also see the very subtle light green texture showing under the gray-white towards the top? These knobs or something very similar can be found online HERE.

clear crystal hardware on painted furniture

The Results: a Weather Worn Texture Paint Finish

This project, like many of my makeovers, is being donated to a local school, animal rescue or charity to help with their fundraising efforts. Click here to see all of my projects that have been donated to support local fundraisers, schools, and charities: Donation Projects.

wise owl paint table with salt wash texture

Check out all of my furniture projects with over 90 painted furniture makeovers: Stunning painted furniture ideas.

ombre texture paint, weathered beach paint look

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white paint on table over blue and green texture paint
close up painted table with layered texture and clear crystal knob
round painted table with salt paint additive
close up image of layered texture paint
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You can get find all of these Wise Owl products and more online here: Wise Owl.

You can find Saltwash online as well here: Saltwash

Furniture Fixer-Uppers

It’s that time again where a few of my creative and talented blogger friends and I have joined together in our monthly Furniture Fixer Uppers share. Before we get into that I am excited to let you know that our friend Jen from Girl in the Garage has written a book! Yep, an actual book. and it’s fantastic. You can check it out on Amazon here:

Now, let’s see what my friends are up to! Make sure to click the links below the image to check out all the amazing projects that my bloggy girls are working on this month.

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12 Comments

  1. Look at all that yummy texture! And how great that it’s being donated to a good cause. ???? Great tutorial Kandice. I’m seeing more and more painters using those plastic bottles for paint storage. Now I get why!! ????

  2. So fun! Dixie Belle makes a similar product and I have been waiting for the perfect project to try it on. Love the colors you used underneath! XO

  3. I’ve had a bag of salt wash unopened in the workshop for a few years. It’s about time I opened it. Seeing your cool table makeover gave me the motivation to finally do something with it. Thank you for the excellent tutorial, Kandice!

  4. Megan Harpring says:

    While this technique is amazing I’m 1 of the crazy ones and Love the Before?!!! Lol am I crazy or what??! ???????? I love painted furniture but maybe it was the pictures but they didn’t appear to have any of the red or orange under tones you usually see in wood furniture? That would’ve been a Score for me!! Lol but you are so talented and I love seeing all you do!!!

  5. Look at all that YUMMY texture! I’ve only used a Salt Wash technique once before … it’s a lot of fun! So great this is going to a worthy cause too! XO

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