Furniture Painting Series Part 1: CeCe Caldwell’s Paint

Hello again, Remodelaholics!  I am Cassie from Primitive and Proper here to share my monthly contributor post.  Today I am going to begin a new series about one of my favorite things…. my secret weapon in almost all of my projects…. paint!  Each month, I will share a project and my thoughts on a different type of paint.

We are going to start with a newer-to-the-market paint, CeCe Caldwell’s paint.  Here is what the company has to say about its paint:

I am fortunate enough to have a sponsor, Vintage Shabby Chicks,  that carries their paint, and I receive a new color every few months to try out.  Recently, I received a new color, Pinkerington Violet.  It is a gorgeous and very faded violet, perfect for a subtle touch of femininity.  It was a color that needed a special piece, so I searched and found this French table at my local Goodwill that I thought was just perfect!

The beauty of this paint is that there is NO sanding or priming needed.  This paint has amazing adhesion!  It also dries pretty quickly and is ready for a recoat in just a few hours.  I gave this table its first coat of paint, and a few hours later I applied the second and last coat.  All it needed was two coats, and at that point it looked like this.  As you can see I painted right over the leather top.  I have done this before and never had a problem with it.

Now, with most paints, I distress by sanding, but the unique way to distress with this paint is to use a damp rag and apply pressure and rub where you want to remove the paint.  I absolutely LOVE this quality because you don’t get any of those little sandpaper scratch marks and the result looks naturally worn.  Here are a couple of pictures (please note the lightly discolored area is just still slightly damp from my rag)

Now, CeCe Caldwell makes an all natural and eco friendly finishing wax that I love.  However, in this case, I wanted a more aged and antiqued look, so I used Briwax Golden Oak and applied it with my Cece’s round wax brush.  I love to use this wax because it ages lightly, and it also protects, all in one fell swoop of the brush!  I applied wax all over it, and after that dried for an hour, I buffed it with a rag to give it a harder finish and a slight sheen.

As a final step, I applied rub-n-buff to some of the details to glam it up a bit.  (You guys may remember my love for rub-n-buff from my last post!)  I love to use it to highlight details, and I love the color combination of blush and gold- so girly and glam and perfectly suited to this little table.  Here is the final result!

What I love about CeCe’s paints:

– Easy to apply

– No sanding or priming equals less work

– Eco-friendly

– Distresses with water

– Packaged in recycled containers

– Made in the USA

What I don’t love about CeCe’s paints:

– Limited color palette, but they can be mixed (I have done this before!)

– Sometimes finish can be uneven, so I find it lends to a distressed style better than modern

All in all, I absolutely love using this paint– I find it to be super easy to use.  I have been painting furniture for some years now, but I think this paint could be used by the most novice painter.  I would definitely recommend it for your gorgeous distressed pieces!

I will see you here next month with my thoughts on another type of paint! 🙂