. . . Step Ladder Makeover with American Decor Chalky Finish Paint . . .

Don't you just love fall!?  I know I do!  It is my very favorite season...pumpkins, the leaves changing colors, cool mornings, breezy days, that crisp air that promises another beautiful fall day.  I Love It!

I always get an assortment of gourds, pumpkins and marigolds for my front porch the minute I feel fall in the air.  Last year I added the flowers and pumpkins to a little step ladder my mom gave me that was all beat up and old as the hills.  I loved it and it got a lot of compliments when people stopped by so I knew I'd be using it again this year.  

When I was pulling the little ladder out I thought it looked like it was crying out for a little color.  I just happened to have some American Decor Chalky Finish Paint from Deco Art that I was dying to try.  I figured this ladder was the perfect piece for chalk paint. This was such a quick project and the paint is the bomb diggity!  

 If you haven't used Chalk Paint then I highly recommend this American Decor Chalky Finish Paint! It goes on so smoothly and you get a great feel when it dries.  Use some wax with it and you have a gorgeous finished piece.

 For my ladder I wanted the finished look to be "worn" out looking.  I knew I was going to be using at least 2 colors but as it turns out I ended up doing 3 different colors and I love how the finished product looks.

 For the first coat I used a light coat of the Vintage color.  I didn't do it real heavy but I got the wood mostly covered with this light aqua color.

 As you can see there is some of the wood still showing through so if you want this kind of look don't do a heavy coat of paint because you'll be adding more.

 For my next coat of paint I mixed equal parts of Vintage and Treasure.  As you can see it's what is in the little container above the paint.  I just dry brushed this on over the ladder but very lightly so it didn't add too much color.  I just wanted the color to deepen a bit.

 For the last step I used just the Treasure color.  This is a darker/brighter color by itself so I was very careful about how much I used.

 I really didn't want much of this brighter color to be on the ladder so what I did was just dab my brush in the paint and then blot it on a paper towel to take most of the paint back off and then went over the ladder in areas to add a pop of more intense color.  I liked that it absorbed better in some areas and not as well in others.  I joked when I was first doing it that I looked like I had a tie dyed ladder but once it dried it turned out perfectly!  I added a couple coats of wax to the ladder and lightly sanded it for a super smooth finish and I was done!  This literally took maybe an hour.

Using the three colors of paint really made this ladder "pop"!

It's the perfect pop of color for the front porch and it works well with my gourds and pumpkins.