How To Use Saltwash Paint Additive For Upcycling

I am truly not a hoarder, but when it comes to certain possessions I have a strange vision of what it might be in the future. I save things that have a purpose to repurpose! Like this beauty…

Graciously given to me by my friends at Trader Joes when I make a decent sized purchase of flowers. Sometimes you simply have to ask.

They have an overabundance and I’m sure that they don’t realize a lowly flower bucket’s full potential. I do…and have shown this to you before and this FLOWER BUCKET below started out looking like trash.

Now it’s a treasure and one of my most popular blog posts, so check it out and maybe make one! Or if something that requires gluing and clamping isn’t your jam, this is much easier. I promise.

Before…obviously. It’s plastic that won’t end up in the landfill and is useful in my home. A plus is that plastic holds water, so I can either fill this when finished with flowers or use it for a plant.

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Today I’m using SALTWASH, which is a paint additive and not a paint. I was given this container over a year ago, but with so many projects in queue I’m just trying the SALTWASH out. It comes in a 42 oz can and although it’s pricy it covers a ton of painting real estate. I’m sure that I’d have enough left to do a large piece of furniture or two…maybe for the beach house. My intent was to try it on something smaller first.

Mixing is so easy. You pour enough paint to cover your project into a container and then add your SALTWASH with the measuring cup that is enclosed in the package. The ratio is one part to one part, so that is easy enough to remember. Then mix it up with your paintbrush or paint stirrer until it’s around the consistency of thick cake frosting.

So fast and simple…you are ready and just started dabbing it on to your bucket or furniture or whatever you want to paint. The end result you would want to acheive is something that looks old, vintage and CHIPPY…so perfection in technique is NOT required. I had some pale blue wall paint leftover from a job and you can use any paint that you have laying around. This was my undercoat and I did a Mason jar as well to see how it came out.

Next I applied a top coat of a semi gloss white.

Once dry, I sanded the bucket to expose some of the pale blue paint underneath. When applying the paint/Saltwash mixture you do want some lumpy areas so that you can sand and see the color underneath. In other techniques you don’t necessarily want lumps, but in this…you do! I also hit it with my orbital sander when I finished, which seemed to work better than doing the hand sanding.

Last step was to take a wet rag and dip it in antiquing medium and rub the surface to get into the grooves. Then wipe off any excess with a second wet rag until you are satisfied. I also gave the inside a coat of everything so that it would look better if the bucket is set low enough to see down in it. I gave the bucket a quick spray with some clear sealer. Keep in mind…I prefer a light and subtle hand with everything that I do, whether it be a DIY or designing a space. You can take this several steps further and deepen the tone if you like.

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