DIY painted bedside table makeover

These two bargain bedside tables (thanks, ebay) were in desperate need of a revamp to fit our bedroom decor, so over Easter weekend (and then some) I brightened them up with a lick of white and yellow homemade chalk paint (find the recipe below). 
I say, 'over Easter weekend'... you know those projects that take so much longer than you expect. Yeah, this was one of those. Despite starting them over Easter it took another two weekends before I had finished them!
But it was all worth it as I'm really happy with the result. To get the chalk paint effect I mixed 1/2 cup of Plaster of Paris with 1/4 cup of water and mixed then added this to 1 & 1/2 cups of paint. I guessed the paint quantity, as didn't want to ruin my measuring jug! Just add more plaster or more water if the consistency is wrong, it should be on the thicker side of paint, but not so much that it's difficult to paint with.

The paint used is dulux matt in white chiffon and lemon tropics. We had the white left over from painting the walls and I just brought two tester pots of the yellow.
Although the chalk paint recipe meant no sanding or priming which was great, it still took four coats to cover the dark wood. I might experiment with a different recipe next time as I know some should only require one coat, and I've already got two more projects in mind! 
It's also the first time I've waxed painted furniture, but as these will get a lot of use I decided it was definitely worth the extra effort. I used rustoleum painted furniture wax, but would only recommend using this on pale colours. I read a few reviews before purchasing and it seems to leave white streaks on darker colous - I think stains might be better when sealing darker paint. Luckily there are no streaks here.

I love the finished look and it's so nice not to have everything on the floor next to the bed, no more half falling out when trying to snooze my alarm in the mornings!

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