Jot & Jumble Paint Review: The Best Chalky Furniture Paint for Beginners

A couple of months ago I noticed that Jot & Jumble Furniture Paint was popping up on my Facebook feed a lot. As you know, I’m a bit of a furniture painting afficionado, and have used chalk paint on pretty much everything going (including an antique metal french bed, cabinet and chairs), so I instantly wanted to try this newcomer to the market.

I got in touch with them and asked if I might have a small sample pot, and was delighted when I was sent a large can of Wisp, a lovely creamy white with pinky undertones, and a small can of Old Timer and Pseudo which I had mentioned liking. Not sure if this was just a happy accident but they are dead ringers for the Pantone colours for 2016 – Rose Quartz and Serenity! How accidentally trendy of me. Anyway, lovely pots of paint to try = happy Anna!

Jot & Jumble Paint Review

Of course, I then took ages procrastinating about what I wanted to paint. We have a huge chest of drawers in the guest room which needs painting, but alas it first requires a solid millimetre of bright blue paint removing first, which is proving to be tricky to shift, even with Nitromors. With the house renovations and lots of freelance as well as wedding planning, I just haven’t had time to prep it for painting. So I was waiting until a suitable item popped up on eBay, until I realised that I actually already had something else – the bathroom linen cupboard. This was an absolute steal from eBay a couple of years ago (£5!) but the raw pine needed some sort of treating. I was waiting until we re-did the bathroom, but actually I realised that wisp would be the perfect colour for it whatever we do in the bathroom, so I decided to bite the bullet.

Preparation

First of all, we removed all the fittings, which Ste very kindly did for me, taking out the glass pane and removing all the hinges and catches. I then debated sanding it first, but Jot & Jumble say that because of the chalk content of the paint (not as much as full on chalk paint, but enough to give that lovely matt finish) there’s no need. I just gave the whole thing a good wipe with a damp cloth and let it dry first. Then on with the painting.

Application

I used my chalk paint brush and the paint smoothed on to the cabinet really easily – more smoothly than chalk paint would, certainly. It was very quick to do the first coat, and it dried very fast too. Which is just as well, because the first coat was quite transparent and dried quite streaky. As did the second. In fact, it took me three coats on the interior, and four on the outside, to get a nice solid colour without streaks. But because it was quick drying, I could start on the next one almost as soon as I had finished the last, so it didn’t take too long – about two hours to do four coats, which is fast in my book.

Aftercare

Now comes the bit I usually dislike with chalk paint – waxing. I find brushing it on a pain, and I find working it in with a cloth even more so…I never quite feel it ends up as smooth as I’d like, so I wasn’t keen on this part of proceedings. But then I took a good look at the cabinet, and realised that the finish was already smooth to the touch, and looked, well, finished, unlike chalk paint. So I decided to leave it untreated. The advice on the Jot & Jumble website is that pieces which get little use are fine left bare, but those which get heavy use really need some protection with wax or another sealant.

Now I wouldn’t say this cabinet gets heavy use, but it is the preferred perching place of both my puss cats, and so it gets regular wiping down on the top to remove pesky paw prints. In the few weeks since I painted it, I’ve wiped the paint down several times and it is lasting brilliantly. The draw gets daily use and nothing is flaking or chipping or looking scratched down the sides as I thought it would. Basically, it has stood up to daily use really well, unlike untreated chalk paint which flakes if you so much as look at it.

Verdict

So – colour me impressed! Although application took double the coats that chalk paint would (a consideration if you are painting darker items or something heavily patterned or marked), it saved me the waxing stage, so I’d say this was easier to use than chalk paint, especially for those new to the world of furniture painting. Let’s face it, waxing doesn’t always go perfectly for beginners!

It has also proven pretty resilient and I would say that they are erring on the side of caution on the website advising you to seal it – I don’t think it needs it unless it is something like a chair or kitchen table that really would get heavy wear and tear.

At £18.95 a litre costs the same as a litre of Annie Sloan. However, I used half the can for this small cabinet, whereas Annie Sloan goes a lot further, it would only have taken me a quarter of a can or less. But, if you deduct the cost of wax, it probably works out similarly in terms of price. The choice of colours is also slightly more limited, but what they do have are all lovely.

To sum up my Jot & Jumble paint review, I would recommend this paint to anyone new to painting furniture, because it really is easy and gives great results without any expertise. Their tagline is in fact ‘paint that’s a doddle to do’, and I would totally agree with that. If you’ve been wanting to take the plunge and paint some furniture but full on chalk paint scares you this is absolutely perfect. It’s also great if you hate wax like me! Their customer service is also really fast and helpful, which is a definite plus if you’ve got any questions. However, for those of you who are old hat at this, or if you have a huge bit of furniture to do, I would say it probably won’t be for you.

Update: It seems Jot & Jumble are sadly no longer selling their paint, but all the techniques used in this post would work equally well with any chalk paint. 

Thank you Jot & Jumble for allowing me to try out your paint and finally prompting me to give my linen cabinet some much needed love. I think it looks fantastic!

 

What do you think? Are you new to furniture painting and tempted to give it a go now?

Disclaimer: This paint was kindly sent to me free of charge to try, on the understanding that I would write an honest review (if I reviewed it). All opinions are my own and in no way influenced by Jot & Jumble. For more information, see my Disclosure policy.