Chalk paint (including my favorite like Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) absolutely had its moment for me - easy coverage, that matte farmhouse look, fun for beginners. But once I started refinishing furniture for a living, that moment would be coming to an end. By the time I had painted 20 pieces of furniture, I became extremely frustrated with the dry times, the fumes, and the waxing process.

For many ...none of this is a big deal, but to me and my extremely sensitive nose and my shamefully short attention span, I was losing my patience with the chalk paints that I tried.  And I tried all of the ones I could find in my entire county.

Somehow, I was still unsatisfied. Call me insatiable I suppose, but it was the insatiableness that lead me to creating sea mineral paints - similar to chalk paint but with a few life changing improvements.

No more long dry times - sea mineral paints (SeaPaints) dry in 3 minutes

No more harsh fumes - sea mineral paints (SeaPaints) are nearly odorless

Dustless distressing - with sea mineral paints (SeaPaints) you can wet distress

Impressive coverage - Time saving, convenient, and easier to use, but this feature also saved me space in my craft cabinet as well, simply because the paint went so far, that the jars were actually able to be small.

🕒 Dry Times: 

Traditional Chalk Paint (Annie Sloan–type):

• Typically needs 30–60 minutes between coats (sometimes longer depending on humidity and thickness).
  

• Full cure can take weeks, especially if you wax or topcoat.

• If you’re ADHD, impatient, or just trying to get projects done? That wait feels like a century.

 Sea Mineral Paints - SeaPaints:

• Designed to dry in about 3 minutes or less per coat under normal conditions.

• By the time you finish one side, the first part is already dry to the touch.

• You can layer, blend, or move on right now instead of “later when it's dry”

Chalk paint = “I’ll come back to this later.”
Sea Mineral Paints - SeaPaints = “I can finish this before my coffee gets cold.”

Texture & Finish: Gritty vs Soft

Chalk Paint:

• Has that classic chalky matte look.

• Can feel a bit gritty or rough if not waxed or sealed well depending on the brands.

• Distressing is easy

SeaPaints:

• Dries to a soft, velvety, matte, sensory-friendly finish.

• Not gritty

• Great for people who are sensory-sensitive.

• Still blends beautifully and can be distressed, layered, or glazed if you’re into that.

If texture matters to you?
SeaPaints wins that round.

Smell & Sensory Load

Chalk Paint:

• Most are lower-odor than oil paints, but there’s still often a “paint smell,” especially indoors.

• Add waxes or topcoats and you’ve got more smells/fumes in the mix.

SeaPaints:

• Nearly Odorless
  

ADHD & Sensory Friendly Factor

This is the part nobody talks about, but it matters to a handful of us so I'm going to mention it. 

Chalk Paint:

• Longer dry time = higher chance you:

  • wander off

  • forget you started a project

  • knock something over

  • lose motivation

  • simply don't have time for projects

• Multiple steps (paint → wax → buff →) can feel overwhelming and harder on the body, requiring more energy to check that project off of your list.

SeaPaints:

• Quick dry + fewer steps = way more friendly for ADHD brains.

• You get that instant dopamine hit of:

  • “I started it.”

  • “I see it changing.”

  • “Oh wow, it’s already dry.”

  • “Wait, I actually finished something?!”

• The process feels more like a calming ritual than a multi-day obligation.

SeaPaints was born from the idea that color can regulate mood. as a result the palette is built with calm, depth, and emotional support in mind, not just trendiness.

If you'd like to learn more about color therapy or how SeaPaints came to be, visit our crafts, chaos, and caffeinated confessions blog, where we share uncensored stories of our colorful journey. Warning...strong language ahead...

In conclusion, I still love Annie Sloan chalk paint and if I was different person, one with patience for example or a less sensitive nose , I might just still be using it to this day and SeaPaints would never have been born. But the migraines that came along with the fumes and the time I spent waiting for projects to dry, motivated me to see if there was a way to improve the way we craft. 

And I feel like we just might have done exactly that. SeaPaints isn’t really an alternative to chalk paint, but more like the upgrade to chalk paint that you only hear about from people who paint. Maybe even mostly those with ADHD that paint, but either way...if you plug the name SeaPaints into google ...you may just discover a secret world of exactly what you've been searching for. 

Oh and one more thing, that I didn't fully explain. The coverage of SeaPaints is kind of insane. 

SeaPaints (sea mineral paints) go more than twice as far as chalk paints

To see projects done with SeaPaints, check out our SeaPaint gallery below