Hey friends!
I’ve been working on a lot of painting projects lately–pieces keep flying out of my shops and so I’m working fast to get new pieces ready!
I had the chance last week to quickly stage and photograph two of my more recent pieces and I thought it would be fun to go ahead and put them together in one post.
Both were painted with Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint . . .
One is red and one is blue–hitting both ends of the color spectrum here!
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time you know I tend more towards cool colors than I do warm, so going with red was a little bit out of my comfort zone. But it was time to try something new, and what better time to do a red piece than at Christmas!
Wondering about when I use Fusion and when I use Milk Paint? Read about that here.
The prep for both of these pieces was as easy as it gets–just a wipe down with Simple Green to get off any grease and grime, then I painted away! In both cases the milk paint adhered to the existing finish without any problems. I got some great texture and a touch of chipping on them both too–I hope you’ll be able to see and appreciate that unique quality of milk paint in the photos.
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Sadly I don’t have a before photo of the first piece . . . I forgot 🙁 But it was your standard stained empire dresser. The finish on it was in ok shape, but it for sure had seen better days.
I asked my Facebook crew what color to paint it, and the vote was red! So I painted it in 3 coats of Tricycle from the MMS Milk Paint line.
If you didn’t catch the Facebook Live video I did about this piece, you can see it here, on my new YouTube channel!
After distressing the final coat, I brushed on some Hemp Oil to deepen the tone of the red, and then a coat of Espresso Wax over the dried Hemp Oil to add even more age and depth to the finish.
Tricycle Empire Dresser
It certainly is red!
I know red isn’t for everyone, but I think this piece looks pretty stately in a bold color like this.
The main bit of chipping I got was on the side–part way down the piece is a shadow, if you’re wondering why it looks darker.
So there’s the red piece, now onto the blue!
I found this little oak washstand at an estate sale. The finish on the top needed some TLC and the base needed something to brighten it up a bit.
For this piece, I chose MMS Milk Paint Bergere, from the European color collection. Bergere is a soft, slightly smoky blue, very close to Champness in the Fusion Mineral Paint line.
This piece only needed 2 coats of Bergere, then I distressed it by just running my sandpaper over the finish. I Hemp Oiled the top and then sealed the base with Clear Furniture Wax.
Bergere Washstand
This little washstand has some spunk now!
One of the things I love so much about milk paint is the fantastic texture you get with it–especially when painting a wood like oak.
Did you catch that I used the same blue and white transferware pitcher as a staging prop in both photos?
So I hope at least one of these makeovers appealed to you today! I know they were very different from one another, and the Tricyle dresser is especially a step out of the norm for me.
But sometimes you need to stretch your creativity a bit and try something new!
What have you been painting lately?
Mercedes
Saturday 2nd of December 2017
I used Miss mustards milk paint on bare wood and regretted taking off original wood stain before applying the milk paint ! What can I do to bring out the wood color again thru the milk pain to bring out the wood color underneath? I've tried a little sanding then applying antique wax, is thus his you get that black over brown look?
Melanie
Saturday 2nd of December 2017
Hi Mercedes! What you're doing is probably your best bet! Unfortunately whatever finish is underneath your milk paint is what will show through once you distress. The only way to truly get that stained wood back is taking off the milk paint, staining it the wood, then painting over the stained wood again. But, I think if you keep applying some antiquing wax to those distressed areas it will help make the wood that's showing through darker.