Once February rolls around and the novelty of winter has long worn off, I start hoping spring is just around the corner. I guess this is coming through in my furniture.
My last few restyles have been inspired by a spring or beach weathered look.
Here’s my latest Craigslist Spring Makeover… adorable right!
As we discussed in my last post, working with this powdered paint can be challenging at times. This very piece gave me a bit of a headache because I rushed the process and ended up with a blotchy mess.
But (and whenever you hear a “but” – what it really means is disregard everything I just said because what I’m about to say is MORE important!), I really like that you can achieve so many different looks with this medium.
To get this spring look, I layered the milk paint.
I won’t get into a lengthy how-to tutorial because the steps for layering are the same as White Washing Furniture. And if you’re new to milk paints or have ever had trouble mixing them, you can also get My 6 tips For Mixing Milk Paint here.
For this vintage dresser, I painted the base coat in Miss Mustard Seed’s Eulalie’s Sky and then layered on a few coats of a watered down Grain Sack.
These two MMS colors really compliment each other nicely!
The layered wash adds beautiful dimension and tone.
On a side note, I wanted to use the last of my Valentine’s flowers for staging even though they’re wilting! Am I the only one who prefers pink roses over red?!
I added Bonding Agent but the milk paint still did it’s own unpredictable thing.
I’m okay with that.
The chippy areas add to the authentic vintage look. I also wet-distressed a lot of the dresser to tie in with the chippy and add a softer aged element. You just kind of have to go with the flow…lol.
Along with the updated color and simple stark white knobs, I added a funky drawer liner.
What do you think of this layering milk paint technique? Also, anyone have any tips on how to keep your roses lasting longer? Feel free to leave a comment or question… I always love hearing from you – it makes my day! 🙂
Related Posts:
A Whole Lot of Chippy Goodness
Which Distressing Technique is Right For YOU?
Milk Paint & Bonding Agent Secrets
Happy painting my friends!
Denise x
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Hi! I love this piece and LOVE milk paint but haven’t used it a lot. I know on dark pieces, especially after sanding, you have to be concerned with bleed through with chalk paint. It doeant seem like I hear the same thing with milk paint. Did you prime or shellac this dresser before painting? Thanks!
Hi Melissa! It’s the exact same with milk paint. Once you sand certain woods/finishes, bleedthrough becomes a problem when using lighter paints regardless of the type of paint. I have to be honest though, I did this piece a while ago and I don’t recall what I sealed/primed it with. Shellac is a great option if you want the original wood to be peeking through some chippy paint tho. 🙂
What a gorgeous transformation!
Thank you Kay! I just popped in to look at your site – beautiful! When I get the chance, I’m going to grab a cup of coffee and spend some time. xo
I used to follow MMS up until the time she started selling her own paint. I wasn’t doing a lot of painting at that time and lost interest. Funny how it happens that years later, I’m picking up an interest to give it a try. I don’t like the thought of having to mix it though. I appreciate all of the helpful tips you share with your readers. Oh, and I love the choice of colors. It’s beautiful.
Pleasure Christine and thank you. And the mixing of the milk paint is easy so if you like the look, it’s certainly worth a try. 🙂
Hi Denise. Love the way you layered the milk paint!!! I also love the milk glass you display. Milk glass is making a big comeback. Keep up the beautiful re-loving of your furniture. I can never get enough of your work.
Thanks Monique! A lot of milk glass fans out there! I mentioned in an earlier comment that my sister has 30+ but she has double… it’s quite the collection! Maybe she won’t notice if I take a few more for staging LOL 😉
Gorgeous!!!! Your talent is just amazing. Love your collection of milk glass (especially the candy dish/container….soooo pretty!) I’m always on the hunt for new pieces. It’s so much fun searching 🙂
It’s actually my sister’s milk glass collection and yes, she has a gorgeous collection! She must have at least 30 pieces! Wherever we travel, she’s always on the hunt for new pieces just like you Josie. 🙂
My roses are still going from valentines & I got this tip from a another interior designer. Change the water in the vase every day and trim the stems just a teeny tiny snip every second day & rinse the stems when doing that. Also keep the roses out of sunlight, like a window and away from heat, like a fireplace. That never fails for me to keep roses going nicely for about 2 weeks and other flowers up to 3-4 weeks. Sure it’s a bit of work but the money the guys pay for these things and the enjoyment we get from them, it’s well worth it.
As for the dresser it’s absolutely spring perfect and gorgeous. Oddly I’m in the midst of layering both a boutique paint and milk paint on a piece I’ll have finished this week. I’m interested to see the effect of mixing the two. I’ll let you know.
With all your talent I’m sure your layering will turn out gorgeous Chez. And great tips on the roses. The flowers M-M-M buys for me from say a Sobey’s or Fortino’s last up to 2 weeks. He often surprises me when he goes to pick up something from these grocery stores…SO SWEET. But oddly enough, when he buys me roses or flowers from a ‘real’ florist, I can’t keep seem to keep them going for more than a week. It’s frustrating! I do trim the stems, change the water and keep them out of sunlight. Probably ever second-third day though. I’ll try more frequently…maybe that’s the trick. 🙂
It’s true! The grocery store flowers always fare better than the florist ones in my house. What’s up with that?
Right!!!! So it’s not just me… I don’t get it??? And I always feel kind of bad because he spends a pretty-penny on the gorgeous bouquets from the florist – and all of $24.99 from the grocery store! It’s a floral mystery Sue!
Just beautiful and fresh and definitely springy!
Thanks Susan…and I can’t wait for the ‘real’ springy weather to get here! 😉
Love this look. Did you do much sanding of the old varnish or just enough to smooth it over & create a tooth for the milk paint? Will milk paint adhere to existing old finish? Thanks for the post.
This dresser was in pretty bad shape Tracy (ie gouges, scratches etc) so I did sand those areas with my Dewalt sander. The rest of the dresser, I used a 220grt and gave it a quick once over by hand to create a bit of tooth. Milk paint does adhere to existing old finishes but Bonding Agent or a light sanding works wonders. Have I encouraged you to try it yet??? LOL 🙂
Getting there slowly! Thanks Denise.