Thursday, February 23, 2012

Chippy Heaven {Before & After}

I have been rolling through the dresser options lately and finally (after weeks of searching) scored this dresser on CL for a great price.
(When I say great price then I mean less than $75)

I was happy to see that it was already painted an ugly copper color.
I hate painting an old piece of furniture when it is in perfectly good, unpainted condition.



I have been slow cheap about jumping on the bandwagon and trying out some of the new paints that everyone is loving.
I decided to go for the Old Fashioned Milk Paint that I had seen Marian from Miss Mustard Seed use.
I used the color Snow White.
I was very unsure of how it was going to work with the previous paint.
I sanded it up a little since the copper paint was super smooth and I knew this paint was not a paint that sticks really well.


Can I just say...
I fell in Milk Paint Love.


Achieving that very old, chippy look has been something I've worked towards for a long time.
Never could quite get it.
Milk Paint was my missing ingredient.


This paint has a mind of its own for sure.
It chips where it wants to.
Just like regular old paint would.

I used two different waxes to finish it off.
Minwax clear wax and Fiddes & Sons in Rugger Brown.
The hardware I removed and then painted with Caromal Colours since it gives a super hard finish that I knew would hold up well.
(I gently brushed the hardware with a little wax to add color when the paint had dried)
I found a local store that sells the Milk Paint.
I am super excited to try it out on some signs!
And I have just the right sign in mind...
Stay tuned.

(By the way, if you've been around here a while then you've heard me talk about Milk paint before, but I have always been referring to the COLOR Milk Paint that I like to use from Lowes. It is normal paint. The Paint I am referring to in this post is actual Milk Paint.)
Photobucket












Furniture Feature Fridays




9 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

oh that is so pretty, jillian! i love the chippiness and love the design on the drawers! great find!

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

Well! thanks for clearing up the MILK paint mysteries...lol.
I didn't know that there was a color milk paint. I've never painted with milk paint. But am wondering if it in fact has milk IN IT?

All that aside. I love the dresser in it's chippy glory! I would have faced opposition from the Honey, had I tried to do that to a perfectly good painted piece!

I may try something like this on my little linen chest o'drawers in my kitchen!

have a great weekend! Pat

Designing Domesticity said...

I agree, mik paint is totally under appreciated. Everyone is on about chalk paint. love how this dresser turned out. Thanks for sharing, liz

Jamie @ Domestically Vintage said...

Your dresser is just beautiful! What a gorgeous job you did!! I will have to try the milk paint sometime...Your blog and style are just wonderful and I so enjoy following you!!

~ Jamie Asper

Gina said...

Very pretty. The chipping paint does look like it has chipped off over the years. I just found your blog recently and have enjoyed seeing your beautiful work. :)

Unknown said...

Your find turned out very well, perfectly chippy.

Judy said...

Your chest of drawers looks so chic! I found some milk paint similar to the kind you show about 10 years ago at my small town local hardware store. I was curious and had two very cool but horribly painted chairs I had gotten for $5 a piece. I went for the white milk paint and LOVED it. I gave one of the chairs to my daughter and kept one for myself and today they still look like they did the day I painted them. I've been a milk paint lover ever since. I do think they is a bit of a learning curve due to the consistency of the paint. I picked it up in about five minute. Also, if you make a mistake with the milk paint, it is no big deal and quite easy to fix.

Twice Nice said...

Really gorgeous! Love that chippiness. I think ordering milk paint is going on my to do list!

The Rooster and The Hen said...

I've never used milk paint, but now I'll have to - so beautiful! This project would be perfect for our new linky party featuring "Transformations" called Repurpose-Remodel-Reveal, I know our readers would love to see it too! (It starts Friday, March 2nd 2012 at 7:00 am MST and reoccures every 1st and 3rd Friday)

-Whitney @ TheRoosterAndTheHen