Milk Paint Makeover – Part 1

I’m about to attempt something I’ve never tried before…milk paint!  I have a nightstand that needs refinishing, and I decided that it would be a great opportunity to try a new technique.  I decided to give milk paint a try for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I’ve seen the results online, and I love the look of it (a super flat finish that is easy to distress).  Second, I have heard that it is easy to use for refinishing furniture because it adheres to almost any surface and dries really fast.  And finally, it’s environmentally friendly and non-toxic, which I suppose makes me feel good. Here are some nice examples of milk paint furniture makeovers:

The Nightstand

Here is the nightstand I’ll be painting. It’s from Land of Nod, and we’ve had it for about 7 or 8 years (I don’t think they even make this exact one anymore).

Unfortunately, on the top of the nightstand, the paint has “bubbled” in one spot. Not sure what happened there…probably some kind of water damage. I’ve been meaning to sand down and repaint the top to try and “fix” the bubble.  But, I figured if I was sanding and painting, I might as well repaint the whole darned thing.

The Paint

I’ve chosen to use Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Layla’s Mint. Why this brand?  No particular reason, other than I follow Miss Mustard Seed and it seems as good a milk paint as any other brand out there.

Although Miss Mustard Seed has tons of beautiful paint colors to choose from, I really liked the Layla’s Mint and think it will go well with my chosen guest room colors.  Layla’s Mint was featured on another of my favorite blogs, The Lettered Cottage.  Here is the beautiful secretary cabinet that Layla painted.  Pretty, right?

Tutorials

To prepare, I have watched several very helpful tutorials on Miss Mustard Seed’s YouTube channel on how to mix and apply milk paint. If you are planning to give it a try, definitely check these out.

• Mixing milk paint by hand
• Mixing Milk Paint with a blender
• Applying the first coat of milk paint
• Applying the second coat of milk paint
• Getting the chippy look with milk paint
• Applying furniture & antiquing wax

I’ll be sanding down the nightstand this week (using my brand new orbital sander…very exciting), and then applying the paint.  I’m planning to give it a slightly distressed look, too.  I’ll try to get the results posted next week, so you can see the change, and I’ll let you know my thoughts on using milk paint.  Wish me luck!