What a weekend! This is one of the projects I completed over the weekend.
This antique chest was at our local Recycle Centre. Made partly of silky oak, the varnish was chipped and worn, so I began by giving it a light sanding.
I tacked some small nails to the underside as a few of the nails were missing.
I had a sample pack of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in ‘French Enamel’, so mixed up the sample pack (about 2 and 1/2 tablespoons of powder).
I have a video on mixing MMS Milk Paint .
Here’s the first coat and if you look closely, you can see the one thing that most people freak out about (including me) – bleed through. This sometimes happens when pigment from the old paint or stained timber, seeps through and penetrates the paint you are applying. Eek! I tried not to freak out just yet, because this was the first coat.
I thought it might be too much to do the whole box in the one colour, so I wanted to break it up a bit by painting the panels a complimentary colour. Here it is after two coats of the ‘French Enamel” colour:
So here’s what I thought – I had a little bit of Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint left in Old White, so I wondered if it was possible to mix Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint with ASCP. Well, there was only one way to find out (apart from Google, where I couldn’t really find the answer to my question either)…
Now don’t ask me the quantities of each colour, because I didn’t measure, but I only had a small bit of the MMSMP left in the bottom of this jar, and added approx. 1-2 tablespoons of the ASCP Old White to the jar. Mixed till it was well blended and here’s my new colour which I tested out on a sample board first:
So that you can see the difference between this new colour and old white, here’s a pic below showing you the pale blue new colour on the left and Old White on the right.
And here we have the new colour on the chest.
But looking closely, I could still see what seemed to look like bleed through (the darker patchy bits).
I decided not to be too freaked out, and started distressing with a fine grit sandpaper (180).
Not too bad, but the chest still needed something else to give it that extra bit of interest…
… so I went to my favourite source of antique graphics – The Graphics Fairy.
I chose four different graphics to put on each of the panels at front and sides of the chest.
I applied the graphics by tracing over a printed copy with carbon paper behind the sheet of paper. This transfers the image to the painted surface.
My position for the next couple of hours … with coffee handy!
I have a video tutorial on using the carbon paper method of transferring graphics .
I used Sharpie paint pens to paint the image permanently on to the box going over the pale blue lines created by the carbon image transferred.
And here’s the finished look after waxing with furniture wax:
(I was very careful to wax gently over the image in case the black sharpie smudged.)
I left the inside original wood. It was clean and the varnish finish was still in good condition.
These are the four different graphics I used:
So the answer is “Yes” you can mix chalk paint and milk paint. The two paints are very compatible as they are both water based paints and both have a porous finish. I’m really happy with the result and with the new colour that blended really well with the original French Enamel of MMSMP.
The other thing I noticed by the end of this project is that I can no longer notice the bleed through. Yay!
I’m really excited to let you know that Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint is available right here at I Restore Stuff! Check out the range in our Products tab.
PS. I have a video showing just how much you can paint with only 2 and a bit tablespoons of MMSMP. You can watch it .
Have a great week everyone!
We are authorised retailers for Fusion Mineral Paint and Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Australia. This blog post may contain affiliate links.
7 Comments
Deanne
October 28, 2013 at 6:59 amIt looks fabulous, you have done a great job applying all the graphics!
I am no artist, so I use a waterslide decal, instead of trying to draw it, easy to print on the graphic and apply it.
I Restore Stuff
October 28, 2013 at 7:03 amI think the decals are a great idea. If only I could find them in Australia! I’ll have to do some more hunting. I’ve seen them used on various blogs. It would be a LOT easier!
Lynn Bennett
October 29, 2013 at 2:25 amBeeeeeeautiful!!
kim d
October 30, 2013 at 11:53 pmvery nice. I can’t believe you did all that with 2.5 tblsp of milk paint powder. I seem to use to much as I have read other people can make it go far as well. Did you use equal parts water? Thanks
I Restore Stuff
October 31, 2013 at 12:05 pmYES, it does go along way. In fact I also did a video about using a sample size packet of MMSMP (approx 2 and a bit tablespoons).
Link here:
Old Red Barn
October 31, 2013 at 7:34 amMy husband tried to mix both colors and paints as well, a couple of weeks ago 🙂
Goedele
New Videos – Transferring Graphics to Wood or Painted Furniture | I Restore Stuff
July 20, 2014 at 4:41 pm[…] I love to use graphics on some of my painted furniture, like this beautiful antique chest. You can read about this makeover HERE. […]