Tags
antique dresser, bow front dresser, farmhouse, flow blue, flow blue dresser, milk paint, milk paint dresser, miss mustard seed paint, painted dresser, using hemp oil, vintage
I’ve tried milk paint only once before, but the initial experience turned me off a second attempt for quite a while. I had originally painted a little demilune, and was not prepared for the entire piece to literally chip off. I was horrified and did not attempt to work with milk paint again until very recently. I gradually came to the conclusion that I was ready to try again, after admiring many of the beautiful milk paint furniture makeovers in the blogosphere, and also by doing more research on milk paint. Youtube is an amazing thing. There are so many great tutorials out there about the different effects you can achieve with milk paint. I found myself becoming excited and inspired. Timing also played a part, as I discovered that there is a milk paint retailer (Greenworks Building Supply) right here in Vancouver (literally a few km away). I came home with MMS Flow Blue, Ironstone and Grainsack. I also bought her hemp oil and some clear wax… oh, and of course some bonding agent and a little MMS paint mixer. 🙂
Then, I found this beautiful bow front antique dresser on Craigslist.
A couple was moving to Toronto and needed to clear out a storage locker asap. I new milk paint would be a perfect fit for this dresser, because it’s a much thinner paint (than chalk paint or latex) and allows the wood to show through very naturally with a bit of dry or wet sanding.
This time I didn’t want to mess around – I new I was not going for the chippy look on this dresser, so I added the bonding agent and used my MMS mixer. I put on two coats of flow blue and then gently sanded using 220 grit sandpaper, until I got the look I was going for. This time my experience with milk paint was so much more rewarding! I love the look and really love the way that the milk paint seems to leave small variations in colour – the blue seems to take on different hues over the surface of the piece. It really gives it a lovely depth and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result.
I finished by sealing the paint with clear wax and buffing to a shine.
I ended up replacing the hardware on the top two drawers only because one of the original pieces was missing. I found these lovely knobs at Lee Valley and added a little of the flow blue into the crevices of each knob. I love them!The colour is beautiful. As you can see, I left the top unpainted and refinished it and stained it dark walnut and then sealed it with MMS hemp oil. I love the look of the tiger oak. I painted the inside of the drawers in Ironstone and added a stencil to the top two.This is probably one of my very favourite pieces I’ve worked on. I definitely see more flow blue in my future!
Kathryn
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