Another Milk Paint Success!! {& tips}

I have a new mustard yellow chair in my living room!! Woo-hoo!!
It is imperfectly perfect. 🙂

Who remembers the dresser I painted with milk paint back in September?

So, this chair is officially my 2nd success with milk paint!! I forgot to get a before shot…maybe I can find one elsewhere from another shot of our house. But it was a wood stain a little darker than oak, but not quite cherry.

The best part about milk paint?!!? YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAND. Yes, you read that correctly. Perfection. Bliss.  No sanding. If I had to sand, these projects would never have been completed. At least by me.

Here are a few beginner, basic tips for you.  Keep in mind, I am NO expert. These are just things I learned with my dresser and chair.

Beginner Milk Paint Tips

• the liquid paint was much easier to deal with than the powder – the mixing of the water/paint was just kind of messy for me, I preferred the can that was already liquid
• one pint lasts a WHOLE dresser (above) and a little bit more!
• spread, spread, keep swiping with your paintbrush and the paint keeps appearing. 🙂
• once the clear glaze is on, it will look a lot different. For me, that was good, it made it a little more “dull” and not so bright, just what I was looking for
• *most* older items don’t have to be sanded – but if it is new-ish and GLOSSY you will have to sand. I tried painting a black serving tray that mustard color, and while in the end it was successful, it had to be sanded and sanded. No fun. Just keep in mind, if you have super glossy, smooth, new furniture you may still have to sand.
• when you first start painting, if the milk paint doesn’t stick at all – that is your clue that you need to sand. 🙂
• some projects will start to “crackle” right away – if it crackles so much and doesn’t stick AT ALL, you may need to sand. But, if it slowly does it in a few places, this is what my chair did and it ended up PERFECT. Just how I wanted it. 🙂
• my dresser, on the other hand, didn’t crackle at all – so I used sandpaper to sand at the end and distress it just a bit. This worked perfectly also.

Products I used:

• Antique White Milk Paint, Pint – this is the antique white I used on the dresser, it came in liquid paint
• Milk Paint Mustard Pint – This is the mustard color, it came in POWDER form
• Minwax 63333 Satin Polycrylic Protective Finishes, 1 Quart – this is the clear glaze I painted on top of the paint. I did not use a quart though! I used a small pint container and it covered the dresser AND the chair exactly.

This chair has been good for me personally, and not just my living room. 🙂 I feel like I’m “coming into myself” in my own home recently. I’m choosing things that I actually love. I’m getting rid of things I don’t love. I’m embracing colors that may not be generally well-loved. I’m embracing my own likes and dislikes. This is new for me. And exciting. And fun.

This chair isn’t perfect. Not by any stretch of the means. I didn’t even paint very evenly. Yet, I love it. I love the imperfections. I love the color. I love the crackling and the distressing. I love that it is imperfect.

Now, if I could just learn to embrace ME like I’m embracing my style and my home…I’m getting there. I’m *only* 36yrs…hee hee. Either that or I’m just a very slow learner! 

{I’m linking up with Thrifty Thursday because it is definitely more thrifty to paint a piece of furniture that you already own rather than buying new!! Yes?!!? And amen! 🙂 }