I may have to seek a 12 step program soon. I can see it now, “hello, my name is Linda and I am addicted to miniature dressers.”
But gosh, this one was so unique. A different style completely from my other ones. I just really had to have it.
I’m sure I overspent on it. It was $55. I should have negotiated. I should have walked away. But this is the problem with addictions, you just don’t care about the cost. I guess there are worse things I could be addicted to though, right?
Once I got a good up close and in person look at this little dresser, I realized that it was originally painted, but had been stripped at some point. Here is a message for all of those people who gasp whenever someone paints wood, guess what? some wood was meant to be painted all along. This isn’t pretty wood. I’m sure back in the 80’s when stripping paint was all the rage, someone stripped a perfectly fantastic vintage paint job from this dresser thinking they would find beautiful wood underneath. Bummer. And it was in my favorite shade of aqua too. See …
But luckily I had a pretty good idea about how to restore an original looking paint job … with layers of milk paint.
First I wiped the dresser with a damp cloth. I didn’t sand at all, because I was going to be fine with some chipping. The surface felt really dry to me though, so I had a feeling it wasn’t going to chip much. I started with a layer of Miss Mustard Seed’s Luckett’s Green.
Yep, as I suspected, no chipping.
Next I added some hemp oil. I just dabbed a little on my finger and ran it around all of the edges. Then I added two coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s Linen. I used a little blow drying (with a hair dryer) between coats to encourage my paint to chip (and it did chip in all the spots that were hit with the hemp oil). Once the final coat was dry, I sanded lightly with 220 grit sandpaper, then finished with some furniture wax.
I also added a rub-on message to one of the drawers. And it’s true, I am utterly happy with how this one turned out.
Just look at that chipping, talk about divine! This is MMS milk paint at its finest.
The drawers all got lined with some pretty October Afternoon scrapbook paper.
The beauty of working on this little dresser was knowing that I was keeping it for myself, so I could do whatever I wanted with it. This is totally my look; vintage, chippy, pretty, aqua and green. Perfect for me.
I’ve already made a place for this in the Q branch.
It will be the perfect spot to store my rubber stamps and ink pads. Now I will know exactly where they are whenever I need them.
q is for quandie 
It’s really pretty and I love the drawer lining too. It’s chippy perfection. And you are right about some wood is meant to be painted. My dad taught me that when I was young that sometimes mismatched types of wood were used in the making of furniture because it was going to be painted. Not just old pieces but new wood too. When my husband and I picked out interior doors for our home many, many years ago there were two grades of wood to choose from, one meant for stain and one meant for paint. Who knew?
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I learned that the hard way on my guest room bed as well. Sometimes you just don’t know what you are going to find under that paint!
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So lovely Linda! I love those 2 colors together and it is a cutie patutie!
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Thanks Darrielle!
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I’m a cheapskate, but I have to say that was money well spent. It’s utterly darling! It also explains the mystery of your little dresser piece from a while back. This miniature is the same design as my Eastlake dresser, with a mirror and little drawer stack to the right. The upper piece of my dresser comes off, and right now I use it separately.
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Yes! I was going to mention something about that in the post, but I didn’t think very many would remember that piece from last summer. I am glad to know that someone does! Thanks Annie!
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I love it. I think I would use it as a jewellery box and it would make me Utterly Happy, too.
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I did think about using it for jewelry, but in the end I opted for rubber stamps!
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So so pretty! It looked bigger until it was put with the other items and then it cuteness really shines! One of your top ten for me, I am in love with it!
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Awesome! Top ten! Yep, as I looked over the pictures for the blog post, I realized that none of them really showed the scale of the dresser, so I added that last one with it in place. As Darrielle put it, it is a cutie patutie 😉
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I am addicted to miniature furniture, also. You are so right that some wood was originally painted. There were many Seller and Hoosier cabinets that were originally painted and made from ash. Actually, that price was reasonable for a retailer. It is a beauty. I love the job you did on it with the first color showing through. I love how you work with milk paint, but I won’t buy it again. I have only one bag left and then I’m done. Last week, I painted a child’s dresser with Grainsack. Six coats later, I ran out of paint and it still looked terrible. I just can’t put that much time into a piece of furniture. You are the queen though and everything you do is fabulous.
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Thank you for saying I’m the queen ;-), but I have a confession. After the first one or two pieces I painted in milk paint, I was with you. Especially with the first piece I painted in Grain Sack (ironically enough). With my first Grain Sack piece, the paint chipped almost entirely off, and not in a good way. Honestly, I’m really not sure what made me stick with it, but many, many pieces later I have learned to work with it. I’m glad I did, because the results I get with milk paint are like no other. I definitely would not call it an ‘easy’ product to use though. I can also tell you that the darker colors are much more ‘user friendly’ than the whites. You may notice that I rarely paint things white with milk paint. If you are covering a dark finish, it’s even tougher. All of that being said, it still shouldn’t take six coats. I am guessing that you are mixing the paint too thin, maybe? I have to say, I feel a little bad, as if I steered you down the wrong path with milk paint. I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but you are right, it can be time consuming and it’s not for everyone.
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Oh, my gosh, you didn’t steer my down the road. There is a learning curve with milk paint and since I’ve repeatedly tried to cover dark wood with whites that would explain it!
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Yep, dark wood and white milk paint is a tough combo. If you decide to give it another try, my tip is to start with the darker colors … Kitchen Scale, Trophy, Typewriter, Artissimo, Flow Blue.
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This is such a wonderful addiction to have! The makeover turned out beautiful!
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Thanks Gilly!
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I love it! In fact I am quite jealous 🙂
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You need to find one down in your area to paint up Melanie! They are so fun to do because you feel like you’ve finished an ‘entire dresser’ in 20 minutes.
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This looks great, beautiful paint job. I didn’t know that trick with hemp oil and heat to get it to chip. Wish I could find one of those miniature dressers. I am even more determined now with this inspiration :0)
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Thanks Rose! You can also get a crackle out of your milk paint by adding heat. Mix the paint a little thicker, paint it on, and add heat.
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