Hey everybody! Thanks so much for joining me this week for milk paint madness. It has been fun sharing lots of info about milk paint with you. I hope that all of you learned at least one or two new things. Before I continue I want to take a moment to thank you guys for all of your comments, as well as your continued support of my blog. I really do appreciate every one of you!
For today’s post I want to take everything we’ve learned over the last week and put it all into practice on piece of furniture. So let’s get started.
My friend Meggan or, as I now call her, the thrift doctor (I’m trying to convince her to start writing her own column here on my blog called ‘ask the doctor’ with thrifting tips, what do you think?), texted me a few weeks ago letting me know that there was a fabulous desk at the local Goodwill with a bargain price tag. Luckily Mr. Q was available to dash over there and pick it up for me because I know it would have gone fast.
It doesn’t have a lot of frills, but I like the legs and the drawer pulls are really lovely. It also was in fairly good shape.
I really didn’t love the orange-y color of this piece though. I didn’t even want that color to show through in the chippy spots. So I decided to layer some colors on it using bonding agent in the first color so that it wouldn’t chip down to the wood.
I could also have used a base layer of chalk paint or Fusion acrylic paint, but in this case I had a particular color in mind, Homestead House milk paint in Maritime. A very pretty blue. So I mixed my paint first using one part water to one part powder. Once that was well mixed, I added another one part Miss Mustard Seed bonding agent and stirred it in.
Next I moved on to the prep work. As I mentioned yesterday, good prep is key to controlling the chipping you might get with milk paint. But in this case I was using bonding agent in my first layer of paint so I could slack off a little. Still, I sanded the piece briefly by hand and wiped it down with a damp cloth.
Then I brushed on just one coat of the Maritime milk paint with the bonding agent added. Now, if I was a really good blogger I would have taken a photo at that point to share with you now. But no, I didn’t (although that photo of the brush above is taken on top of the desk with its coat of Maritime). I can tell you that the paint did not chip at all and it had just a little bit more sheen than milk paint normally does. Similar to the slight sheen of Fusion acrylic paint.
A couple of days went by before I got to the next step in my project, which gave the Maritime plenty of time to dry. Next, my plan was to use the Homestead House Salad Bowl Finish (or beeswax finish) to encourage a controlled amount of chipping and paint over it with The Real Milk Paint Co’s Soft White milk paint. So I mixed up the white milk paint, again using equal parts water and powder, and left that to sit while I used my finger to smear some beeswax finish along the edges of the desk.
After painting one coat of the Soft White, you can see the areas where the beeswax is resisting the paint. The areas without beeswax are not chipping at all. This also gives you a good feel for the coverage of the Soft White over a darker color. Pretty good for one coat I think.
I added a second coat of Soft White and left it to dry.
My initial plan was to leave the desk white, but you know what? I didn’t like it. I felt there was too great a contrast between the white and the blue. It looked splotchy instead of perfectly chippy. Sorry, again no photo of that step!
One thing that I have learned over the years is to follow my instincts when it comes to these moments. If my gut is telling me that I don’t like it, I switch gears instead of trying to make it work as is.
So I decided to mix a custom color of milk paint that was about halfway between the lighter Soft White and the darker Maritime. I pulled out three almost empty bags of milk paint, Miss Mustard Seed’s Shutter Grey and Eulalie’s Sky and Homestead House’s Upper Canada Green and started mixing.
I ended up with this pretty smoky blue with just a tiny hint of green.
I added just one coat of this color over the white. Once dry I started sanding the edges and discovered the most perfect chipping.
For me, this is the magic of milk paint.
I know you can get a similar look layering chalk paint or even Fusion paint, but I think milk paint always looks the most authentic.
As you can see, I did end up with a little of the wood showing after all, but those are spots where I sanded through the layer of Maritime, not spots where the paint chipped due to the application of the beeswax.
After sanding the entire piece lightly with some 220 grit sandpaper to get it nice and smooth, I added a topcoat of The Real Milk Paint Co’s Dead Flat finishing cream. Since this is a desk there is the potential it will get a fair amount of use, so I wanted a little more protection than just wax.
By the way, I spruced up the drawer pulls a bit by adding some of Prima Marketing’s Metallique wax in Vintage Gold.
To learn more about that product check out this post.
In the end I love how the desk turned out. I think I’m going to do more multi-layered pieces using milk paint. It really adds some authentic age to the piece to see multiple layers of color as though it has been painted several times through the years.
This brings us to today’s giveaway, and guess what? I have two prizes for today!
The first prize includes: five colors of milk paint, a Homestead House Espresso wax, a Miss Mustard Seed white wax and a brush. Thank you to Homestead House, Miss Mustard Seed and The Real Milk Paint Co for providing the items for this giveaway. Approx. value: $135.
And I also have a bonus giveaway today! A while back I had asked Sausha at Sweet Pickins if she wanted to participate in milk paint madness week by providing some merchandise to giveaway. She said yes, but then life happened and she didn’t get her stuff shipped right away so I just received it in the nick of time in yesterday’s mail. So I decided to just give that away as a bonus prize today.
Includes: my absolute favorite Sweet Pickins color, In A Pickle, Oil Wax, Extra Bond, a sanding block, paint brush and paint mixing whisk. Thank you to Sweet Pickins for providing these items. Approx. value: $55.
The basic rules: to be eligible to win today’s prize leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favorite milk paint color is. Your comment must be left on the blog, not on Facebook. You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!
I will randomly draw the names of two winners for today’s prizes from all of the comments left on this post by Saturday, April 7, 2018 at the stroke of midnight. You are eligible to win each day, so if you have left a comment on each day’s post, your name is eligible to be drawn for each prize.
The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, April 13, another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.
I’ll be announcing the names of all six winners from milk paint madness week on Monday, so be sure to check back.
In the meantime, remember to pin today’s post for future reference.
And if you are local and in need of a pretty smoky blue desk, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details on the desk.
q is for quandie 
My favorite milk paint color is Miss Mustard Seed Artissimo, but I like a lot of different colors! Thanks for your work in sharing all of these posts this week!
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Another fabulous piece. Love the drawer pulls too. I think my favorite color might be Eulalie’s Sky.
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I actually have 2 favourites both Miss Mustard Seed…Lucketts Green and Schloss. I will be byuing some Salad Bowl to give your distressing merhod a try!
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I have loved this series, a Quandie start to my day 5 days in a row. The layering thing has been on my mind all week, MMS milkpaint blog did a post on just this subject on Monday. The desk is beautiful. I love the color and the pulls are so great. So, for the winning entry question, today I’ll say Shutter Grey is a favorite milk paint. Although I am partial to many of the colors, I do paint with white the most.
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I would love to see Meggan do a blog. She seems to really know her way around the thrift stores! Love the week of info…thanks for taking the time out of your busy life to share your knowledge!👍
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Meggan definitely has skills when it comes to thrifting!
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Wowza! I love the layering. The possibiities with color combinations are endless!
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Thank you for your time and effort to post all your “learnings” I think Meggan would add another element to your blog not seen elsewhere.
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What a great week of informative posts! Thanks you Linda so much! I love any color in the turquoise family ❤️.
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Favorite milk paint color – hmmmm. Right now it”s a toss up between MMS Artissimo, Boxwood and Typewriter. I could also imagine them being blended together in different proportions or combinations. Also layered. Can’t wait to try milk paint with different top coats or blending agents.
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I layered Boxwood and Artissimo on the desk in my Q Branch, and it was an awesome combo. You can see that post here.
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I don’t have a favorite, but I am drawn to dark blues and black. Thank you for the information this week!
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Thanks for this series, Linda! You’ve given me the encouragement and inspiration to start using that milk paint that’s down in my craftroom closet! As for my favorite color, I’d have to say anything with blue/grey/green tones would be my faves. I especially love some of the custom colors you mix up. So many possibilities!
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Miss Mustard Seeds Luckett’s Green is my favorite and most used color of milk paint. I love that it is so close to the green used years ago. Thanks so much for all your tips this week! 🙂
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Luckett’s is the perfect vintage green. I was just thinking the other day that Fusion doesn’t have a similar green in their line of acrylic paint which is too bad because it’s the perfect green for layering.
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Great posts this week..I’ve learnt allot..my favourite colour is black..you have painted so many great pieces in black that I will be using black on my next painting project..thank you for your wealth of knowledge
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It is to hard to decide on a favorite color it will always for me, depend on what I am working on. I do tend to lean towards greens and deep blues.
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Absolutely love the way this turned out! I am just learning the chalk paint techniques and love reading and learning from your blog. I do love the Maritime milk paint, nice warm white
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Argh! I have so many favorite colors! I’ve used both MMS & SW but have not tried Homestead yet. I love MMS Farmhouse White & Lucketts Green and SP Sweetie Jane!
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I love that Sweetie Jane too!
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This desk is magical! The transformation is fabulous! I cannot wait to try it myself. I need to get some of these products STAT!! Thank you so much!
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Wow!!! I LOVE the desk! Your blog was very informative this week (although much of it was way over my head)!
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I have been reading these posts to my husband all week since in his business he paints furniture occasionally for his clients. The fact that using a bonding agent changes the sheen is good to know. Pretty desk and I love that hardware. Isn’t lovely to have friends like Meggan!
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Yes it is!
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My favorite color right now is MMS Apron Strings. You inspired me to get my milk paint out and make a chalkboard yesterday. I used Artissmo for the blackboard part. It’s cute! Loved this series from you. I have a similar desk I may be brave enough to use milk paint on now – need to get some of the finishing cream you like. 😊
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I love the idea of Artissimo for a chalkboard! Now I’m going to have to try it 😉
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How about Miss Mustard Seeds Kitchen Scale..it has an old fashioned take me back to when I was a kid vibe. 😜
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I loved this post! So often I am hesitant to layer colors but after reading this, I think I’m ready to give it a shot! I love any of the blues/greens…probably Eulalie’s sky would be the ultimate favorite!
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I have really enjoyed this week’s posts and all the wonderful tips and products. They were very informative and really fun to read.. thank you.
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I have really enjoyed this week’s post. I feel so inspired. I started my first milk paint project using Old Fashioned Milk Paint in Oyster White. I’m really surprised by the velvety feel after sanding! I’ve also ordered Sweetie Jane by Sweet Pickins. I can’t wait to do some layering!!! Thank you again for the awesome post!
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I really like this project! It helps to hear your thought process regarding the selection of materiasl. Do I have to pick a color? There are so many beautiful choices. Okay–Bergere!
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I have only tried one color but i am looking for that special green, thinking lucketts green might be the one.
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I know which piece I am going to try this layering technique on! I have really appreciated all the tips this week, as it can get so confusing. Thanks for hosting a giveaway, I mean, c’mon, MILK PAINT and stuff! 🙂
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blue alligator!!! I love the combo colors !!
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Favorite milk paint color is Miss Mustard Seed Artissimo, I have yet to try it, but it looks amazing…I also like Marzipan….Thanks again for the wonderful posts this week!!
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Thanks for your work in planning this instructive series. You are definitely a Paint Whisperer! I agree that the magic (or horror!) of milk paint is the chipping factor, which I love when controlled. The color layers give this desk instant personality and hint at an interesting provenance. Adding Megan’s expertise would give a great well-rounded dimension to your blog! And my milk paint favorites are MMS Trophy and Eulalie’s Sky.
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I like the desk. It turned out nice. No one favorite color for me but I like all the blues.
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Awesome post, again! You are making me obsessed to try out milk paint! I love mms eulalie’s sky, luckett’s green, ummm….I think all of them! The beeswax trick to resist paint is a fun one. I’ve tried it with chalk paint. Sigh…so many ideas, just not enough time!
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I hear that Toia!
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Thank you for taking the time to write your blog. This week has been especially awesome. I love the greens.
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I love the layering too and I totally agree Meggan needs to at least have a guest spot once in a while. Perhaps each season with her tips? The desk is stunning!
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Love the seasonal idea!
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I’m not sure it is possible to have just one favorite color of milk paint!! But if pressed (and if I want to win things) I’m going with MMS Flow Blue and MMS Tricycle Red. I love a bold pop of color. I’m painting an antique washstand in Farmhouse white right now and that creamy white makes me pretty happy too 😀 Okay fine, I like them all! Loved this post on layering- I’ve dabbled in it but need to try using a wax resist next time to see if that works well. Thanks! I’m loving milk paint week.
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My favourite milk paint colour is Eulalies Sky.
I would love to win the Sweet Pickins milk paint and would love to try their oil wax ! Her colours and photos are always devine.
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Her colors are devine! And her packaging is so pretty too. 🙂
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Your desk is heavenly! I love the color you ended up choosing over the white. I would love to know how you know what color of powders to mix and the quantities to use to get all your sweet colors. Is it pure luck or do you document what you use each time and refer back? I have never used milk paint but always lean toward the lighter neutrals or paler colors. Thanks for all the tips and advice this week. I will definitely be putting them all to use in the very near future.
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The custom color combos I come up with are pretty much hit or miss. I am really a novice color mixer. But I do have some basic concepts in mind, like adding a white with a grey undertone (Grain Sack, Raw Silk) to make a color lighter but not brighter. Or adding a little green to a blue to get more of an aqua color. I tend to just keep throwing in a little of this or a little of that until it looks right. But that being said, I can never accurately recreate the colors I come up with.
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The desk turned out beautiful and the hardware is swoon worthy. My favorite color is mixing leftover paint/paint powders together and coming up with something unique.
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This had been so much fun and I’ve learned lots and lots. (BTW, get your friend to write a guest blog about thrifting because we will love it!) I have never milk painted but seen enough of your pieces to be attracted to In a Pickle- but I just love green anyways. Thank you for being honest about repainting when it just doesn’t feel right either. I’m learning to trust my gut and not sweat the redos.
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I’ve learned that it’s much easier to decide to change the paint color before you move on to the topcoat!
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This has been a very informative series! I have learned about milk paint technique and feel a little more confident about trying milk paint. My favorites are the greens especially Lucketts Green. Thanks Q!
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Oh be still my heart-the desk is perfection.I have learned so much this week so thanks. My current favourite milk paint is MMS Shutter grey. YES to Meggan doing a guest spot.
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Isn’t it crazy how with milk paint, you can end up with some of the best do-overs! Love how the desk turned out. Did you reapply the resist after the second coat? I follow your blog so much and refer back to it so often for tips and pointers, I feel like a blog-stalker :). Great week!
> WordPress.com
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I did not reapply the resist. No need, there was still enough of it there to resist the final color of paint.
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It is so hard to pick out a favorite color! I do tend toward the whites for a farmhouse look. I have been introducing more blues into my home and painted my four poster bed a pretty turquoise color in milk paint that I picked up at JoAnn’s. I have a couple of pieces right now that I am wanting to paint so hoping for a WIN!!
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My favorite color is Beachglass from the Real Milk Paint Company. Thank you for the opportunity to win!
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Thank you for your great tutorials and explaining the pros and cons of using one product vs. another. And for being real about when things don’t work out – pivot to Plan B!
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Yep, there are a few Plan B’s in my life 😉
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Beautiful desk, I love the layers of color. I also love how you prettied up the hardware. Thank you for the giveaway. I love a milk paint finish. I’d love to try some of the sweet Pickens products too.
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So many colours to choose from but Eulalie’s sky or kitchen scale always jump to the front. Great series, so helpful!!
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Good morning Linda! What a beautiful desk. I love the color that you mixed up. The layering is perfect. I think Meggan should participate. Good to know tips! Thanks for all of the good information. What a great week of info on milk paint!
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gorgeous! Love that oldies but goodies like this desk can get a new .
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I always seem to lean towards the blue and green colors, but black painted furniture also has a place in my house!
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