Chippy Eastlake Chest of Drawers in Linen
Furniture Feature Friday
Every Friday, we feature a beautiful Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint project in our Move Mountains With Milk Paint Facebook Group - a thriving, bustling place where creative minds come together to inspire, help and encourage one another.
We’d love to have you join our Milk Paint community!
This week’s featured piece is a sweet Eastlake chest of drawers in Linen Milk Paint by Marcia Clark of Freckle Face Furniture.
Step 1 - Preparation
When Marcia started work on her Eastlake chest of drawers, she didn’t jump into the painting process right away. She took the time to prep her piece, which is something we very much encourage!
You can check out our Guide to Prep Work by clicking the image below:
First, Marcia removed the existing hardware. Drawers are much easier to paint if the handles or knobs are removed!
Then, she scuff sanded and removed the dust. You can use a vacuum cleaner for that step.
Next, Marcia rubbed Beeswax all over the surface to create something called a “resist”.
A resist is exactly what it sounds like! It’s a technique where you apply a product on your surface with the intention to make your Milk Paint resist adhering. We like using our Wax Pucks or Beeswax Finish for this step.
You can read more about creating resists in these blog posts:
Step 2 - Apply MMS Milk Paint
After her piece was prepped, Marcia got ready to paint. Her color of choice was our beautiful Linen.
Because the wood on her piece was rather dark, she used one of our tricks we shared in our “Tips for Painting With White” blog post.
She applied a layer of Trophy first, and let it dry.
Applying this layer of gray gave Marcia a neutral base. If you think about it, she was going from dark wood to white paint. That’s quite the change! Having a layer of gray down first kind of got her halfway between dark wood and white.
Make sense?
Then, she applied 2.5 coats of Linen. (That last half of a coat was for touching up here and there.)
Step 3 - Distress for a Chippy Finish
Because Marcia used beeswax as a resist in the first step of her makeover, her Milk Paint did not adhere in random spots all over her piece. That was by design so she could get a chippy and flakey Milk Paint finish!
Milk Paint’s simple ingredients cause it to randomly chip and flake away from pre-finished surfaces. Where it happens, when it happens and to what extent it happens is unpredictable. That’s what gives you such an authentically aged finish on your Milk Paint projects! Again, it doesn’t always chip (especially over raw wood) but sometimes it does.
You can learn more about the basics of Milk Paint here:
Marcia wanted her piece to chip so her beeswax resist ensured that would happen.
As she gently distressed her piece with sandpaper, the loose bits of Milk Paint fell off, giving her a beautifully chippy result.
Step 4 - Sealing With Hemp Oil
For her topcoat, Marcia opted for our Hemp Oil.
Of all of our topcoat options, Hemp Oil penetrates the deepest into the surface. It’s suitable for low to medium use projects, and is applied with a brush or cloth. Use a lint-free shop towel to wipe away the excess. As with all of our finishes, allow 20-30 days to fully cure.
You can learn more about our topcoat options in this blog post:
A Chippy Eastlake Chest of Drawers in Linen Milk Paint
After installing the original handles, Marcia’s chippy Linen chest of drawers was ready to go!
When Marcia posted this little guy in our Move Mountains with Milk Paint group, it received tons of comments and likes. We understand why!
We’d love to have you join our Facebook group and participate in our weekly “Furniture Feature Friday celebration!
