Milk Paint: The Good, The Ugly, & The Saving Grace

Anyone who has ever followed Amanda from Ferpie & Fray knows just what a gorgeous finish Milk Paint can provide. It’s unpredictable, it has a mind of its own and what you envision as your final product  may not necessarily be what the end result is. Boy was that an understatement.

I’m currently obsessed with the modern farmhouse look. To me, it’s timeless, and cozy but doesn’t bore you with rust, browns and whites. Modern farmhouse is fresh and vintage all rolled up into one industrial, warm wood and ship lap package. So, because our walls are grey, and this piece was going to be in our entryway, I really wanted it to stand out but not look like something I had picked up at a big box furniture store. I wanted it to have character, and be it’s vintage self and have a nice milk paint treatment. So, I bought this off a friend who understood my love for empires. It had already been sitting in our entry for about a year, but after moving homes, it was time it got fixed up.

Here is the before photo.

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It looks to be in pretty good shape, but it needed a lot of wood filling and gluing, especially around the drawers and top. After sitting in our garage for a day or two while we prepped, the humidity bubbled the veneer on the top. So we used a heat gun and a scraper to easily peel away the veneer. Jake was adamant about painting the top because a.)underneath the veneer it didn’t look so pretty, b.)he didn’t want to have to bust out the sander again and c.)he was anxious to get the junk that lived in this dresser back in it since it was sitting on the bench in the entryway.

I went back and forth on the colors a lot but finally settled on black. I had bought a package of Old Fashioned Milk Paint in “Pitch Black” a while back but chickened out on that project. Figured it was time to get over my OCD fears and break it out.

The paint itself was easy to mix, if you followed the recipe. I used 1/2 cup milk paint powder to 1/2 cup water. After it was mixed, I let it sit for about 20 minutes while I cleaned and wiped down the dresser. After two coats, came the fun part. Sanding away the milk paint! It’s like opening your first present on Christmas day!

 After all the sanding and wiping away of dust, I used GF Satin topcoat. And after two coats, the above photo shows how dry and streaky the milk paint absorbed the topcoat. This is where I went into panic mode. I mean, I know there is always variation in colors with milk and chalk paints. But this was too much for my OCD to handle! I DID NOT want to start over and I DID NOT want to paint over this! There had to be some way to fix this ugly, dry ashy finish on my beautiful empire!

Then I remembered I had a jar of Fusion Mineral Paint’s Hemp Oil/Beeswax finish and figured, at worst I would have to paint over.

And to my surprise…

This jar of green goodness was my saving grace. Just look at the difference in color. Above drawer is without FMP’s Beeswax Finish, and the bottom is just one coat (just applied, not buffed). This Beeswax finish completely re-hydrated the milk paint AND the two coats of clear coat. I am no paint professional nor am I a chemical engineer. But I can only assume that the cause for color variation AFTER the top coat was due to the different adhesion levels of the milk paint on the drawer itself, and because milk paint is porous, the poly was ALSO absorbed in different variations within the paint. But again…this was just my attempt at trying to explain my almost failure with milk paint.

I buffed after 30 minutes, let dry overnight and applied a second coat. And this…ladies and gents is the final result.

I love love LOVE the way it came out. Just the perfect amount of chippiness!

The glass knobs really make a statement! And it still has the modern farmhouse flare.

Oh and remember that top my husband thought would be better off painted? Two coats of GF “Antique Walnut” get stain and the perfect rustic/distressed top gets to shine through.

Found this cute gift wrap at Marshall’s. Goes perfectly with my new made over Empire.

So that’s it! Don’t think I’ll be afraid of milk paint (as much) now that I know I can have some control with the finishes. Thank the Lord for that beeswax finish!

Disclaimer: I was provided with products for the purpose of this blog, however, all opinions are my own regardless of positive or negative review. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
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