So the other day I took at shower at 4pm. Why so late? It was seriously the only moment of free time I was able to do it & I was starting to feel so overwhelmed with all the things I have on the go that it seemed like the only logical thing to do. #momproblems
As always, I turned on Songza and mindlessly chose the playlist entitled “90’s Crowd Pleasing Hits”. Now let me tell you, when your playlist starts of with ‘Unpretty’ by TLC and is followed by Oasis, Bush, Live, Dr. Dre & Pearl Jam, it makes it incredibly hard to want to step out of the shower. Not only was I able to take a shower long enough to listen to 6+ songs, but I also almost felt like I was 16 all over again. Moral of the story – all it takes is a super good playlist to reset yourself and get on with your day…er…evening.
So now that you know my shower routine and music preferences here’s what you actually came to read:
I’ve been painting quite a bit of furniture lately and have traded in my go-to, Chalk paint, to try something new. Milk Paint, Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint to be exact. What is Milk Paint? Great question. Milk paint comes in powdered form and when mixed with water gives you your paint. I originally bought MMSMP to paint a fabric chair and really loved how it worked on the material. With that in mind I figured it would be just as good on furniture and was quick to start painting.
You can mix the paint to be as thick or as watery as you like. The directions advise to mix at a 1:1 ratio, initially stirring for 1 minute, allowing to sit for 10 minutes and then mixing for another minute. The waiting for 10 minutes part is definitely key as this is when the powder has a chance to break down and really let the pigment to meld together to get you the color you want, it also seems to thicken up a bit as it sits. If you don’t mix it enough you will end up with chunks, and chunks when trying to get a smooth finish is not good.
I used the milk paint on 3 different finishes. The first one I did was on raw wood. I had stripped and sanded down a piece of furniture so there was nothing keeping the paint from bonding to the wood. I was surprised at how much the raw wood sucked up the paint, but there was no denying how well it stuck. I did 3 coats on the piece to achieve the color depth that I wanted.
The second finish I painted over was a clear coat over top a stain. The first coat went on ok, it didn’t stick to the surface as well as it did to the raw wood and as it dried I noticed that the paint was pulling away in some areas giving it the natural distressed look.
For the third attempt I used a bonding agent in the form of liquid sander. You can buy bonding agent directly from your MMSMP supplier, but it was on back order when I ordered my paint and I was too impatient to wait for it to be restocked. My sister in law mentioned liquid sander during a conversation we had; after some research on what exactly it was, I picked some up from our local Home Hardware and went to town with it. It’s so easy to use, you brush some on the surface you are wanting to paint and when it starts to feel like your brush is sticking a bit you can paint. You’re supposed to paint within 30 minutes in order to avoid it drying out and losing its effectiveness.
It won me over. Total believer over here. Milk paint wise, it’s the bonding bomb. The paint stuck like glue to the piece that I painted, there was no lifting or flaking of any sort. I sanded the side down to smooth the paint out and it didn’t lift off whatsoever. Definitely the way to go if you are not wanting to spend crazy amounts of time stripping and sanding.
Now, let’s talk Chalk Paint.
I go between Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint. DecoArt is thicker than Annie Sloan but they both cover great and there is seriously 0 surface prep that is required. I’ve used both brands on raw wood & wood with a varnished/clear coat finish and it really does stick to anything.
This piece was older, a little beat up and had a sketchy clear coat on it, it was also solid wood. The first coat went on well and I probably could have gotten away with 1 coat, but I did 2 coats so that the depth of the color could really come out.
In the piece below I used DecoArt Chalky Finish paint. Like the Annie Sloan it covers really well. The finish on this piece was a high gloss laminate finish. I ended up doing 3 coats on the upper portion in order to not see any streaking or inconsistency with color. Chalk paint sands well if you are wanting to distress edges and also sands well if you want to get a smoother finish on your overall look. I distressed the edges very slightly on this piece.
Both have their pro’s and con’s. They can be watered down or thickened as needed and both come in amazing colors. If you are looking for an easy way to have your piece antiquated or distressed then I would probably lean towards Milk Paint and let the paint do the finish. It’s fairly quick to dry, especially if you’re painting on raw wood. With that being said though, it’s not difficult to achieve a distressed look with Chalk Paint. Both provide that matte chalk looking finish when they’re dried and so far both have stood up great to the abuse my kids have dished out to them.
Chalk Paint is convenient as it’s ready to use and can stick to any finish without much prep. It dries quick and covers well. Both paints will definitely stick as staples in my paint cabinet & I promise that i’ll be sharing some great furniture pieces that were re-done with Milk Paint in the coming weeks. You guys are gonna love it!