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two-toned milk paint dresser | part two

As I shared yesterday, I prepped this piece and painted it in MMS Milk Paint Lucketts Green… I wanted a two-toned look with some subtle variations, so I decided to layer Layla’s Mint, a softer green, on top with a rub of our Wax Puck in between. The Wax Puck is perfect when you want some differentiation between two different colors, but you don’t want it to be chippy.  The wax simply makes it easier to remove the paint when you get to the distressing stage. So, I rub the Wax Puck along the edges and lightly over the flat surfaces, so it can catch any “high points”. Since it’s easier to show you than to tell you, here is a video showing the Wax Puck in action, applying the coat of Layla’s Mint over it, and then distressing… (Just a safety note, it’s a good idea to wear a

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All Things Home

two-toned milk paint dresser | part one

A couple of weeks ago, I took advantage of a nice day and sanded down the pieces I found at a local consignment shop. You can find a tutorial on prepping a piece to paint HERE. Once sanded and prepped, I brought this oak dresser with a mirror into the studio to paint it… This piece was in nice condition, but the glossy and yellowed polyurethane made the oak look very orange and was giving it a bit of a 1980’s vibe.  The dresser has such pretty lines and I think painting it will accentuate the cottage style. I decided to go with a very soft color from the MMS Milk Paint line – Layla’s Mint.  To give that color a bit more dimension, I’m going to layer it over the brighter, more saturated Lucketts Green. The effect will be very subtle but will give the finish more character and

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All Things Home

little black dresser makeover | part 4 | reveal

When I last shared the little black dresser, it was distressed and quite honestly wasn’t wearing it very well!  Blacks and dark colors generally don’t look great in a flat finish and they at least need a little gloss to bring out the richness of the color.   This piece was painted in MMS Milk Paint’s Typewriter, so it definitely fits in that camp.   There are three other posts in this series, you might want to check them out, especially if you’re looking for step-by-step video tutorials on prepping, painting, and distressing a piece of furniture.  These steps can work on pretty much any piece whether it’s raw, painted, stained, or wearing a poly finish. Prepping a Piece of Furniture to Paint Little Black Dresser Makeover | Part 2 | Painting Little Black Dresser Makeover | Part 3 | Distressing   In this post, we’re finishing up with a Hemp

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All Things Home

little black dresser makeover | part 3

We’re in the middle of this little black dresser makeover and in this segment, it’s all about distressing the paint.  If you missed the first two segments, prepping & painting, you can find them here… Prepping a Piece of Furniture to Paint Little Black Dresser Makeover | Part 2 | Painting Here is how the piece looked after 1 1/2 coats of MMS Milk Paint in Typewriter.  It wasn’t quite two coats, but more like one full coat with a light second coat where needed.  As I shared in part 2, it only took 6T of milk paint powder for both coats. Because I like distressing and do it to almost every piece, I think that there is this idea that distressing is a must-do step with milk paint.  It’s definitely not.  It’s just my preference.  I usually paint old pieces and I like to create the illusion that they’ve been

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All Things Home

little black dresser makeover | part 2

In yesterday’s post, I shared how I prepped this piece of furniture to get it ready for painting.  If you missed that post, you can find it HERE. So, this is what the dresser looked like after the hardware was removed and it was sanded to give the surface “tooth” (something for the paint to grip)… As I was debating what color this piece should “wear”, I decided to go with MMS Milk Paint Typewriter.  First of all, it’s been a long time since I’ve painted anything black.  It’s one of our most popular colors, so thought it would be nice to showcase it in a makeover series. I love the way black looks over dark and medium woods, too.  When a piece like that is distressed and finished, it is gorgeous and I envisioned that look working with the classic lines on this dresser. Another reason I wanted to

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All Things Home

prepping a piece of furniture to paint

I intended to get a post up last night and then this morning, but time escaped me.  The mix of work, family, and church stuff has kept me busy.  I still have a few more posts to write about my trip, including our quick stay in Florence, but today I’m going to share a dresser I have been working on… I bought this pretty dresser off craigslist just a few weeks ago.  From the listing photo, I thought it was an empire dresser, but it’s actually a reproduction of an empire dresser.  It’s smaller in scale and it’s machine-made.  It’s still an older piece (probably 1940’s-50’s) and it’s a nice piece.  It had been refinished at some point and whoever did it did a beautiful job.  The finish is smooth and unmarred.  I sort of hate to paint it, but that’s the whole reason I bought it, so it’s getting

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All Things Home

Laundry Room Makeover | Part 3 | Tools & Tips

In part one, you saw the inspiration and progress for the laundry room makeover.  In part two, you saw the reveal.  Now, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty details of the tools and products I used. First of all, the kind of bead board I used was a thin, tongue and groove plank bead board from Home Depot.  It’s double-beaded, solid wood bead board by Pine Ridge.  I wasn’t able to find it on the Home Depot website, but I found it in the wood paneling section.  It comes in 8′ lengths and a shorter length for chair-rail height installation. As you can see, it has grooves on the back, which makes it easier to do “rip cuts” (cuts lengthwise), when needed.  Because it’s thin, I found it easy to work with (cut, fit around light switches, etc.) and I was able to sit it right on top

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All Things Home

makeover of the paisley chairs

I know some of you really loved the red paisley chairs as they were and, I agree, they were pretty.  I’m sure they were beautiful for the first few decades they spent on this earth, but now they were only pretty if you didn’t look too closely at them.  They were stained, watermarked, smelled a little musty from years of accumulated dust.  It was time. And, well, the red just wasn’t working for me in this space.  I wanted to stick with my cool blue, white and green color palette, with warmth coming from the wood finishes.  Whenever I looked around this room, these chairs stood out as unfinished and not-quite-right.  I think that’s mostly because I always envisioned them in a different fabric in my mind’s eye. So, I finally took the time to remove those thousands of nails and even more staples and then reupholstered them in this

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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