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Hand Painted Furniture

Before and Afters

Antique Pine Table Makeover

Would you believe I still have several furniture makeovers from Lucketts to share?  The past few years, I got too busy to take before & after pictures and I really kicked myself for it.  This year, I made myself grab the camera and take a before of every piece AND made sure I had an after picture of each piece before it was loaded into the truck. This antique pine table was one of my favorite pieces.  I guess I had a lot of favorites this year, because this is like the fifth piece I’ve called one of my favorites!  I found it on my shopping trip to Virginia.  It was one of the pricier pieces I bought, but I really loved it and thought it would make a nice “focal piece” in my booth.  Plus, I loved it so much, I didn’t mind if it didn’t sell.  It wasn’t purchased

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Before and Afters

Wardrobe Makeover & 2014 Lucketts Recap Day 2

Before I get to a recap of day two at the Lucketts Spring Market, I thought I would show a before and after of one of the furniture pieces I sold there this past weekend.  This is how the piece started… It was in pretty nice condition and could’ve been used as is, but I felt that paint would bring out the details of the piece much better.  Cari painted the interior in MMSMP Shutter Gray and the exterior in Grain Sack.  I then came in and added Ironstone to the details, lightly distressed the edges and finished the entire piece off with Hemp Oil. It turned out so sweet and I love the wood details against the painted finishes. It looked great in the space and sold fast!   And that’s the whole point! In contrast to the frenzy of day one at Lucketts, day two is more relaxed.

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Before and Afters

Eulalie's Sky Cabinet

Well, the Lucketts Spring Market just wouldn’t be the same without torrential downpours and some point.  Thankfully, we got them out of the way last night and the weather forecast says partly sunny with a high of 68 for the weekend.  It sounds like perfection!  Unfortunately, though, the rain last night caused a lot of flooding.  One of my tents collapsed under the weight of the two ponds that formed in the tarp.  Thankfully, the tarp did what it’s supposed to do and everything inside was clean, dry and unharmed.  Jeff and his dad fixed it all up, so my mother-in-law and I could have a nice lunch at my favorite farm-to-table restaurant.   Jeff’s a good guy…he knew that a day driving to Lucketts to deal with a collapsed tent wouldn’t be the best for me on “Lucketts Eve.” I thought I would share one of my favorite furniture

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buying & selling antiques

what's in the truck

We loaded the truck this evening and, unlike previous years, it didn’t rain!  It has rained most years when we pack the truck, which isn’t a huge deal, but it’s a pain to try to keep everything dry.  It was very soupy (humid) and threatened to rain, but waited until everything was in the truck.  Whew!  It was also the smoothest truck-packing we’ve ever had.  The guys who came to help worked so hard and were patient with me as I requested things be moved into the house first for a photo shoot, then out to the truck.  For three of them, I think this is their second or third year helping, so they have become Lucketts-packing-pros.  We are really blessed to have young men like this to help each year. Here are some things that ended up on the truck… This black desk actually belonged to my dad’s grandma.  He

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MMS Milk Paint Boxwood dresser before and after - www.mms2.wpengine.com
Before and Afters

Boxwood Dresser

For those who have been asking for furniture makeovers, well, you’re getting them now!  And I have about 12 more pieces in the basement that still need to be hauled up for their chance at a picture. This piece is actually a sort-of-custom dresser that’s already spoken for.  I received an e-mail a few weeks ago from a reader who was looking for a dresser in a specific style.  She sent some pictures along of other pieces I’ve painted and I just happened to be buying two dressers in the style she was looking for.  Jeff and my dad picked them up for me and I gave her first pick of which one she wanted. She picked the one she liked the best and asked me to paint it in Boxwood, but gave me liberty to paint it however I wanted.  That was awesome, because I usually don’t do custom

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Before and Afters

custom-mixed blue empire dresser

I shared a dresser a few days ago and labeled it as my new favorite piece in a while.  Well, I’ve changed my mind.  This one has knocked the other one off of that throne. I painted it in a color similar to French Enamel, but it’s a custom mix MMSMP of Flow Blue and Shutter Gray.  This is another Craig’s List piece I found.  It was a pretty good bargain, because it’s in rough condition.  The small drawers need runners and two of the larger drawers need to be entirely rebuilt.  But, I love empire style dressers, so I went for it.  Their chunky lines seem to lend themselves to milk paint.  Here’s how it started… The wood is beautiful, but the veneer is rough in some places and the brass hardware that was added was entire wrong for the piece.  So, we removed the hardware, cleaned it up,

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Tricycle Red Milk Paint Dresser - www.mms2.wpengine.com
Before and Afters

Tricycle Highboy Dresser Makeover

I don’t think there is any doubt that I am a blue & white lover through and through.  That being said, I have a soft spot for red.  Red is such a bold color that it’s hard to not give it a little attention.  And, when there is a perfect red, like MMSMP Tricycle, how can I not use it? This piece is a pretty ho-hum dresser.  Sure, it has a little turn to the leg, but otherwise it has straight and simple lines.  In order to make it stand out, I gave it a bold paint color. I was also being practical.  This piece was stained in that dreaded red stain that bleeds through and causes furniture painters everywhere frustration.  So, knowing frustration was imminent if I tried to paint it a lighter color, I decided to work with it and paint it red.  It’s okay if red stain

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Before and Afters

One of my favorites… |

This is one of the pieces I finished yesterday… Yes.  I painted it that way on purpose.  That’s not the before.  I’ve learned that some people get it and some people don’t!  I’ve been really inspired lately by pieces that are heavily worn, distressed and chippy, so I decided to take the distressing on this piece to the extreme.  And the result is one of my favorite pieces that I’ve done in a while. Here’s how it started…    I did take process pictures, so I’ll share a tutorial, but as a quick rundown, I painted it in a base coat of MMSMP Grain Sack followed by the Wax Puck and Hemp Oil to act as resists.  I then applied a coat of a custom mixed color – equal parts Shutter Gray and Trophy.  After a heavy distressing, I finished it with Furniture Wax and a little bit of Antiquing

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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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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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