Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Archives | Page 24 of 42

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

Before and Afters

1920's dental cabinet makeover

Can you handle another furniture makeover? The Chapel Market is less than a week away and we’re getting to the end of the furniture I have worked on for the event. I picked this dental cabinet up last week while I was shopping for accessories and “smalls” for my booth. I saw this and just couldn’t pass it up. All of the little drawers and glass knobs caught my attention and the low price convinced me to not walk away, even though I wasn’t officially shopping for furniture. The piece was structurally sound, but it had clearly been neglected in a barn or somewhere moist for several years. This makeover wasn’t going to be about dramatically changing the appearance of the piece, but about making it look and function better. The original trim on the bottom had rotten away and many of the drawers weren’t functioning as well as they

October 19, 2014 24 Comments

Before and Afters

hand painted empire dresser makeover

It has been a marathon getting ready for The Chapel Market, which is just over a week away, but it’s been so fun, too. I am most focused and intentional when I’m working towards a specific goal. And this time has been even more fun, because I’ve had a lot of great help and the amazing studio space to work in. I’ve been relishing it! I have been a little overzealous with filling the “green zone” (aka my mockup booth for the event), because I’m starting to wonder how it’s all going to make it down to Alabama. Has anyone invented a way to beam furniture, yet? That would make things much easier. We have a plan A and a plan B, so hopefully it’ll all fit. It’ll be like playing Tetris. Anyway, here’s the latest makeover… Here’s how this piece started… Now, you know me and paint. I don’t usually

October 17, 2014 30 Comments

Before and Afters

say hello to "bergere"

It’s been a while since I asked you to say hello to a new milk paint color! I’m really excited to share our first Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint color from our European color line that will be launched in January 2015. We are introducing six new colors that will be carried in our European & UK markets, but will be available elsewhere on a limited basis…meaning our retailers outside of Europe aren’t required to carry the colors, but some will. I would encourage calling ahead before driving somewhere to buy one of these limited colors. So, the first color I’m introducing is a smokey blue/gray called Bergere, named after the French style of chair that I love so much. (And no, they aren’t all blues!) This is definitely a chameleon color that looks bluer in some light, grayer in others and lighter/darker as well depending on what’s around it. It

October 10, 2014 35 Comments

Before and Afters

victorian settee makeover reveal

I shared a preview of this makeover yesterday, but here is the full sha-bang (that’s a highly technical decorating term)… This isn’t a typical piece for me to buy, but as you may have figured out already, I like to change things up, so I don’t get stuck in a rut. Buying a piece of furniture that is atypical for me helps me with that. Sometimes I love the piece and then I want to explore that style more. Other times, I enjoy working on the piece, but I don’t fall in love with the style. I really like how this turned out, but I’m not sure you’ll see a lot of stuffy victorian settees here. This is how the piece started out… It was one of the messiest pieces I’ve ever worked on…shedding grass and old burlap every time someone brushed passed it or breathed near it. The fabric

October 8, 2014 33 Comments

Hand Painted Furniture

the victorian settee & more

Our days in the studio lately are mostly spent painting, since we’re getting ready for the Chapel Market. We crank up the music or sometimes chit-chat about life, mix up some milk paint and work on one piece after the other. We’re making good progress, but there is still a lot to do and I’m feeling a bit behind since I was under the weather a couple of days last week. I’m feeling so much more energetic now and I’m ready to tackle our to-do list. The last time I shared the victorian settee with you, Kriste was putting a thin coat of Tough Coat on it to prevent the original red stain from bleeding through. This has worked for me before with a yellow stain, but I hadn’t tried it on the “dreaded red stain”. I was really putting Tough Coat to the test, because I want to paint

October 5, 2014 16 Comments

Before and Afters

jelly cupboard reveal

I always enjoy getting ready for a show, so I have a reason to work on a lot of furniture! I finished the jelly cupboard this week and I finally get to reveal it… This is how the jelly cupboard started… It’s an old piece…most likely mid-to-late 1800’s. I always love working on old pieces that have been neglected for a few decades. This piece had been painted a rather sad brown and was really dirty. The hardware was broken and had been repaired, but the repairs weren’t holding. It was sturdy and had great bones, so I was excited to bring it back to life. You can read the process of how I painted it HERE, but in a nutshell, I painted it in Artissimo MMSMP, then used the Wax Puck as a resist, applied a coat of Flow Blue, distressed with two different grits of sand paper and

October 3, 2014 28 Comments

Before and Afters

painted tote

Kriste and I were working on pieces for the Chapel Market last week and I blurted out, “I’m in the mood to paint!” I bet you think I’m always in the mood to paint, but I’ve gotten busier as my business has grown and become more diversified and I have left more things unpainted. When I buy small wooden totes, crates, boxes, baskets, etc., I just leave them alone. Well, as I said, I was in the mood to paint, so we started painting anything that I thought would look good painted. I picked up this humble tote someone handmade out of bits of wood and plywood and painted it in Ironstone MMS milk paint. I didn’t take an official before picture, but you can spot it in this photo. It just looked a little blah, but the homemade appearance of it spoke to me. It was crooked in a sweet way

October 1, 2014 18 Comments

Hand Painted Furniture

the jelly cupboard | distressing & antiquing

As a recap, this is how the jelly cupboard started… It looks like wood grain, but it was actually painted brown. I painted it in MMS Milk Paint Artissimo without the bonding agent added. The previous coat of brown paint wasn’t glossy, so I expected the milk paint to adhere pretty well. It chipped in just a few places, which was perfect. The jelly cupboard had amazing texture on the finish and I wanted to bring that out by using two different blues and distressing. To make the distressing process easier, I rubbed the surface with our natural beeswax puck. You can use any kind of beeswax or candle wax you have on hand for this technique. I also rubbed the edges of the piece, where the paint would naturally wear away. When using the wax puck between layers of paint, it acts as a resist. It makes it easier to

September 30, 2014 28 Comments

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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