Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Archives | Page 9 of 42

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

All Things Home

progress in Calvin’s room…

We made some real progress in Calvin’s room the past couple of weeks. As a reminder, we’re transitioning our guest room into a room for our youngest son, Calvin. He’s ready to have everything done right now, but I’ve been trying to teach him that good rooms aren’t rushed together. It’s about collecting just the right items and that can take time. With the addition of a desk, bean bag chair, more masculine bed frame, some navy bedding, and a rug, it’s looking a lot more like a boy’s room, and a pretty cool one at that. One of my favorite pieces, though, is his new nightstand. This room is really small and we needed a small nightstand to fit in the tight space. I was using a stool when it was a guest room, but Calvin needed something a little more substantial. I happened to have a piece in

September 12, 2016 42 Comments

Before and Afters

landscape dresser no. 4 reveal

I finished “landscape dresser no. 4” yesterday and had the chance to style and photograph it today. The prop-pickings were slim in the studio, but I love how everything came together to showcase this piece. As a reminder, here is how the dresser started. It really was pretty as it was, but I’ve learned that even pretty wood pieces don’t usually sell for me, so I went ahead and painted it. I would call this a “mixed media” dresser, since I used two different kinds of paint together to get the finished look. I used about 90% MMS Milk Paint and 10% Liquitex artist acrylics. I used those acrylics to add some more intense color where I wanted it and for mixing with the milk paint. I used the milk paint like watercolors, so I allowed them to be translucent and to run and bleed, especially in the sky. You can check

August 31, 2016 47 Comments

Before and Afters

master bedroom nightstands

I don’t show a ton of the goings-on in my house these days largely because there’s not a lot happening as far as home improvements or decorating changes are concerned. We are transitioning the guest room to Calvin’s room, but other than that, things have pretty much stayed the same. We are changing a few things up, though, and I must say that it’s been refreshing for me. I love making tweaks and changes to a space, even if it’s just for the sake of things looking a little different. Spaces can start to feel stale when they are too stagnant, I think. For a while, I’ve been wanting to change out the nightstands in the master bedroom. I’ve been on the hunt for two antique washstands or chests that were about the same size and shape. It’s been tricky to find, but two pieces finally found their way to

August 29, 2016 33 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

landscape dresser four | part one

I’m realizing that I should probably start coming up with clever names for these landscape dressers! Well, for now, this one is “number four.” I was originally going to try watercolor over MMS Milk Paint, just to see how that worked out, but I tried it on a sample board and I didn’t like the look of it. The things I love about watercolor just didn’t happen. What looks soft on paper, looks much more intense when painted on milk paint. So, I decided to try something else. I tried using milk paint over milk paint, but more like it’s watercolor instead of milk paint. Are you tracking with me? Kriste lightly sanded the dresser and painted it in two coats of MMSMP in Farmhouse White to prep it for me. Now, it’s more like a blank canvas. I mixed up a smorgasbord of milk paint colors and squirted a few acrylics

August 25, 2016 15 Comments

All Things Home

can you repaint over wax?

Yes. End of post. Okay, not really. I will elaborate on this one. When I shared my Antiquing Wax tutorial, a reader asked if you can repaint over a waxed surface. I have heard a lot of people say you can’t paint over wax, but I’ve painted over wax numerous times, so let’s throw the “can’t” word out the window. If you paint over wax that is “wet” (even though wax isn’t really wet) or hasn’t had time to cure, the chance of the paint resisting or reacting to the wax is greater. This can be a positive thing with milk paint if you want chipping, flaking, crackling, etc. If you want the paint to stick, though, it’s important to wait for the wax to cure. The standard cure time to almost all paints and finishes is 30 days and that’s true of wax as well. Once it has cured,

August 5, 2016 22 Comments

Before and Afters

The Tricycle Dresser Reveal

It’s been a long time, but I finally painted another red piece… …and it makes me wonder why I don’t do it more often! This piece really wears red well. Here is how it started… It wasn’t bad at all, but the finish was a little tired and a refresh felt in order. I painted it in two coat of Tricycle and finished it with one coat of Antiquing Wax. You can see how I applied the Antiquing Wax HERE. The color is definitely an attention-grabber, but it’s the hardware that is the real star of this piece and I love how the red sets it off. If you look closely, you’ll notice that one of the handles was replaced at some point, but I sort of like the show of ingenuity. That’s something my Opa would’ve done. Mixed this piece with that to fix a broken handle. I had this

August 1, 2016 20 Comments

All Things Home

How to Apply Antiquing Wax

I am always in a blue & white mood. I have to work to step away from that color palette, but sometimes it just needs to be done! I’ve been feeling a red piece coming on for a while now and this antique Eastlake-style oak dresser seemed like a good candidate. And red wear antiquing wax so well, so I thought I would do an updated tutorial on how to apply antiquing wax. I painted it in Tricycle, which is the red in the MMS Milk Paint line. It really is the perfect red. While we’re talking about reds… If you’ve ever mixed Tricycle, you know it seems like it’s never going to come together! Those red pigments resist the water and just float on top, but they will eventually soak up the water and you’ll get a nice mix. I painted it in two coats in order to get

July 28, 2016 24 Comments

Furniture Makeovers

soft milk paint landscape dresser | part 1

I came into the studio on Monday morning like a tight ball of stress. The studio is my “happy place”, but I was struggling to step away from the “businessy” things and create. I finally had to force myself. I needed it. I needed to mix some paint, dip a brush in, watch a transformation in progress, feel myself relax with each stroke. I pulled out this little pine dresser and decided to start a new landscape on it. The last one I did had vibrant, playful colors. I wanted this milk paint landscape dresser to have a soft color palette. The MMS Milk Paint colors I mixed up are (from the top, clockwise) – Layla’s Mint + Boxwood, Eulalie’s Sky + Shutter Gray + Farmhouse White, Farmhouse White, and Layla’s Mint + Lucketts Green. I loved the palette just sitting on the table. I was already enjoying the benefits of a

July 19, 2016 No 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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