Preorder Move Slow & Make Things, and enjoy a collection of thoughtful bonus content created just for you!

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint

Before and Afters

two chair makeovers

I had another BYOF workshop last weekend.  (BYOF stands for Bring Your Own Furniture, for those who didn’t figure that out!)  I always love those classes, because I get to help people work on one of their own pieces as they learn how to use milk paint and the finishes.  Not only do they learn, but they get something done in the process.  This workshop was just two ladies, me and my mom, so it was really low key.  I even had the chance to do some painting. Both of the ladies brought chairs.  The first one was an interesting child’s size chair that doubles as a stool.  It was clearly something that was homemade for a specific purpose, so it’s really unique. The owner chose to paint it in Shutter Gray, distressed and finished with Antiquing Wax… The other chair was a farm-style, plank-bottom chair, except it’s not old.

Read More
Before and Afters

layla’s mint dresser

I bought this dresser off of Craig’s List a few months ago when I was having a run on empire dressers.  I think I found 5-6 of them, all for under $100, within a few weeks.  It was crazy. This is one of the roughest dressers I’ve worked on, but it was the cheapest one of the bunch and I figured we could do something with it.  It has a pretty wicked shimmy at the moment and the drawers are a little wonky, but I think Jeff will be able to fix it to at least make it functional. It’s a chunky piece, but has a bowed top drawer and some turned details on the sides that add some femininity to it.  I decided to paint it in Layla’s Mint, one of our new MMSMP European colors, to make it even more soft and feminine. I did not add Bonding

Read More
Before and Afters

boxwood empire dresser

Sooo…there is a dresser that’s been hanging around in the studio for months.  It’s a beautiful empire piece with some amazing graining on the drawers and I just wasn’t ready to paint it.  I pushed it against the wall and waited until inspiration struck. I was thinking about the dresser one evening and it hit me… Boxwood.  It would look stately and fitting for the lines and size of the piece. I’ve had some extra help in the studio the last couple of weeks.  Cari, aka “The Machine” is back to help with stripping chairs.  And, we’ve had a new helper, Megan from Mercy in the Middle.  She attended one of my painting workshops and later reached out and asked if she could come help us get ready for Lucketts.  We clicked at the workshop, so I said yes.  Anyone who volunteers to be covered in dust and splattered with paint is a friend in

Read More
Before and Afters

lucketts green table base

 I bought a small farm table a few months ago to use as a center “island” in my booth at the Chapel Market and to, hopefully, sell.  Well, it was the one piece of furniture we took home with us from Alabama and it’s been hanging out in the studio since then.   You can see it buried a bit in this picture… Kriste and I talked about it and decided that we should paint the base of the table to make it a bit more eye-catching.  She painted it in MMSMP Lucketts Green without the Bonding Agent, so it could chip and flake away.  I lightly distressed it and finished it with the Antiquing Wax.  I think it will catch some eyes now. This was one of those times when the Milk Paint just chipped perfectly.  I literally just ran the sand paper over it, with very little pressure,

Read More
All Things Home

primitive hutch makeover

Last week was a busy one and we got a ton of things accomplished.  I’m a bit whipped from it and I need to pace myself better, but it feels good to be really productive. Here’s one of the pieces I picked up and painted this week… I spotted it on Craig’s List and immediately texted my dad to see if he could get it for me. I have been looking for a great hutch or cabinet that could be a focal point of my booth at Lucketts and I knew this one was perfect for that.  It reminds me a lot of the hutch I use in the studio… I love how that one turned out, so I painted it the same way…MMSMP Mora on the inside and Shutter Gray on the outside.  Here is a video showing how I prepped the piece and applied the first coat of paint…

Read More
All Things Home

french twins reveal

This reveal is a little anticlimactic, since you’ve already seen what one finished chair looks like and they are twins, so the other one looks pretty much the same.  As with all identical twins, though, there are some subtle differences, so I thought it was worth giving them both a proper introduction. I’m going to totally brag on my student Kriste and say that she did 99% of the upholstery work on one of these.  Can you tell which one? She did an amazing job and you can’t tell which one was done by the experienced upholsterer and which one was done by the rookie.  She did the one of the left, if you’re curious. We have a lot of chairs in the hopper to work on for Lucketts, so I’m glad to have her on my team!   Here is how the chairs started.  They weren’t bad at all,

Read More
All Things Home

upholstering a french chair | painting & finishing the chair frame

Here we are at parts two and three of our makeover of these French chairs I found on Craig’s List… We stripped off the upholstery in part one, which you can find HERE in case you missed it.  Once the upholstery is stripped, that is the time to deal with the frame if you want to change it at all.  I love leaving wood frames alone when they are to my taste, but this one had a shiny finish, black speckles that speak to the 1970’s-80’s and a hand painted gold detail that wasn’t really my thing. Stripping the finish would’ve been much more than I wanted to take on, so I decided to paint.  Kriste and I painted the frames in MMSMP in Mora… (In case it’s driving you nuts, I did paint the inside of the back left leg of my chair once the camera stopped rolling.) Since the

Read More
Before and Afters

Furniture Makeovers Galore…

If you like furniture makeovers, you’re going to have an overflowing cup after perusing this post.  This weekend, the Mustard Seed Studio hosted our first BYOF (bring your own furniture) workshop.  This is less instruction than the milk paint 101 workshop and is more about finishing a piece and learning along the way.  We had seven ladies attend, plus Kriste and my mom. The furniture (and their owners) started showing up about 15 minutes before the start of the workshop. Of course, I loved this French-back cane chair, a find from Craig’s List, instantly.  I got a little anxious, though, when Nancy, the owner, said she was going to paint the upholstery as well. The frame painted up really well, as I expected.   Nancy added the Bonding Agent to the paint, so it would adhere to the slick yellow-ish finish. I nervously checked in on her as she was painting the

Read More

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.

next art sale

May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

Now Available for Preorder

Move Slow & Make Things

A book about creativity, intention, and making things with care. Sign up to receive updates, preorder details, and exclusive bonus content.

From the Studio

Artful pieces for your home and everyday life.

From original paintings and art prints to Pup Club releases and curated goods, each piece is created or chosen to bring warmth, creativity, and character into your home.

From the Studio and Home

Shop the Feed

A handpicked collection of items styled and shared throughout posts, projects, and social feeds. Every product is thoughtfully chosen to reflect a timeless, collected aesthetic.

Recent Video

Spring Posts

Explore the Shop

Explore the Blog

Categories
error: Content is protected.

Pin It on Pinterest