Hey hey hey! It’s Friday!! Are any of you as excited about the weekend as I am? I live for weekends. It’s when I have some time to be creative and get a few projects done.
Speaking of projects, let’s talk about how to achieve a chippy white look. Who else loves ALL things chippy?! We’ll just say it’s #allbecauseofchipandjo.
Let’s start with talking about milk paint. There are a few different brands of milk paint, but I’m partial to Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint.
My first experience with milk paint was a coffee table makeover. I stripped down the top to natural wood and decided to paint the base. I was going to use chalk paint, which was the only paint I was experienced with at this point.
But, my neighbor happened to walk over to check out my project and asked me if I had ever used milk paint. To be honest, I had never even heard of it before and my interest was a bit piqued. He gladly brought some over for me to try and I’ve been addicted ever since.
Milk Paint Tip #1: It comes in powder form (most of you probably already knew this, but I was a novice and this took me by surprise). You mix it 1:1 with water.
I applied it to the base of my coffee table and was loving the way it was turning out. As it started drying, I noticed that it was chipping in many places. I thought, well this is cool, I didn’t expect that. But then it kept chipping. And chipping. And chipping. I was worried that all of the paint was going to chip right off. I mean, it looked amazing, but there were chips of paint all over the floor.
Milk Paint Tip #2: It is unpredictable.
I did a little research and found this magic potion, called Miss Mustard Seed’s Bonding Agent. Apply it as a top coat and problem solved.
My chippy coffee table happened haphazardly. But let me walk you through a few steps to make sure you get that chippy look you are going for.
To get the chippy look, you have to use what is called a ‘resist technique.’ It is basically putting some type of resisting agent on the piece before painting it. There are several options you can use, such as wax, hemp oil, or vaseline. I used Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil as my resisting agent. I’ve also used the wax puck before and it works just as well.
Today, I’m going to show you what I did with these cute little spindles I picked up at a flea market for $1 each. I used Miss Mustard Seed’s – Ironstone.
If your furniture already has a glossy finish, odds are it will chip without adding any other resisting agent. But you may want to add one anyway, just in case. All of these provide barriers to the paint sticking and can be used to create layers of awesome chippiness (is that even a word?).
You want to apply the resisting agent in all of the places you would naturally see wear and scuff. You never really know how chippy your piece will get. If you definitely do not want your paint to chip, you can add Miss Mustard Seed’s Bonding Agent into your paint to prevent any chipping.
Milk Paint Tip #3: You almost always need more than 1 coat.
As you see in the pic above, it looks kinda scary when you put the first coat on. But I promise you it’s going to turn out okay.
Once it starts to dry, you see all of this chippy goodness starting to happen. This gets me so excited!
Grab a paint scraper and start scraping away those flakes of paint. Use sandpaper to smooth it out and distress the areas that didn’t flake.
You can even layer different colors of paint to give a more aged look. I did this piece a few months ago and it turned out chippy good. By the way, chippy is such a fun word. It makes me smile when I say it. I used the color Tropy as my first layer and then applied hemp oil as my resisting agent, then applied the Ironstone.
Milk Paint Tip #4: It’s super easy to work with.
See, I told you they were gonna turn out ok. You really can’t mess up milk paint. Next you will want to apply a protective sealant. You can use Miss Mustard Seed’s Bonding Agent if you are afraid of too much chipping. I used Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Wax to seal the spindles.
Milk Paint Tip #5: It’s addictive.
There. I said it. I’m addicted to milk paint. I dare you to try it and not fall in love.
Happy Friday, friends. Be blessed. xo
Heather, I absolutely love your blog. You are so talented. I can’t wait to try this. I would love to know where you find spindles for $1. WOW!
Thank you so much, Jill! I’ve been to so many flea markets that I can’t remember where I’ve picked up different things. I have a garage full of projects waiting to get done… if only I had more time. 😉