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Hello, Bekob! It’s Cassie from Primitive and Proper here today with another paint review for you. Please remember that anything you read is my opinion and mine alone- just a little preface.
Today I am going to talk about…. Old Fashioned Milk Paint! I have only recently begun using it and so far I am sold. The first piece I tried it out on was this cute little nightstand, which was once part of a vanity. I picked it up at a yard sale…. I am always a sucker for these pieces!
Now, with Old Fashioned Milk Paint no sanding or priming is necessary, but the paint will flake off where the paint wants to. I love that about this paint- it makes it a little more interesting and gives it an authentically old look.
Old Fashioned Milk Paint comes in a powder form and the directions state to mix one part water with one part powder. In my own experience, I have found that warm water works well. I put it with the powder in a small container, I put the lid on, and I shake it up instead of stirring. This creates a bit of a foamy paint, but you can actually paint with the foam.
I painted this piece with two coats, and then sanded it all over. This piece was pretty dry with much of the original finish worn, so the paint adhered well, and was harder to distress. Once I finished distressing it all over by hand, I gave it a coat of a clear wax to finish it…. it felt silky smooth to the touch when that was done! I also added some new knobs I purchased a while back on clearance at Anthro. Here is the after….
Now, soon after, I painted another piece with the same paint, and achieved a much different look. The color and chippiness were different in this piece as you can see….
Here you can see a side by side of the two pieces, to see the difference…
I also recently finished a coffee table, and the paint flaked off much more than these two pieces, giving it a much more weathered and chippy look.
So as you can see from these examples, the paint reacts differently with different woods and finishes. I don’t always know what result I will get, but I happen to love that! It’s half the fun!
So here are my overall thoughts on Old Fashioned Milk Paint.
Pros:
1. straightforward to mix and apply.
2. Dries quickly.
3. Environmentally friendly and safe.
4. Gives an authentically old finish.
5. Finishes beautifully with straightforward to apply wax.
Cons:
1. Works best for an old look…. doesn’t lend well to modern.
2. The chippiness and finish are somewhat of a surprise… I consider this a pro, but I am sure many people would not like the unpredictability.
3. Limited on colors, though colors can be premixed in powder form before water is added.
All in all, I absolutely love using this paint and love the look it creates- it is like no other paint I have used! Hop on over to my blog…. I have a couple more milk paint projects in the works soon to appear!
If you want to know more about Cassie’s other paint reviews look at these as well:
