The Weathered Door

Experimenting with Milk Paint on a Sewing Cabinet

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Sometimes things don’t turn out the way I planned. At all. I found an old sewing cabinet with the sewing machine already removed and thought it could be a good piece for an entryway or even a nightstand.
I first used the electric sander to sand all of the larger, flat surfaces to rough then up a bit. The finish on this was very shiny and cracked because of its age. I knew I planned on using milk paint with the bonding agent, so I did not sand too much. For the first coat I mixed up a custom color. I used about 5/8 Soldier Blue, 1/8 Tavern Green and 2/8 Snow White, all by the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. (Those are guestimate measurements, I did not actually measure) I added the bonding agent and painted on one coat. It was looking like this… and I probably should have stopped there, but I wanted to try something out.
The next morning I mixed up a little bit of Soldier Blue with a bunch of Snow White to make a light blue color. Before I began I decided to try the Vasaline trick I have heard other people use. That was a mistake since I did not know what I was doing. I put it in random spots and too wide area. If I had stuck to the edges and smaller areas I think I might have liked it better. I did a second coat of blue that was just a little darker and made sure everything was covered.
I just wanted to point out that after it dried there was still a good amount of chipping even though I had used the bonding agent with the dark blue coat. It was in the areas that did not have any sanding and where the 3 coats of paint were thicker. Once dry I started using a old rag to get the paint off of the spots where there was Vasaline. It looked like it had spots.  In order to fix it I tired the sand through technique to get other areas to have the darker blue showing through. It has the look of pieces I usually don’t like where it looks like someone just took an electric sander to it… which I did. To add something else I did an MMS inspired hand painted design on the front. Just take a look for yourself 🙂

 

 

 

 

The front is definitely the better part of it. To me the sides and top are the worst. At least I know what to do differently next time. I did enjoy experimenting though! I have really been enjoying picking different flowers from the yard to use in pictures and I love these Alstromerias. They bloom for so long!
Have you ever tried the Vasaline trick and had luck with it?
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Filed Under: Before and After, Furniture Makeovers

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Comments

  5. I have tried the vaseline technique on some old cabinet door signs I was making as Christmas presents. They all turned out TERRIBLE and I had to scrap the whole thing – which left me with 2 days to find new gifts for family. :/ It's a technique that definitely WORKS, but I feel like is hard to master for the look that I'm always going for. It's almost too "spotty". I think you did a great job with this table though!

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  7. I really like the colours you came up with. I should try my hand at mixing some time, too, I really like using the Old Fashioned milk paint.

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  9. I love it!! So pretty! I have never tried milk paint yet… lots of DIY chalk paint but I would really love to give milk paint a try. You sure got fantastic results! I love the way you have it styled too:)
    Krista

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  15. I have this same piece! I found mine on a sidewalk in Brooklyn (with the sewing machine still inside)!!

    I haven't reno'd mine yet, I just gave it a rub down with some coconut oil until I figure out what the plan is.

    Reply

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