February | 2015 | ferpie and fray

I wanted to do a quick blog post on the Driftwood chippy dresser, it is such a fun one. Something about this color never fails me. It has a great way of being slightly different every time, which is kind of a great surprise. When I found this piece my heart did a little happy dance, because there is nothing I love more than pieces like this. The detail that went into some of this furniture is just unbelievable. We live in an IKEA world, where furniture is just not made (or appreciated) with this much love anymore.

Within an hour or so of posting this one I had emails asking for a custom paint job… and because it was a Driftwood (Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.) request I was ok with changing my direction. I knew I could still make it my own. I ordered bone knobs (as requested) similar to some of my past projects and lined the drawers with some fun contrast map paper. Because I was really looking for a chippy appearance and the wood was in perfect condition, I did not do any prep work at all. There is a better chance of chipping if you paint in a high heat area… so after two coats I turned on my fireplace and watch the paint pull away so nicely. I let the paint dry over night and in the morning I did a light sand with 220 grit followed with 400 grit to smooth out the finish. Then I sealed it with a High Performance Top Coat by General Finishes. The finish on this piece turned out really pretty.

I have a few really cute projects lined up and I am hoping to get one finished up this weekend. I got my Spoonflower order in today and like always I am beyond thrilled with the prints that I chose. Now I just want to paper every single piece I have.. paper and knobs inspire me most. They make me start to spin ideas in my head of what colors and textures I want to pull together and see highlighted. When it doubt I do an order… makes me feel good.

xo
Amanda

I have always wanted to do a really chippy white piece and in my opinion it is one of my biggest challenges. I think its my need for good coverage. I want the white really crisp. White can be a very translucent color (with milk paint even more so) and I don’t like to see brush strokes or wood showing through in parts that are not intended. Thus it is difficult to get the nice white coverage but still allow your chippy to get…well chippy. I did not prep the body of this piece at all, because I wanted the milk paint to work its magic and the finish on the dresser was perfect. I did do two coats of spray Shellac on the top only because I needed to sand out some water rings and I didn’t want to worry about bleed through. I mixed up Light Cream by Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.

I did two coats of paint before the paint really started to chip away. In my opinion… after the paint starts to chip if you sand it off and continue to paint you will essentially be prepping those chippy parts to hold the paint, and you risk an uneven surface..if that makes sense? I try to paint over the parts falling off, whipping my brush as I go. With each layer of paint it still lifts in the same spots. With lighter colors it seems to always be harder because you need more coats to get good coverage in the areas that are not chippy. Am I losing you, yet? I think every painter has a system though and something that works well for them. Its never right or wrong. Just what works best for that artist. When you get milk paint to do its thing though… it is so beautiful not matter how you got there. Here is some progress shots of the dresser when I started to finally sand away all the flaky goodness…

I have to admit… I was sending photos to my friend Alison, sort of laughing at myself as I got closer to the end. The milk paint really took over… but as I put the finishing touches on, it really started to fit just perfectly though. No matter how much I work with this paint it surprises me every time, and I love that.

I sealed it with Miss Mustard Seeds Clear Wax, because its so smooth and easy to work with and looks fantastic over any kind of milk paint.