A Victorian Washstand Get a Chippy Milk Paint Makeover!
One of the looks that Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint does so well is “the chippy look”. It is the perfect design style for my latest project – a Victorian washstand! Since refinishing this sweet piece, I’m sure I’m more in love with Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint than ever!
What Is The Chippy Look, And Why Does It Happen?
Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint is a powdered product that you mix with water to turn into liquid paint.
This paint dates back to ancient times and has been found in cave paintings. It has 5 simple ingredients – chalk, clay, limestone, natural and synthetic pigments and casein (milk protein).
Because of this simple makeup, Milk Paint can resist adhering to surfaces that are slick, glossy or oily. It will fall off in random patches. This is what we call “chipping”!
When Milk Paint chips, where it chips and to what extent is completely random. That results in a finish that is authentically aged. The randomness of the chipping pattern makes it appear natural and “not on purpose”.
Creating The Chippy Look
Creating the chippy look on a piece of furniture can be a bit tricky to bring about because of its random nature. There are some steps that you can take to increase the odds that your piece will chip though! Here are my top tips:
- Use a Paint That Will Chip. Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint is the best paint to use to create the chippy look. It’s a bit harder to force if you use General Finishes Milk Paint or Chalk Paint because those products have a more modern formula and are meant to adhere to just about everything.
- Use a Resist. If you’re going to paint raw wood with Milk Paint, it will not chip. Milk Paint will soak in like a stain and it won’t go anywhere! To force chipping, rub some wax or apply some Hemp Oil to the surface first, then paint. the Milk Paint won’t be able to stick to areas where you applied the resist, and it will *hopefully* chip!
- Use a Hairdryer. If you apply heat to your Milk Paint as you apply it, it may chip and crackle, further adding to the authentically aged aesthetic. (How’s that for alliteration?)
Sealing A Chippy Finish
The topcoat I recommend when creating a chippy finish is Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat.
This water-based polyurethane finish has a matte sheen, making it ideal for sealing in a chippy finish. It’s also the most durable topcoat in the MMS Milk Paint line, which was perfect for my little washstand.
Mixing a Custom or Bespoke Color
When it came time to decide on a paint color for this washstand, I knew I wanted to pick something that would brighten it up. Its original finish looked a bit sad.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Miss Mustard Seed herself had painted a washstand that had a very similar look a few years ago.
To create this custom blue/green color, Miss Mustard Seed mixed equal parts Shutter Gray, Eulalie’s Sky and Layla’s Mint together. It made a pretty (and custom) shade!
I mixed up the same blend of powders on my little washstand, and it wears it just as well as Miss Mustard Seed’s!
Available to Purchase
If you’re interested in this chippy little washstand, view its listing here. I offer local pickup, delivery and shipping across the country. Email me if you’re interested at eighthundredfurniture@gmail.com.
If you’d like to purchase the products I used on this project, you can grab them from my booth space at Morgantown Market in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. If you’re not local, you can shop for them in my online shop.
- Here’s a handy list of what I used:
- Tough Coat
- Eulalie’s Sky
- Layla’s Mint
- Shutter Gray
