A cedar chest and nighstand in artissimo with zinc wax
I recently finished a cedar chest and a nightstand for a sweet couple in Artissimo and Zinc Wax by Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint.
These two products combine together to make a dreamy industrial look that’s a must-try!
prepping the cedar chest
The first piece I tackled was this impressive Lane cedar chest.
It was very heavy and well-made, so I needed Marc’s help to prop it up on two tables. This way, it was at eye level and I could paint it without having to bend over too much.
The finish on this piece was very thick, smooth and glossy. It was essentially a factory finish. This kind of finish is very laborious to scuff sand in preparation for Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint.
I have a little trick up my sleeve to make prepping these types of surfaces MUCH easier!
tough coat – my little trick
If you don’t want to prep sand super thick and glossy finishes like the one on my cedar chest project, then paint a layer of Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat on instead!
To start, I squirted a decent amount of Tough Coat into a cup and grabbed my ClingOn! F50 brush.
Then I carefully painted on a layer of Tough Coat all over the surface of the cedar chest, taking care to watch out for drips.
When the Tough Coat dries, it creates a finish that Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint can adhere to easily. No sanding required! (Note: I didn’t use Tough Coat to block stains. I used it to create a surface that MMS Milk Paint could stick to. If you need to block stains, I recommend using a high quality white tinted primer like General Finishes Stain Blocker.)
Painting the chest in artissimo
Once the Tough Coat had dried completely (about 2 hours), I mixed up a batch of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in the color Artissimo. This is a lovely midnight blue that has excellent coverage!
That layer of Tough Coat worked like a charm!
In no time, I had applied two coats of Artissimo and was ready to move on to the finishing process.
At this point, the cedar chest didn’t look all that great. I’ve learned from experience that you need to see the finishing process all the way through to the end when working with MMS Milk Paint products. This stage didn’t scare me at all!
pouncing zinc wax
After the Artissimo Milk Paint was completely dry, I smooth sanded with 320 grit sandpaper to get a super smooth finish. Then, I applied a layer of Hemp Oil and wiped away the excess. You can watch this video to learn how to apply Hemp Oil. The dresser I’m painting in the video is not the cedar chest, but the instructions still apply!
I let the cedar chest sit overnight to give the Hemp Oil a chance to soak in and start to cure.
Once the Hemp Oil was somewhat absorbed, I opened a tin of Zinc Wax by Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint and scooped out a good-sized blob on a scrap piece of wood.
Zinc Wax is the newest finish in the MMS Milk Paint line. It’s been tinted a lovely metallic gray/blue color. Zinc Wax can be applied using different techniques to create a hammered metal look.
One of those techniques is “pouncing”. To pounce Zinc Wax on, get a bit of wax on the end of a good quality wax brush. I like using the wax brushes in the MMS Milk Paint line.
Then apply it on your surface by moving the brush up and down rapidly, almost like the needle of a sewing machine. As you “pounce”, a hammered metal pattern will start to take shape.
You don’t need a lot of wax either – just a bit on the end of your brush will do the trick!
Another technique is to apply Zinc Wax in a crosshatch pattern. In the photo below, Miss Mustard Seed applied it over Typewriter in this fashion.
the results
Here’s how the cedar chest turned out:
Can you see how that pouncing technique created movement and texture across the surface?
The original brass swan neck pulls were exchanged for updated oil rubbed bronze cup pulls.
I feel confident that the industrial farmhouse style the owners wanted has been achieved!
Here’s how the accompanying nightstand turned out:
It received the same treatment as the cedar chest. The only exception is that I didn’t need to paint Tough Coat on first. This piece didn’t have a thick poly finish on it to begin with, so Milk Paint soaked right in. That’s also why it’s a bit darker than the cedar chest.
Marc and I will be delivering these pieces this afternoon.
I’ll be tackling this pretty piece next so stay tuned for it’s update!
