A marble topped washstand in a bespoke blend of bergere and trophy by miss mustard seed’s milk paint
Aside from spinet desks, washstands are pieces that I find most often during my antiquing and furniture trips. They’re such handy sized pieces for the home and can serve a variety of purposes including nightstands, end tables, powder room storage and entrance way catch-all’s.
This marble topped washstand caught my eye at Morgantown Market the last time I worked. I scooped it up and gave it a makeover using Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint products. Let’s dive in!
Prepping for miss mustard seed’s milk paint
Whenever you want to use Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, you have to evaluate the condition of the finish that’s on your piece before you begin. If it’s raw wood, then you don’t need to do any prep work aside from cleaning the surface off a bit. If you work on old furniture, like I do, that means a quick vacuuming to get rid of cobwebs!
If your finish is barely hanging on or is really worn, then a quick scuffing with sandpaper is all that’s needed. That was the case with my washstand. A few weeks ago, I recorded a Facebook Live video showing you that process. While the subject of this Facebook live was a dresser, not my washstand, the process is still the same.
If you want to read more about this prep process, you can visit this blog post where I detailed how I prepped a particularly smelly washstand. Again, this isn’t featuring the marble topped washstand I’m writing about in this post, but the prep process was the same on both.
After you’re done scuffing, the surface should look something like this.
Clean off the dust with a vacuum and you’re good to go!
a bespoke blend of bergere and trophy
When it came time for me to pick my color from the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line, I wanted a shade that would match and compliment the gorgeous marble top.
With so many pretty colors to choose from, it took me longer than I expected!
My eyes were originally drawn to Bergere, which is a smokey blue gray from the European Collection of colors.
To darken it up a bit, I added equal parts Trophy to my mix. This warm shade of gray is such a pretty color to work with!
Trophy enhanced the gray tones of Bergere and darkened the color overall. It matched the veining of the marble perfectly!
If you’d like to watch a video tutorial on how to mix your own custom colors using Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, give this video a watch!
distressing and sealing with hemp oil
After I painted on two coats of my custom bespoke blend of Bergere and Trophy, it was time to distress. Using 150 grit sandpaper, I took paint off from the edges of the washstand and the high points. I got some random chipping, which is what Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint does best!
It chips randomly because when you scuff sand, there will still be parts of the original finish still hanging on. You can’t possibly scuff every square inch of your piece, so the Milk Paint will not adhere on the places where you may have missed. It’s a charming look and it adds to the authentically aged finish you create when you use this simple paint product.
To seal the piece, I applied a layer of Hemp Oil and wiped away the excess with a lint-free cloth.
I also applied the Hemp Oil on the sides of the drawers, bringing out the natural beauty of the wood. Using this technique also hydrates the wood on really old pieces like this one. And how about those hand-cut dovetails, eh? Just gorgeous!
a perfect match
I’m often asked how I know when I should use General Finishes Milk Paint or Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint on a piece of furniture. That’s a really great question and I have a few criteria that help me decide.
The first, is the age of the piece. The older the piece is, the more likely it is that I’ll use Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint. This product gives you such an authentically aged finish that’s very appropriate on old furniture. Such was the case with my washstand.
The more worn the finish is, the more likely it is that I’ll use Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint as well. In the case of my washstand, it had a worn pre-existing finish that scuff sanded easily. The more shiny and factory-finished a piece is, the more likely it is that I’ll opt for General Finishes. The reason is because I would have to take more time to scuff sand a piece with a super glossy finish if I want to use Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, and it’s just easier to use General Finishes. You still need to prep for that paint line, but it’s less intense.
I think the age and shape of this piece combined with Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint products are a perfect match. How about you?
