Buffet in perfect gray milk paint and graystone water based wood stain by general finishes
General Finishes recently came out with new colors in their Milk Paint and Water Based Wood Stain lines. I’ve been itching to give two of them a try – Perfect Gray Milk Paint and Graystone Water Based Wood Stain.
New General Finishes colors
the buffet “before”
Along with the itch to try these new colors, the time had finally come for me to refinish this buffet that I bought from Morgantown Market months ago.
This buffet was relatively solid in its construction. The two legs in the middle were wobbly and the decorative scallop details along the bottom were loose too.
The finish on the piece was terrible.
Someone wiped on an oil based stain/topcoat combination that was poorly done and very streaky. The surface felt like a piece of sandpaper and was very gritty.
Despite the yucky finish, there were very charming qualities about the piece including these two side storage spaces….
…and the super long top drawer!
So remember what this piece looked like before because the after is coming in a quick scroll!
prepping the buffet
This buffet took a lot of prep work to get it ready for paint. First, I ripped off the two wobbly legs and removed the scallop trim they were attached to. They weren’t super important to the structural integrity of the piece, so I simply took them off.
Next, I sanded the piece down with 320 grit to smooth out the horrible finish that was on it. There was no way I was going to lay down a new paint finish over all of the drips and general yuckiness.
Once the piece was sanded smooth, I painted on two coats of BIN Shellac Based Primer.
I didn’t want to risk the dark stain coming through the Perfect Gray Milk Paint. Since it’s a lighter shade of gray, having a primer underneath was a must.
The buffet “after”
It took 3 coats of Perfect Gray Milk Paint total to get the coverage I wanted on my buffet, and I applied a layer of High Performance Topcoat in Flat to seal it all in.
Quite the transformation, wouldn’t you say?
Perfect Gray by General Finishes reminds me a lot of Schloss by Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint. It’s much warmer than Driftwood and lighter too. It doesn’t lean as blue/purple and it’s a perfect compliment to their Graystone Water Based Wood Stain.
I sealed the top with multiple coats of High Performance Topcoat in Satin for durability.
The warmth of the gray paint and stain works well with the worn patina on the original pulls. Aren’t they lovely?
When it came to distressing, I gently rubbed the edges away, revealing the white primer underneath. I made sure not to burn through to the wood and the dark oil based stain underneath. The white primer peeking out here and there kind of looks like white paint.
And despite the face that this piece has two less legs than it had before I got my hands on it, I think it looks much cleaner, softer and more simple.
Tonight, Marc and I are going to bring this piece over to Homestead Studios along with the Trophy Empire Buffet I finished a few days ago.
We’re taking 2 cars because these are both big pieces at 54 and 60 inches long. It’s going to be a buffet extravaganza over in my room at Homestead Studios!
If you like the look I created on this piece, you can replicate the look with the following products. You can purchase these from me at either Homestead Studios or Morgantown Market.
