Grandmother clock in schloss by miss mustard seed’s milk paint
I’ve seen beautiful images of painted clocks on Pinterest and Instagram that I’ve absolutely loved. I’ve always wanted to paint a clock myself, but it’s tough to find clocks that don’t have the broken pediments on the top.
You know, like this:
I don’t care for this particular look because it reminds me of super formal furniture that my parents had in the 80’s and 90’s. It’s pretty, just not my style. So trying to find a grandfather style clock without that architectural feature was a bit tricky.
Luckily, I found one that was more boxy and simple on my local Facebook Marketplace. It’s smaller than a grandfather clock so it’s actually called a grandmother clock. Who knew such a thing existed?
Miss Mustard Seed’s Schloss
When it came time to decide on color, I opted for my favorite neutral shade in the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line – a warm greige called Schloss.
Schloss is actually a German word that means “castle”. Miss Mustard Seed developed it as part of The European Collection of colors. It was inspired by the warm shades found on the stones of German castles. Miss Mustard Seed actually lived in Germany during her childhood!
painting the grandmother clock
The clock was absolutely slathered with shellac by the previous owner. It was really thick and very drippy. I attacked it with my orbital sander to get rid of the super thick finish and create a surface on which Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint could adhere.
After two coats of Schloss and some Hemp Oil wood finish, the clock was looking absolutely fantastic!
I kept the paint to the outside of the piece and didn’t carry it inside. It would have been too hard to paint around all of the interior features.
To highlight the shape of the grandmother clock and add some age, I gently distressed around the edges.
For tips on distressing, check out this blog post.
clock hardware
The knobs on the clock probably weren’t original, but I like their worn brass patina. In the end, I kept them.
The doors are a bit warped, so Marc picked up a few hook and eye latches for the side so the doors will close flush and stay shut.
imperfections are okay
There’s a crack on the bottom that I decided not to fill in. It’s part of the clock’s history and I like how it makes the piece imperfect. It doesn’t weaken the clock’s structural integrity, so it’s just cosmetic.
I like keeping some imperfections on my refinished pieces because it makes them feel more approachable (if that makes any sense). This clock came to me pre-loved and I decided to refinish it with that in mind.
Fixing the chime
The clock didn’t chime very well when I put everything back together. The mallets weren’t hitting the chime rods squarely so the bongs sounded wonky. I was very disappointed to learn that because the seller said it kept great time and sounded fine. Perhaps it got knocked out of alignment during the transport, but I was so dag’gon exhausted and frustrated over this clock makeover by that point that I gave up.
Marc patiently spent time on YouTube and Google learning how to adjust all of the settings and got it working again. Now it sounds great!
This clock will be available in my room at Homestead Studios soon. I just have to put the finishing touches on it and then we’ll transport it over…carefully.
