Armoire Redo in Milk Paint ~ Free vintage website

Mr. Charming actually brought this Armoire home for me one weekend.

Some women like jewelry, some like flowers, I like old furniture wrecks, and my sweetie knows that. Y

So this post will cover a couple of things ~

1. A vintage armoire gets a makeover and a new purpose.

2. I’ll cover how to use Milk Paint.

I know everyone has jumped on the Chalk Paint bandwagon, but I happen to think that although the paint might be great, the paint itself is costly. Couple that with shipping costs and a quart of paint could cost $50 or more.

I’ve been wanting to try Milk Paint for some time. Thankfully I found a local Manufacturer for Milk Paint and went and picked up a few bags. Jennylyn was incredibly helpful. She went over the instructions, the different finishes for it and the TON of colors available, (and if you can’t find a color you like for some reason, just mix up some powders to make your own). Here are some of the products I picked up at Homestead House Paint Co.

I know the thought of actually mixing your own paint might scare you off, but I can’t stress enough how simple this was. Mix the powder with water in a blender and pour in a container.

A few reasons to use Milk Paint:

100% Natural – No chemicals - Environmentally friendly - No odor – No primer required – Biodegradable – A porous paint that breathes – Clean up is a breeeeeze!

You can make the consistency you want; add water to make a thick paint, or more water to make a thinner wash. During application brush marks will remain to give an authentic, textured, worn finish that a liquid latex flow out does not. This paint gives a perfect, old world fresco look.

Milk paint is easily applied on raw, unfinished wood, but my piece had a shiny finish. With the addition of a bond mixed right in the paint for the first coat only, you can apply it over non-porous (or previously painted) surfaces. To further ensure a good bond, I scuffed up the shine on the armoire quickly with my power sander.

Here is a peek inside. A crooked stick for a rod and a bag of ‘somethingorother’ hanging off it.

I have NO idea what that was. Mr. Charming said it was once potpourri, (um..I dunno, what do you think it is ??)

A few modifications were needed. For some unknown reason someone cut the back legs off this unit, but Mr. Charming reattached them perfectly. As I’m not sure that Armoires are in high demand anymore, I wanted to make this piece a little more functional so off came the mirrors.

and on went the shelf supports.

I used a thin consistency milk paint on the outside to show more brush strokes and an even thinner wash on the inside. I want this piece to look as authentically old and worn as possible.

Now on to finishing. There are all kinds of ways to finish a project and I have products I could have used, but I wanted to try something different. When I asked the people at Homestead House about their Hemp Oil product, they told me to liken it to wetting your finger and putting it on a chalk board. Without leaving a shine, it brought out the color and distressed areas beautifully. You can apply this with a brush or a rag. I used both. I brushed it on sparingly and wiped it down with a rag.

I love all these products and this is just one reason. Not only does the Milk paint clean up very quickly with water, but how many top coat finishes do you know that also clean up with soap and water?

So in place of the mirrored doors, I used Fiberglass screening in charcoal color.

I purchased these little square dowel pieces and painted them.

Lay the screen over the door, stretch and secure with the square dowels with a nail gun.

Trim the excess screen with a new sharp exacto knife.

With the addition of these awesome, rusted looking handles, the doors are now complete.

And that means the project is complete!

The finished and painted wood shelves are nailed in to add extra stability to the entire unit.

Bottom line on this project is, the Milk Paint really set this piece off. The paint looks old, worn and authentic. I’d use it again… as a matter of fact, I plan to!