Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Tricycle (Buffet Makeover)

I've definitely been MIA here at my little blog home, and sporadic with my post when I am around, so I am very sorry for that. I've been battling a cold that has knocked me on my you know what, and today went back to the doctor for the second time, diagnosed with Pneumonia or Bronchitis. With a medicine cabinet full of prescriptions, tonight, I am finally able to breath. My kids have also, for the past 3 weeks, been passing around strep throat. Needless to say, I've been a little overwhelmed and withdrawn. BUT, sick as I may be, I haven't been lacking in getting projects done! Today I want to share with you a piece that is so special to my heart. My grandmother passed away 9 years ago. Although I have many things of hers that she left for me, it wasn't until long after her passing that this buffet came into my home. 


 I have always loved it, but the color {for me} not so much. I love its masculine shape as well as the quality of the piece. It has made a great stand for our TV,  but I've had great plans for it. I was just getting ready to redo it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (which I just ♥), UNTIL...I found out that I could get Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint only 5 minutes from my house!! Red Posie is THE cutest little vintage furniture shop in old town St. Charles. If your local, you MUST check it out!

My original plan for the buffet was to paint it black and stain the top walnut. But, I have to say that every red piece that I have ever seen in blogland, just jumps out at me. So, I decided to paint it using Tricycle.

It's a little shocking at first sight, right?? I know. Don't be afraid!! You won't regret it.
I'll start from the beginning....
It has a veneer top that's chipped in a few places, but I knew that I would be able to strip it down easily and thought I would just repair the chips. I first stripped the top of the buffet using {spray} Klean-Strip Stripper. It is so easy to use, and so much less messy than the brush on kind, and in my opinion much less stinky (and I had to use it inside). Spray it on, let it sit about 15 minutes, and scrape off. Easy peasy!

 What you scrape off REALLY looks disgusting (and is!). Make sure you wear gloves. It will burn your skin pretty quickly.

I didn't take pictures of the staining process, but once the top was stripped, I gave it a good sanding and 2 coats of Minwax dark walnut stain. The chipped parts took the stain so well, that I didn't even need to repair them. I love that it isn't perfect, and the stain really hides the imperfections. Before you paint, you want to fill in any knob or pull holes that you won't be using. Then it's time to paint!

If you aren't familiar with Milk Paint, the first thing you should know, is that it comes in powder form. You just mix it with warm water. The second thing you should know, is that it has a mind of its own as far as how it will adhere to your piece. If you know that you don't want that chippy look, there is a bonding agent that you could mix into the paint. I really love chippy furniture and wanted that for this piece, but like I said before, I'm not fond of the lighter wood. So instead of adding the bonding agent, I first applied a coat of ASCP in Graphite so that any of the milk paint that didn't stick would show a darker layer. (Don't you just love the top??)


I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by mixing the paint, but you can find a great video here. I'm not sure where I read this next tip, but somewhere I read that the red powder was a little hard to mix. You can add a little liquid soap to the mixture to help break it down and using just a little does not affect the way the paint adheres. I found out that it was hard to mix, and added just a drop of Palmolive. Worked great. It still took a lot of mixing and you will still have some lumps but that is ok. Another thing to remember is to CONTINUE TO MIX THROUGHOUT THE PAINTING PROCESS.  The powder will settle at the bottom, so you want to make sure that you keep mixing it. Again, I didn't take pictures of this process, because it was late and the lighting just wasn't good. I brushed on 2 coats waiting about an hour between coats. The paint dries pretty quick and I didn't sand in between coats. Once both coats were dry, I used a little sand paper and a sanding block to bring out the darker paint in areas. The paint goes on SO smooth, there really wasn't any brush marks. Along with the paint, I also purchased the Antiquing Wax.

This was my favorite part! I love this wax! It is a soft wax that I applied with a brush pretty much on the entire thing. It really toned down the red and and the color is amazing. You brush (or wipe) it on, wait about 5 minutes and buff to a nice satin sheen. I also used it on the top, but I'm not sure that I would recommend that, only based on the price of the wax. I also added glass knobs. Here is what I ended up with, and I have never been happier with anything that I have redone! Get ready for picture overload:





Did you notice my book pumpkin?? Cute right?







And I'll have to tell you about my vintage number clock redo in the next post!




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I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks for stopping by :)





Sharing at:
Furniture Feature Friday
Inspiration Friday

23 comments:

  1. This looks fantastic! And I love the clock too! :)

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  2. Wow! That is gorgeous! Very impressive! I love red. It is kind of a tricky, intimidating color to paint with. You never know what you are going to get, but if done right it can be so spectacular! I love the knobs!

    My name is Sarah, I just started following your lovely blog. I am the owner of Skylar Magazine, would love for you stop by and check it out sometime! If you are ever interested you are welcome to guest blog! I'm looking for guest bloggers for my upcoming Halloween issue. Just let me know if you would like to contribute!

    Thanks and have an awesome night!

    Sarah
    http://skylarinc.blogspot.com/

    ps Love the book pumpkin!

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  3. Just Beautiful!! Thank you for the post and the info regarding working with the Milk Paint. I was thinking of painting a chest for my son whose favorite color is red, now I am def going to do it. Hope you and your family feel better soon!!

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  4. I love this color and I love the piece! What a great transformation, you did a great job!!!!

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  5. Looks fabulous! Makes me want to clean out my storage shed and order some of the red milk paint right away. Did the stripper take off the veneer on the top, and how did you repair the chips?

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  6. You did a fabulous job! The red is perfect with the dark wax and I really like that you stained the top. Your grandmother would love it!

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  7. That is a beautiful transformation! And I love your book pumpkin too.

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  8. I never think about stripping veneer, but I'm thinking I should! Good job, the Tricycle is my favorite!

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    1. I actually went to Lowes to see about putting on a new veneer top, but they didn't have it. I didn't want to put something new that would add more bulk. So that is when I decided to strip it and I am SO glad I did! It really was super easy. I have refinished things that have that thick plastic kind of top that you can't do anything with. SO just make sure that the piece you are wanting to do can be stripped. I sanded my down in a small area to test. When the finish sanded off, I knew I would be ok.

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  9. That turned out beautiful!!! I love red.

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  10. you did a great job - love how the red turned out! amazing!

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  11. great job - I LOVE it! the red looks amazing!

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  12. Wow! What a difference a make over makes! LOVE the red and love the crystal knobs!

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  13. Lovin me some RED!! This is a real Gem!! Great job!

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  14. Incredible!It's absolutely fantastic! Great job!

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  15. What a great Job Jill! Love the color and the antiquing!!

    Shirley

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  16. Wow! What a difference! And that is a classy red, not to shocking. Great job, I'll have to try something like that!

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  17. It looks fantastic! I love how the red is bright, but not really bright (if that makes any sense at all!!!). It's red, but calm.....

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  18. THAT.IS.AWESOME. I just love how that piece turned out, and I was thrilled to read about milk paint because I've never used it! I heard once from a designer that every room needs a touch of red. I agree... and it looks like you now have your perfect touch. I'm your newest follower! Can't wait to see what else you come up with! jules

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  19. Wow! That is so beautiful! I love old buffets, and I'm itching for nice piece of red furniture, too! You did a great job.

    Thanks for linking up with my blog hops this weekend! I'm happy to get to know someone else with a super awesome name. ;)

    Jillian
    Hi! It's Jilly

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  20. GREAT job! I don't usually like red with stained wood, but this is perfect! The dark wax makes such a big difference, too!

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  21. i would love to feature your buffet , please let me know if this would be ok with you,
    lauren

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I love to hear your opinions!

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