BrittanyMakes

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen the sneak peek photo I posted over the weekend of my freshly painted nightstand. I painted my nightstand in Miss Mustard Seed's new line of milk paint, Tricycle red to be exact!  This shade of red is the best red evah!  Believe it or not, I used to be a red hater (I blame my old roommates for their poor choices in home decor – pops of red people, not EVERYTHING red! OK, I'm done…). 

Miss Mustard Seed revealed her Tricycle red milk paint back in May, and it's been on my mind since that very moment.  Then, a couple weeks ago, an amazing opportunity fell in my lap (which I've yet to share, so sorry!) and milk paint was the exact ingredient we needed.  I emailed Marian, spilling some secret details about our big opportunity, and asked if it was at all possible to buy some paint before it was even available.  It was possible! And Marian is my hero.

So, first, let me say many sorries for all the red-hate I let out onto the internet!  I suppose I needed the perfect shade of red to hit me in the face.  Tricycle red, I love you.

Here's the exact photo I posted to Facebook:

Sneak peek photos are so fun, could you guess this was a nightstand? Probably not.  Maybe a dresser or console table? 

And here she is, perfectly happy beside our bed where my BF can pet her before he sleeps. Here's what our nightstand looked like before:

The before wasn't bad, I enjoyed it's original state for a few months.  I was waiting for inspiration to hit me on what to do with it.  I wanted to do a test run with the milk paint I ordered, so I chose something I had on hand.  Enter: nightstand.

Marian has said it over and over, that milk paint gets all chippy and distressed in the most unpredictable way.  It's a guessing game where the paint will stick and where it'll chip.  I applied the first coat and was afraid it wouldn't chip at all.  But once I applied the second coat, and let the paint dry overnight, it was a hot, beautiful, chippy mess in the morning. 

I grabbed a sanding sponge, and lightly sanded the entire dresser.  It took me about 3 minutes, and the paint just flaked off.  I wanted to prevent the paint from chipping further, so I grabbed some dark wax and covered the entire dresser in a light coat. I chose dark wax over clear to slightly tone down the red just a little.  Also, the dark wax makes it appear weathered and distressed, without having to sand the paint down further.  The look isn't for everyone, but I thought it was perfect for this piece.

I have 2 other milk paint colors in my hands, Ironstone and Boxwood… Hmmmm… red, white, green? Can anyone guess what region those colors represent?  Hint: I think I smell something Italian in the works…

Just a quick note, you can catch all sorts of sneak-peek projects and behind the scenes photos by following me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@brittanymakes)!  Don't miss out!