There are a lot of purists out there. Those who believe in one product for all projects. 

That’s not me. 

In fact, if I were to give a speech about my painting philosophy, it would sound something like this…

I believe in all paint products. I still use latex on walls because the quality and finish of the higher end latex paints have come so far. You can achieve a nice finish in one coat with a quality paint and primer in one. Acrylics are fabulous for detail work. You can get a small bottle at just about any craft store for a great price and they adhere nicely. And…dare I say it…I even use spray paint. There it is…I admit it. I think some chairs are 1) easier to paint with spray paint  2) faster to paint and 3)…there is no three. It’s just quick and efficient.

Spray Painted Chair

None of those products come close to sharing my love for Chalk Paint® and Milk Paint, however.

Having two superior paint product lines at my fingertips allows me to play with them, experiment and see how they work together; to find the best combination of products to use in order to achieve the finish I’m looking for. 

All of that leads into how I refinished this French Provincial dresser.

The electrician that works on the lighting in the store brought this by for me after he cleaned out his garage. Score! There was some major damage on the top so it either needed to be stripped and re-stained or sanded smooth and painted. I opted to re-stain it. 

The plan:

• French Linen on the base
• Old White “Springtime in Paris” stencil on the drawer faces
• Re-stain the top using Miss Mustard Seed’s Curio Milk Paint
• Hemp Oil the top
• Clear Wax/Dark Wax mix on the base
• Final wax coat on stained wood

I was quickly running out of daylight so had to bring the drawers into the house to paint. Which meant we had pizza for dinner. 🙂 I hate cooking anyways.

Once the stencil was applied, I went to mix my wax but had a problem. I didn’t have any dark wax at home. No worries…I am good at improvising.

I mixed up a small batch of Curio and scooped a spoonful of beeswax into the drawer and created my own antiquing wax. I could control the darkness by adding more or less curio to the mix. I went for a fairly light finish. 

I didn’t add any distressing to this piece.

Nine times out of ten I keep products lines together on projects. I think of them as symbiotic, preserving the character and style as intended by that line. But, once in awhile I like to mix and match and find ways to integrate all of the different product lines; to demonstrate how versatile the different products are.

So, venture out and experiment. You never know what you might discover!!