Milk Paint: Beachy Nautical Chest

Sharing another piece of furniture I finished during my extended vacation!

I had this chest on chest in my laundry room for months….doing absolutely nothing…just sitting there.

I mean, it was piled with stuff but the drawers were empty and I banged my shin on it frequently.

I decided it was time for this thing to go!

It was in pretty bad shape on the top.

The rest was in good shape…a few scratches here and there but no real problems. I always sand my furniture some…

I had planned to do a “beachy” or “nautical” theme and I knew I wanted a stripe somewhere as well as a driftwood look.

I worked on the top first so that when I placed my stripe it would be completed.

I’ll clarify (since this is in the garage, under fluorescent lights) the top is a grayish, white….driftwood. I sanded the top completely because the gouges were so bad. Then, using Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Trophy, I gave it a single coat. Remember, that Milk Paint will really go into the raw wood resulting in a very secure coat of paint. The tops of dressers get some hard use! Then, using MMSMP in Ironstone, I did a wash over the Trophy. I just wanted a “haze” of the white. 

Once all that was finished I did one coat of MMSMP Flow Blue over the whole chest. The second coat would go on after the taping was in place.

Of course…I used Frog Tape….look how clean these lines are!

You can also see the driftwood a little better.

I did an offset stripe…wide in the center, narrow stripe on each side. 

Then it was time for the second coat of MMSMP Flow Blue as well as the stripe in Ironstone.

You can see the difference in the first and second coat.

Some distressing and waxing…..

As well as some custom handles to fit the theme! I used some large wood beads and clothesline rope. I sanded the beads to remove the clear finish and then dropped them into a container of Trophy wash. I left them for a few hours and then took them out to dry. Then, I brushed on an Ironstone wash to get the same “driftwood” feel. I threaded the cotton rope through the existing holes from the previous hardware and knotted it in the back! 

I thought the big area without the stripe looked bare so I added a big number “4”.

I was very happy with the result!