Milk Painted Dresser

After cleaning, filling, sanding your piece and removing your hardware, decide what look you want for your piece. This piece was over 100 years old and was missing the key hole covers on the drawers. 

I decided to make molds using DAS clay modeling material and ReDesign with Prima Molds to make cute covers to glue over the open key holes. First I sprayed the molds with Pam cooking spray to promote a simple release of the clay once it is formed. Next, I took a section of clay and molded it to fit the key hole shape I chose from the molding sheet. I popped it out immediately and used wood glue to adhere it to the drawers while it was still pliable.  

After that was dry, I mixed the milk paint according to the directions for that manufacturer. For this piece I used Shackteau Interiors Milk Paint in Magnolia Pier. I mixed equal parts water and milk paint and used a mini whisk. After letting it sit in a glass jar to thicken up a bit I used my Zibra Fan brush to begin applying the paint. 

After the first coat dried, I took a super fine sheet of sandpaper and smoothed out the finish even though with this paint and piece it did not seem to be necessary. I used a microfiber cloth to remove any sanding dust and continued to paint my second coat. After my second coat was dry I took a fine grit flexible sanding pad to see if I could promote some chipping with sanding lightly. It worked! After painting and staining the top using General Finishes Walnut stain I applied Wise Owl Unscented Furniture Salve to seal. The last step was using Annie Sloan dark wax around the newly created key hole moulds to create some depth and interest on the drawers.

The final touch was adding these beautiful D. Lawless teardrop pulls! Aren't they perfect