Media Cabinet Makeover with Milk Paint
As you may remember from my Corner Office Reveal from last week, I have decided that my 2020 design style will be: Happy! Bring items into your home that spark happiness, and transform old items to add happiness. It is always great to work with what you have. That said, I have big plans to upcycle some of my furniture pieces, so stay tuned!
Case in point, our media cabinet. It was a hand-me-down from my husband’s college days. The space for our television in our living room is very unique, and my husband plans to custom build a media cabinet. However, in the meantime I wanted something more aligned with our design style since it sits front and center in our living room/main area. I loved how our hall bench turned out with Miss Mustard Seed’s Boxwood Green so I decided to use the leftovers and paint our media cabinet with the same milk paint. I also added some embellishments, and she is a whole new piece! I absolutely love the character brought on by the milk paint. I love how the color looks so different throughout the day as light passes through the living room.
I hope this blog post inspires you to find pieces that you have that don’t bring you much joy anymore, and transform them into something you are proud to display!
Read on for the full step-by-step tutorial to see how I transformed our media cabinet from fab to drab with a little milk paint and accessories.
*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure page here.
To start your milk paint endeavor, you will need:
Before we start the step-by-step tutorial, let me show you the before. It was a very basic media cabinet. Very practical, but not so pretty nor inspiring!
Step 1: Prep your piece. Clean your furniture piece or decor item. Sand the piece if it has a thick coat of paint or polyurethane on it. I did not sand my piece because I wanted some of the paint to chip to create a pretty patina. However, if you want a cleaner finish then I would recommend sanding first.
Step 2: Once your space is prepped, you can start to add your embellishments. I added a millwork rosette from Amazon (link above) with liquid nails.
Use painter’s tape to secure molding in place. Let it dry.
Step 3: Now it is time to mix the paint. Mix 1 part paint to 1 part water. Add the paint powder first then add the water.
I did 1/3 cup of paint to 1/3 cup of water. I used two of these servings for two coats of the media cabinet. I didn’t want to add too much paint, then waste it.
*This is where you can experiment and have fun. You can add more water if you want more of a “white washed” look. I wanted consistent, thick coverage throughout so I opted for the conventional method.
*This is also where you would add your bonding agent (linked above) if you don’t want a chippy finish, and more of a complete, milk paint finish. I love the patina that a little chippy paint brings to a piece of furniture, so I didn’t add a bonding agent to this project.
Use your spoon or paint stirrer to slowly stir the paint powder and water together. Continue to stir until your mixture is like a pancake batter (a little lumpy). This is important to note, because it is a very different texture and consistency than acrylic, latex, or even chalk paint.
Step 4: After you thoroughly mix the milk paint and water together, it is time to apply your first coat of paint. The paint provides a lot more coverage than you anticipate because of its thinner consistency.
*Also, keep in mind that the color will dry darker.
Allow the paint to dry fully before you add another coat. My first coat took about 1 hour to dry.
Step 5: After your first coat of paint dries, add another coat of milk paint. Allow the second coat to dry completely.
You can stop here (like I did) or you can continue to add more layers of paint if you would like to. I liked some of the original color showing through, and so I stopped at this point.
Step 6: Once the paint is dry, add more embellishments. This is the part where I added the shelf liners using the cork fabric from Hobby Lobby (source link provided above). I used liquid nails to attach the cork to the shelf.
I continued the cork fabric to the bottom of the shelf so that it was a seamless look. Again I secured the cork with liquid nails, and used painter’s tape to keep it in place until it dried.
Step 7: Allow your piece to dry for a full 24 hours then add an antiquing wax.
I always like adding a little more depth and texture to a piece. So I decided to add antiquing wax to the piece to bring the deeper green tones out even more.
Using a cloth or natural bristle brush apply the antiquing wax to the entire piece of furniture. Then wipe off the antiquing wax with a clean cloth.
*I used a Miss Mustard Seed Wax Brush (source linked above) to apply the antiquing wax this time, and it made the process so much easier to apply the antiquing wax than with a cotton cloth like I used last time.
*It is helpful to work in small sections so that you get the consistent look that you want throughout, and you don’t get overwhelmed.
Step 7: Once you apply the antiquing wax to the entire piece of furniture, finish your piece off with furniture wax. Use a clean cloth to massage the furniture wax onto the entire piece of furniture. The Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax (source linked above) is a lot smoother and thinner than other waxes. It almost has the consistency of lotion and is so easy to apply. However, keep in mind a little goes a long way.
Then, buff the wax into the furniture piece with a clean cloth.
Voila! you are complete. Allow the piece to cure for a total of 30 days.
I hope you enjoy giving an old piece new life with milk paint and embellishments!
