Coffee tables are probably one of my favourite pieces of furniture to up-cycle or refurbish. They’re small enough to finish in a few of hours and don’t usually have too many ‘fiddly’ bits. Here’s the kind of basic table you’ll find in many second hand stores or garage sales:
I gave the table top a thorough sanding to remove all the varnish because I’m going to stain the top and the raw wood finish is best for staining.
I decided to use one of the European colours in the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line to mix a stain. The colour is Schloss and it is a darkish gray.
Stain: mix 1 tablespoon milk paint powder with 3 tablespoons water and shake or stir thoroughly.
I brushed the stain on making sure it covered everywhere. It was a grey wash type of effect. The second pic below looks like it is quite washed out, but remember it will have a milky or chalky appearance when milk paint dries.
When I add the hemp oil or furniture wax to a piece like this, it will show the grain so nicely through the painted stain.
Once dry, I gave the top a coat of Hemp Oil. See how it deepens the stain and brings out the grain in the wood:
Now I was ready to paint the base, and I chose another Milk Paint Euro colour – Bergere, a lovely blue.
Regular Milk Paint is mixed using equal parts water and paint powder.
Mixed paint on the left; dry milk paint powder on right.
For this table I opted to add a little bonding agent as I wanted a smooth look and not distressed. Bonding agent adds extra stickability to the milk paint. If I was wanting a distressed or chippy look, I’d leave the bonding agent out.
And here’s the finished look after using more hemp oil to finish the painted surface.
I love this colour! As of 2026, I’m no longer a stockist of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint, but if you’re in USA/Canada, you can find Fusion’s Milk Paint here as a perfect substitute.
This piece sold rather quickly. Seems you can’t go wrong with blue these days!
I’ll be adding this post to my Pinterest board featuring many of the pieces I’ve done using Milk Paint, so if you are on Pinterest, head over HERE to follow my boards.