A Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint Experiment for a Farmhouse Finish

To create this Farmhouse Finish, I wanted to try using the new Stain & Finishing Oil by Homestead House Paint Company, as a base. I had a feeling it might work well under Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint as the oil in the SFO would act as a resist. Turns out this method is super easy and something you can try today if you have either of these products in your stash.

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This little stool that I found at our local Op Shop looked like a perfect candidate.

Check out the fun that some child must’ve had on this … either that or it lived in someone’s paint/craft workshop!

Sanding

I began by sanding back the entire piece to get rid of the old chocolate painted finish and multiple paint/coffee stains. I used my orbital sander.

SFO

I then used the colour Driftwood – a gray stain – in the SFO (Stain & Finishing Oil) and applied it over the entire piece. The top of the stool was a veneer and quite dark in comparison to the rest of the timber, so when applied, it finished up even more dark than I was expecting and not quite the “Driftwood” look I was thinking it might be. But as this was an experiment and I was testing things out, I got a little creative – but more on that later. Here’s the top before staining:

Here’s the first look at the application of the Driftwood SFO. You need to apply the stain/oil (I used an old paint brush), let sit for a few minutes, then wipe away the excess.

Here’s the Driftwood SFO after wiping back the excess. Remember it’s over a darker wood already, so the look turned out fairly dark, but still grey like driftwood tones.

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint to top off this Farmhouse Finish

I mixed up some MMS Milk Paint – equal parts paint powder to water – in the colour, Farmhouse White. I applied it directly onto the base of the stool where I had applied the SFO (Stain & Finishing Oil).

Once dried, I started to sand back (the right side in pic below has been sanded) and the desired farmhouse finish effect began to take place – the SFO being an oil, resisted the Milk Paint (water based) and created a gorgeous patina of aged chippiness!

Here’s another example of chipping that happened on the inside surface:

This was totally the farmhouse finish I was going for, so I was happy about that and continued the sanding back to reveal that lovely Driftwood SFO underneath.

I sealed the whole base surface with Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil.

Dry Brushing for a Faux Barnwood Effect

I tossed over the idea of creating a faux barnwood or driftwood effect on the top of the stool, and decided to just go for it. I’ve used this technique a few times as you may have seen in other tutorials, especially when making signs.

I simply dipped the tips of the brush bristles into my leftover Farmhouse White MMSMP, and brushed the excess off onto a paper towel or newspaper until the brush was almost “dry”. Then dragged the brush gently over the top of the whole surface where the Driftwood SFO was applied. See the pic below to see the little flecks or strokes of white paint over the dark as it is being applied.

And here’s how the top turned out:

Finished Look

All together, a great rustic farmhouse finish style little old stool ready to be re-loved!

I also showed the process of this stool makeover in my Instagram Stories – I have saved them to my highlights as shown here where the red arrow is pointing to:

I hope you enjoyed this makeover. Any questions, please ask in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

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Creative Business News – A Note from Sharon:

Are you a small business in the DIY/Painting or Creative space? I recently sent out an email to all my subscribers asking this question, as I know there are a number of my followers who are growing their “hobbies” into real deal businesses, wanting to make money doing what they love!

That was me 8 years ago!

I had just painted my first repurposed bedside tables and I was hooked! I loved the idea of creating something new out of something that was old, so I started looking for any old thing that was wood, that needed re-loving!
From there, I started selling bits and pieces on ebay here in Australia, and began blogging about my makeovers, inspiring others, like yourselves, to create something beautiful out of an old piece of furniture.

I’ve learned a thing or two over the years about: owning a creative DIY business, marketing, social media … lots of the “things”!

BUT, one of the best business decisions I made THIS year …

was getting a business coach – that’s right!

I’ve been a member of Jennifer Allwood’s The Creators’ Inner Circle since the beginning of this year, and I want to tell you all the ways that her coaching has changed my business, but we’d never have time. 😉

Her Inner Circle coaching group is open for registration for FOUR (4) DAYS ONLY (starting September 24th) and I wanted to tell you about it so that you don’t miss the chance to change your business too. Jenn is a creative DIYer herself, so totally “GETS” us and our business needs and questions.

We get a new training every WEEK inside the Inner Circle, along with Needle-mover challenges and homework. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE the accountability.

If you want to join me inside Jennifer’s coaching group, or just have a look at what it’s all about, click the following link. I hope to see you there!!

jenniferallwood.ontraport.com/t?orid=67693&opid=3

Regards,

Sharon.

PS. Not ready to take the step of jumping into a coaching group?

Still keen to learn business bits and pieces occasionally, of how you can improve your social media marketing?

Jump over here and sign up for my “Sharon’s Tips for the Creative Biz” newsletter – I will send you my FREE list of TOP 10 VIDEO CONTENT IDEAS YOU CAN TRY TODAY. <<<< Yep! Video on social media can be daunting for some people, but try just ONE of my 10 tips today, and drop me a line and let me know how you went – I’d love to hear from you.