Restore furnishings from start to finish by using products from the Real Milk Paint Co. From old side tables you may have sitting around to ornate antiques found in a relative’s garage, your antique furniture benefits from our all-natural nontoxic milk paints and finishing products. Keep reading to learn more about how to repaint old wood furniture and add natural beauty by sealing it with high-quality waxes.
Painting Antique Metal or Wood Furniture With Real Milk Paint
Whether you pluck up amazing finds at thrift stores or estate sales or already have a furniture piece in mind for refinishing, products from the Real Milk Paint Co. help you maintain the historical consistency of the piece. Formulated from old recipes that mimic the paints of the past, our milk paint offers realistic color to antique pieces and helps you restore wood furnishings like an old dresser and metal decor like a weather vane to their former glory.
The Dos and Don’ts of Painting Antique Wood Furniture
Don’t paint wood furniture with higher-value pieces
It’s easy to ruin a genuine antique made with solid wood like cherry or mahogany, especially if the furniture piece is in good shape. Unless you just want to personalize the paint job for yourself and don’t care about resale value — then do what you like. Otherwise, choose more common pieces made from woods like pine and oak when you want to add a custom-painted finish.
Know when to refinish with oil
Though painting genuine antiques are usually a no-no, you can sometimes bring them back to beauty with finishes that don’t typically damage the value. Products like Wood Wax and Pure Tung Oil help you achieve a natural look that maintains the timeless appeal of older antiques made of high-quality wood that just need a bit of TLC to revive their original beauty.
Plan a look for your antique furniture piece
Before you get started on your DIY project, plan out your furniture piece design from start to finish. Pick out the colors of Real Milk Paint you want for the paint job first. For example, if you want to modernize the piece, choose the main shade, then a different color for contrast. High-contrast pairings also work well when you want a distressed look around the areas of the piece that typically see lots of wear, such as corners and edges.
Sand to smooth the surface
An even wooden furniture surface is essential for your first coat, smoothing the way for the second coat of color as it goes. One of the main advantages of Real Milk Paint is that it requires no primer and very little sanding for good adhesion. Light sanding, however, adds a bit of tooth to the surface of the wood for a top layer that holds paint well. If you want some extra assurance your paint sticks and stays put, are painting metal, or have a heavy finish you don’t want to sand through, add our Ultra Bond Adhesion Promoter to your Real Milk Paint mixture. After sanding, clean the surface with a residue-free cleaner.
Use high-quality paintbrushes to paint wood furniture
A good paintbrush helps you achieve the look you want without shedding. For that reason, it’s imperative to choose between high-quality paintbrush options when it’s time to add color to your antique wood or metal piece. We carry the Zibra line which features ergonomic paintbrushes in numerous sizes, and the synthetic fibers clean up easily with soap and water when used to add Real Milk Paint to your DIY project. For extra cleaning power, try our Lye Soap.
Test the surface before painting
Painting antique furniture can be an intimidating task. But by testing the color on a small part of the wooden furniture, you can get an idea of how it will look and decide whether you need a dark paint consistency or a lighter one.
Turn over the furniture piece you’re painting, then test the color first to make sure you have the consistency and hue just like you want it. See how it dries, then add a second coat to be sure if you have any doubts. When you get the look you want, use painter’s tape to prep the piece, then add the colors you want to the metal or wood furnishing.
Seal the painted finish after drying
Once you finish painting your antique metal or wood furniture piece, wait until it dries, then seal the paint with a high-quality product like our Soft Wax. If you want to add a rich patina of age or darken the areas around corners, edges and handles, products like our Espresso, Mocha and Mahogany Finishing Glazes make an excellent choice for paint finish. Our Chippy Paste and Natural Crackle Finish assist you with selective distressing efforts.
The Best Way to Paint Metal and Wood Furniture With Real Milk Paint
When you’re ready to paint raw wood furniture, antique furniture or metal furnishings, the first things to do are gather the painting supplies you need, place the piece on a tarp and use painter’s tape to cordon off areas. Then you’re ready to mix. Combine Real Milk Paint at a 1:1 ratio with water, mix it well with any additives you require, then wait about 15 minutes for the foam to subside. Once the foam is gone, you’re ready to get started.
First, add an all-over first coat to the wooden furniture surface, then wait for it to dry before adding a second coat. Let the antique furniture dry overnight, then add any special distressing effects you want and allow the design to dry. Once you get the look you want, seal the coats of paint with a high-quality protectant like our Wood Wax, which is designed for use on both bare wood and wood surfaces coated with Real Milk Paint.
Extra Tip on How To Paint Antique Wood Furniture:
Painting antiques would look so much better when you use wood wax as your finish. Waxing drawers will prevent your drawers from being hard to pull out and make old furniture function like new. Our special Carnauba Wax helps the gliding ability of drawers without leaving a sticky mess. This is especially useful in the summer when humidity causes wood to expand.
Cool Antiques Painted With Real Milk Paint
Beautifying an old wood furniture piece is a satisfying task when you get the right results, and products from the Real Milk Paint Co. aid you in getting exactly the look you want for your antique furniture every time.
The all-natural formulation makes Real Milk Paint a better choice for the environment and your family than oil-based paint and delivers more consistent results than spray paint or chalk paint. Numerous color options help you create a natural look in your paint finish so your antique furniture piece retains the timeless beauty that makes it so special.
Check out these cool antiqued pieces distressed and/or coated with Real Milk Paint when you want a little inspiration for your own DIY paint antique furniture project.
