Shortly before our move to 1915 House, my Mom and my Aunt Judy found a great deal on a set of dining room chairs at a second hand store. While my Mom wasn’t in need of a new/old set of chairs, she knew we were on the lookout for a matching set for our formal dining room in what would soon be our new house. At the time, we had a random set of dining room chairs that we were using in the eat-in kitchen at our tiny farmhouse. While I love the whimsy of mismatched chairs for a casual space, I really wanted a matching set for what would be our new formal dining room. So we bought the chairs and stored them until we moved here.
After our move, we immediately put the chairs to use and I left them as they were while we worked on all the many other things on the house – like updating the entire second floor, painting the dining room, painting the kitchen cabinets, painting the ancient (but super effective dishwasher), and even painting the kitchen floors. But once the bigger, more pressing projects were done, I decided these chairs needed a coat of paint.
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Dining Room Chairs Before
I thought they needed white paint…of course. But I wanted them to look old…like they’d been around for many years, and had lots of stories to tell. So I decided to use Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Farmhouse White – in hopes of achieving a chippy, time-worn look.
Dining Room Chair Prep
First, I cleaned up all the chairs, did a light sanding on them using a medium grit sanding block, (ok, this one needed a lot of sanding on the seat…it looked like a large dog had clawed it up at some point…it was pretty bad)…
then applied one coat of Miss Mustard Seed’s Shutter Gray with my favorite paint brush. A sweet friend, who is much more experienced with using MMSMP (I shall refer to Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in this way from here on out, for simplicity’s sake) is the one who suggested I use the Shutter Gray as a base coat under the Farmhouse White (because the chairs were so dark)- and I’m glad she did. Here is the Farmhouse White being mixed up…it’s such a fun product to work with!
Let’s Talk Milk Paint
This paint, even though its consistency is quite watery compared to other paints, covered amazingly well. With absolutely NO bleed through of the dark stain. Unlike my cabinet fiasco. This was my first experience using MMSMP and I was in love with this stuff.
I will say, that this paint takes more steps to achieve your finished look, but I am so pleased with it. I ended up doing one coat of Shutter Gray, two coats of Farmhouse White, and then two coats of the Miss Mustard Seed Tough Coat (her suggested finish for pieces that will receive lots of high-traffic use…like dining room chairs for my family with four rambunctious busy boys). 😉 I very much enjoyed the sanding/distressing part of the process. After my last coat of Farmhouse White, I allowed it to dry. (It was so fun to watch and see where the paint started to separate from the chairs in certain places…who ever said watching paint dry wasn’t fun? They must not have ever used MMSMP…)
Chippy Goodness on the Dining Room Chairs
While it was drying, I could see the spots where the paint started to lift and flake. Success! I knew I was going to get the chippy look I was going for. However, I will say…it you are a perfectionist and like things with predictable outcomes, then using MMSMP without the Bonding Agent might not be for you. I was willing to take the risk of an unknown outcome with these chairs – but if you are a person who doesn’t want any chipping on your piece, then by all means, be sure to use the Bonding Agent – then you’ll get a nice, predictable outcome with no chipping.
The crazy thing is, (and this is part of what I love about how these turned out) – is that every single one of these chairs got the exact same treatment. I did nothing different on any one of them. Every single one got the exact same treatment. But I had one chair chip like crazy. CRAZY. Check it out!
All three of the chairs in the above picture had been painted and sanded in the same manner at this point. For reasons unknown to me, this one chair did not want to hold on to almost any paint. She (yes, I’m calling it a “she”) bucked my plans and gave me a little run for my money. At first, I couldn’t decide if I loved her super-chippiness or if I hated it. It was SO much. So I decided to leave her sit for a few days, so I could get a feel for what I really thought of it. And you know what? The more I looked at her, the more her crazy, off-the-wall look grew on me. And I started to think of her as my “rebel chair”. I like most anything that’s a little “out of the box” or unusual, so I decided to go with it and so I gave her the two coats of Tough Coat and called it good.
Finished Dining Room Chairs
(please excuse the slightly wonky lighting in this pic)
She is now my most favorite chair and is “mine” at the dinner table. 🙂 We have a special connection, her and I. In my younger years, I gave my parents a run for their money (bless their hearts) but I like to think that I’ve come to the point now that I’ve made them proud. Kind of like this chair did for me. 🙂 Oh, and that giant chalkboard above the chairs? It was a $10 thrift store canvas I painted…you can read all about that here.
What do you think? Would you have figured out a way to get that paint to stick to my rebel dining room chair or would you have left it like I did? Are you a chippy paint person? I realize not everyone is – 😉
I’m a little late coming into this… I’m looking for ideas on how to prep a bench (that already has a ton of chippy paint coming off) for MMSMP. I’ve used MMSMP many times before but never on a piece that was previously painted. Anyways I fell across your entry and I have to say I LOVE the chippy chair, it’s defiantly my favorite!!
I’m so glad you found inspiration here, Rebecca! I bet your bench will be fantastic with some MMSMP! Wish I could see it- 😉 Happy painting!
I agree that Miss Chippy is fabulous!!! I recently tried chalk paint for the first time and I am not sure how I like it. It was soooo thick! I may have to try my next project with milk paint.
You’re right – chalk paint is super thick stuff. I also have mixed feelings on it. 😉 I think for some projects it’s great, and for others…not so much. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! 😀
I love your chairs, especially the Miss Chippy I am going to do my own thing chair. I really need to try MMSMP, it is a cool look. What a great job you did.
Thanks Debra! I’m so glad you liked them – Miss Chippy sure is doing her own thing! 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by – I always enjoy hearing from you. 🙂
Yay for Rebel Chair! Thanks for posting.
Lol! I’m glad to hear that you liked her! 😀 Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment….:) You are a blessing. Have a great weekend!
I love how they turned out…. and you’ve surely inspired me to try the MMS paint. May you and your beautiful family have years of enjoyment !!! XO Susie from The Chelsea Project
Thank you so much Susie!! 🙂 <3
Wow, these turned out so great! I just love how bright and fresh they are now. You are so brave to try that paint on your chairs first. I’m a chicken and would have done a stool or something tiny first LOL. I’m so happy they turned out great, just like you knew they would!
Lol! Thanks Toni! I’m so glad you liked them! 😀
I am so in love with your rebel chair, and I think she is so fitting for the project! The chippy paint looks perfect, and I really love how these beauties turned out 😀 All the chippy!
Yay!!! Thanks Kim!! I’m so glad you like them – 😀 <3 Three cheers for chippy goodness!
I love how these chairs turned out and lived up to the milk paint reputation!
The rebel chair is my favorite.???
Mine, too! I’m so glad you like them, Lisa – and thanks EVER SO much for introducing me to Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint! <3 <3