Are you looking to makeover a vintage dresser with milk paint? Here I am sharing my step by step process for updating a vintage highboy dresser and achieving the perfect amount of chippy paint.
Want to see more vintage furniture makeovers like this one? Check out my other projects here.
Vintage Dresser Makeover Video
Check out the video that corresponds to this video to see all these steps in action!
Vintage Dresser Before
This is what the dresser I was working on looked like.
I picked it up from Facebook Marketplace, my favorite place to find furniture. I originally picked up this dresser for a guest room in my home. However, once I arrived at pick up I knew right away it would be too big for the scale of our house. But for $50, it was still a good deal and I can’t help but want to save every vintage piece I find. It had good bones, was well constructed, and dove tail drawers. How could I resist?!
Vintage Dresser Makeover Steps
- Clean the piece
- Repair missing veneer chips
- Apply milk paint
- Smooth and distress the paint
- Seal for lasting durability
Supply List
- Dish soap
- Shop rags
- Sweet Pickens Milk Paint in Navy Blues
- Sweet Pickens Black Oil Wax
- Zibra synthetic Fan Brush
- Sandpaper (60 and 220 grit)
Clean The Piece
The first step to any good furniture makeover is cleaning the piece. A lot of other furniture artist like to use cleaners with harsh chemicals. For me, I find that for the large majority of my pieces clean up just fine with dish soap. Dish soap is a great degreaser and is perfectly capable of cleaning up bugs, cobwebs, and dirt.
Its important to clean the piece thoroughly before applying paint to ensure it sticks well. But if I am being honest, if I am going for the chippy look (like I was with this dresser) I sometimes skip this step to increase the chances of chippyness! But this dresser was pretty dirty and shiny so I was pretty confident it would chip.
Repair missing veneer chips
When I picked up the dresser, the previous owner had already attempted to repair the missing chips of veneer with wood filler. It was only half way done. For filling gauges and chips in veneer like this, my go to product is All purpose bondo. Yes, the same product that is advertised to make repair cars. But it works incredibly well for lots of DIY projects too. I love using bondo because it is extremely hard and is very durable, plus it drys in just 5-15 minutes.
To apply bondo, I just use a scoop some of the product from the large can and stir in a small dollop of the cream hardener. I usually grab a scrap piece of cardboard from an old shipping box to use as a pallet to mix the product that way I don’t have to worry about clean up. Once the product is well mixed, I apply it to fill the specific areas using a putty knife. Remember to work fast, this stuff drys extremely fast, especially with the more creamer hardener that you apply. I tend to apply just a bit more bondo to make sure the hole is completely filled so I won’t have to do a second coat.
After the bondo has hardened, I sand it smooth with my orbital sander. If you don’t have an orbital sander, you can sand by hand but bondo drys really hard so it will take a few minutes and some elbow grease. While sanding, I continuously run my hands across the surface to feel how smooth the texture is. I find that feeling is more accurate than just looking at how smooth the surface is.
Applying milk paint
For this piece, I chose to go with the color Navy Blues by Sweet Pickens Milk Paint. This color is a true medium toned navy blue color. I love using milk paint on my vintage furniture because I love the authentically old look that I can get with it. I never want the distressing to look forced or over done. Milk paint is my favorite paint definitely my go to paint for this reason. If you are new to using milk paint, be sure to check out my complete guide to milk paint here. I go over each step in extreme detail to ensure you have success with milk paint each and every time!
I debating adding bond to my first coat, but ultimately decided against it since I was hoping for some chipping to help make the paint job look as old as the piece. The dresser’s previous finish was pretty well in tact so I knew I was risking all the milk paint from chipping off. However, once the second coat started to dry, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. This dresser got the perfect amount of chippy!! Nothing too over the top, but just enough to give it that vintage feel. Since I was painting a medium-dark color, I only needed to apply two coats of milk paint to achieve full coverage. But if you choose a lighter color, you may need to apply three full coats to get an opaque finish.
Smooth and Distress the paint
Once I have all of the milk paint applied, the next step I do is sanding and smoothing the paint. This is where I can sand away some of the paint I have applied to distress the finish and make it look more aged. Additionally, I will sand off and chipping paint and smooth all areas of the piece to get a buttery smooth finish. To do this, you will need two different grits of sandpaper. A lower grit to distress and and a higher grit to smooth the paint.
Smoothing the surface of the paint
To smooth out the surface of the piece, I use a 220-300 grit sandpaper and gently rub down the entire piece. This step knocks off any of the little balls of milk paint pigments that didn’t mix throughly and sands out brush strokes. I also be sure to check for any drips and runs that I didn’t catch in the painting step and sand them out smooth. Milk paint is a great paint to use for beginners because all these imperfections can be sanded out without a trace.
How to get a natural look when distressing
Distressing is a totally option step. If its not your thing, feel free to totally skip this step. I usually like to distress most of my pieces so that the finish looks older and more time worn. Just be carefully not to overdo it or it could look forced and unnatural. When distressing, use a 120 grit sand paper over the high areas of the piece or anything that is raised, such as the knobs, any raised appliqués, or around the top corners of the piece. To keep it looking natural, you don’t want to distress any flat or recessed areas because those don’t normally get as much wear and will not look as natural.
You can distress as much or as little as you want. For this particular dresser, my milk paint did most of the distressing work for me since there was a decent amount of chipping. But I did go in and distress around some of the raised details so that they matched the chippy look of the piece.
Sealing Milk Paint
At this point, you are probably ready for this project to be over! I have been there!! Making over antique and vintage furniture is defiantly a time commitment and labor intensive but the last step is something you do not want to miss- and that is sealing the milk paint. Milk paint is a porous paint and therefore, it needs to be sealed to protect the finish over time. If you don’t seal it, any bit of dirt, dust, or water will ruin all your hard work! Which sealer you choose it personally preference and depends on the look you are trying to achieve. For most of my piece, I usually go for a matte polyacrylic because its very durable and easy to apply. However, for this piece, I wanted to add a bit more richness with the color so I chose to use Sweet Pickens Oil wax in black.
To use oil wax, I just pour some of the wax into a small container and used a disposable chip brush to brush on a liberal amount over the entire piece. Once you have applied the oil wax, let it sit for 5-15 minutes and come back and rub off the extra wax. I just use an old shop rag to do this. I recommend working in small sections that way you have more control over the final color, especially for large pieces like this dresser. The black oil wax and navy blue color of this dresser was the perfect combo. The black oil wax definitely deepened the navy quite a bit. So if you want the finish to be a little less dark, you can always dilute the color with the clear oil wax.
The finished piece
And here is the final piece!
I really love how this vintage dresser makeover came out. The dark navy blue almost black color is exactly what I was hoping for. For me, this is the perfect amount of chippy paint!
Want to see more vintage furniture makeovers like this one? Check out my other projects here.
Leave a Reply