Milk Paint Drop Front Secretary: before and after

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday!

I have another milk paint before and after for you.

This secretary was given to me by my step-mother. She’d had it for years and it had seen its better days. I decided to try Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in the color “Boxwood”….

I can’t find a “before” pic, but it was just a basic stained finish like this…

I painted 2 coats of Boxwood on the secretary (that sounds funny!) except for the little cross pieces on the glass and the inside of the cabinet. It ended up with some really pretty areas of chipping and crazing…

Next, I found this printable “grains” graphic from the Graphics Fairy and transferred it to the front of the drop down part of the secretary. Then, I painted it with a small paintbrush and black acrylic paint….

I wanted the graphic to look like it was a little worn away, so I gently sanded it.

Finally, I waxed the whole piece with Miss Mustard Seed Antiquing Wax. I love how easy it is to buff out this wax. For this piece, I decided it still wasn’t as dark as I wanted, so I went over it with a little Annie Sloan dark wax.

For the inside, I tried several methods, including paint and foil. But nothing looked quite right. Then, I decided to try adding some copper leaf and that won me over. Sometimes it’s just trial and error until you get it right!

I bought copper leaf sheets from Hobby Lobby, sprayed a leafing adhesive on the inside panel of the secretary, and applied the leaf. Lastly, I went over the copper leaf with a darker faux finishing glaze that I already had on hand, just to cut down some of the shininess. Here’s a close up of the copper leaf with the glaze…

One more full length shot…

So, I’ve really been venturing out with color! On Friday, I shared this pink vanity and today… a green secretary (again, that sounds funny :)). It is fun to change it up every once and awhile and this Boxwood is really a beautiful color!