Finishing advice needed

[DaveO]

Ok, I am ready to finish the step stool I made for my niece a few weekends ago. My delivery date has been moved up, I was planning it to be done for an end of November delivery, but my wife reminded me that my niece is 17 days older than my daughter..D'oh. Members have suggested that several layers of milk paint would be the best way to achieve this look, but after finding the price of milk paint, I think that for this project it may be to expensive. I could by the stool for $52, and I already have around $20 invested in it. So I thought that I could use a dark stain to give the Poplar some color, coat that with blond shellac to seal it, and then apply a few coats of oil based enamel paint and sand through that on the wear areas to expose the stained wood. Does this sound like a good idea, so should I just suck it up and get the milk paint. Another question, does milk paint powder have a good shelf life if stored properly. If so that would make the $35.00 expense easier to swallow. Thanks for ya'lls advice. Dave Oh, BTW this is what I am hoping to look similar to.

 

[Big Mike]

Dave, why does it have to be milk paint? I think any washable acrylic latex would be more appropriate for a child's stool and more durable. Admittedly milk paint might be the traditional paint but I built a little bear shaped stool for my son almost 25 years ago, painted it yellow and blue and it is still in pretty good shape. Just food for thought. You may have good reasons for using milk paint that I do not suspect.... I know nothing about milk paint.

 

[DaveO]

Mike, I was going for the "worn through many layers of paint" look. I am not sold on milk paint, it was just suggested by some more experienced than I, as a way to achieve that look. I can easily paint it a solid color, check out my gallery, I am the king of painted furniture. But I want to get a look similar to the "antiqued" look of the almighty Pottery Barn stuff. What do you think about my system, or should I just paint it nice and be happy with that? Dave

 

[clowman]

Don't know if this would help, but I made a hall table for a lady I work with out of poplar. She painted it white, and then she said that she "beat it with a chain" to get the worn look, painted it again, and "beat it some more". It looks nice and worn now, just the way she wanted it.

- clay

 

[DaveO]

Thanks Clay, I don't know if I am going for the distressed wood look or just the worn edge look. The picture looks fairly smooth, with just some wear on the edges, but maybe beating it up would look better, who says that Pottery Barn knows their finishes. I am probably agonizing over this more than I should, but my parents are buying my niece the piece from Pottery Barn, and I am making one so I want it to be better. But I am sure she will use it what ever it looks like. Dave

 

[Big Mike]

Mike, I was going for the "worn through many layers of paint" look. Dave

Well, that is good enough reason to use the milk paint. If you are trying to achieve a certain look then I suppose you do what you have to do to get that look. I had looked at the wonderful children's furniture in your gallery and wondered why you would want to do differently. Again, I have no experience with milk paint except to see Norm use it on his show a couple of times. As I recall he did the same thing creating that instant antique look.

 

[Joe Scharle]

Here's another thought...I made some shadow boxes and needed an old look. Pic is my gallery. Conditioner,still wet apply onyx, wipe down, let dry, antique walnut, then wipe on poly next day. All minwax from HD.
Joe