How to Paint a French Blue Milk Paint Finish

Lightly sand your furniture piece with 220 grit sandpaper and clean any dust, grease, or grime with Krud Kutter Deglosser. My piece was red and I did not want any red showing through my paint finish. Knowing I was going to be distressing I needed my primer layer of paint to really stick to the red so I made sure that it was clean and prepped properly. If I had a stained wood piece to start with I would not have been so careful, as I wouldn’t have minded the stain layer showing up occasionally.

If your furniture piece is already painted you will want to prime or use two layers of good bonding paint. I used Amy Howard One step paint in the color linen. You won’t want to use any paint with sheen, or a slick finish for this antique finish.

Mix your gesso in a plastic cup. I used half a cup of Amy Howard cracked gesso and mixed the powder with warm water until I had a consistency that I liked. About as thick as pancake batter. Runny but not thin. Apply the cracked gesso over your base coat covering 100% of the furniture piece. I “built up” the gesso on corners and around the handle areas.

Let each layer of gesso and milk paint dry to the touch until it doesn’t feel cold and then you are safe to add the next layer. I typically waited 30 minutes to 1 hour in between coats. I started with a layer of Cote D’Azure Toscana Milk Paint powder, and a little bit of Noir (to make a darker blue) mixed with warm water. I used half a cup of the blue powder, a teaspoon of Noir to a quarter cup of warm water for my first layer. The next color I used was Venetian green – one-half cup of powder to one-quarter cup of warm water. It takes such a small amount of paint for a small piece like this and I only made enough for what I needed for that layer if I did have a tiny bit left, I added it to the next color. Next, I used a layer of gesso on all of the corners and the handle area to build up the years of time there. Next, I took the Cote D’Azure alone without Noir. Each layer of milk paint is 100% coverage over the entire piece. I added what I had left of the colors and added more blue to the last layer.

I used my 5 in 1 tool and my straight razor to scrape the layers and gently distress my antique finish. To make it look authentic I distressed it where it would have worn naturally over time. I use the 5 in 1 and my razor rather than sandpaper to make sure that I am chipping the finish and not melding it together with sandpaper.

Again, not using sandpaper but instead a 0000 steel wool pad to smooth out any rough patches or areas that need distressed smooth. Steele wool will also give a nice patina that sandpaper won’t. This makes a mess so be sure to do this outside and wear proper PPE.

When I am happy with my distressing and have achieved my desired chippy-ness, I will use Mind your own beeswax to seal my milk paint. You will always want to seal a milk paint finish to keep it from chipping more or absorbing dirt from whatever touches it. Unless, of course, that is what you want to happen. I use a wax brush to add on the wax and I panic that I am ruining it because it darkens my milk paint, but then it dries and the paint lightens to its perfect shade of french blue again. I cover the piece with 100% coverage.

After 24 hours I go back with my buff brush and buff the wax to a beautiful dull rubbed sheen. Have you ever shined shoes or seen a movie where a soldier is shining his boots? It’s just like that. Back and forth quickly over the wax and you can watch it shine up. It is so satisfying.