**This product was provided to me in exchange for review purposes. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own
Hello all! Jo Gaines wanna-be here! About a year ago, we moved into our new home in our my dream neighborhood. I always remember thinking while watching HGTV that I couldn’t understand how people could sacrifice their home for location; until it happened to me. Our house isn’t everything we’ve ever wanted, however, it is in the location we’ve always wanted and that to us, is everything we’ve wanted in a home. So, since moving in, I’ve done some minor changes, nothing too crazy since the house is less than 10 years old, and in house years, that’s practically a newborn!
A few of the things we’ve done:
Painted the living room from an Illini Orange to this beautiful gray
Added updated window treatments
Purchased new furniture including our amazing farmhouse table, end table, sofa table, mason jar holder from a local super-building woman
Added wooden planks to our laundry room wall
Built amazing shelves for out bathroom and dining room
Adding in carpet in the next few months
And now, I turn all my focus to my gallery wall. I have a love hate relationship with gallery walls and generally the hanging of anything. I have grandiose visions and they never seem to come to life when it comes to poking tiny holes in my freshly painted living room. Aside from that, I never know what will look good: sizes, shapes, spacing, color (outside of the gray spectrum). I do know I have always wanted to build this frame. I just had to figure out what to do with it once it was assembled. I knew white, like the lovely ladies at Shanty-2-Chic did, would look amazing on my walls, but white just seemed so blah. I needed some demension to it.
Enter The Real Milk Paint Co.
I was approached by The Real Milk Pain Co. to use their Milk Paint along with their Natural Crackle agent that gives your project an amazing antiqued look. I knew this would be perfect for the frame I wanted to build!
My first project was to pick the colors; a choice of two. And I thought this was going to be easy. The options are endless and all so beautiful and vibrant. As much as I wanted to get all the colors, I knew I had to stick with my vision: White (and obviously gray). I picked the white I wanted, but I could not decide on the shades of gray that would look best with the Soft White and the Natural Crackle so I left it up to the wonderful people at The Real Milk Paint Co. to surprise me. I ended up being sent a BEAUTIFUL light gray called Riverstone and it was the perfect contrast.
It’s hard to tell, but this is the Soft White
Riverstone
Now, I won’t go into the details of building the frame, but head on over to Shanty-2-chic and follow Whitney and Ashley’s super easy tutorial as well as their other projects (that are all over our home). I will show you the steps that go into mixing the Milk Paint and well as some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way, so stay with me!
The first thing I did was head on over to the tutorial section of The Real Milk Paint Co. website to follow their advice and see exactly how the pros do it. I highly recommend this, because they know what they’re talking about. The video’s are short, and easy to follow along with and show you step by step what to do to get your project just the way you envisioned.
I decided for this, I would do the Riverstone as my first coat. I wanted it to be the color that showed through after I applied the Natural Crackle and the contrast is beautiful.
Up opening, you will notice the cans are not like normal paint cans; the lid is actually a click-lock lid and this makes it easy so you don’t have to always hammer the lid to get it back on. I also think this makes it easy for reusing the can whenever you find more things to paint later down the road.
When you’re done with the prep of the wood apply your first coat of your base color. The Real Milk Pain Co. has an AWESOME brush that I love. I attempted it at first with a foam brush, but I wasn’t happy with the look of the paint but I received one of their brushes and I’m in love. I don’t want to use the word “streak” but you can see the line layers when using this brush, and I think its the perfect look for what I’m going for. The coverage with this brush in comparison to the foam brush is also much smoother, in my opinion.
Forgive my poor lighting. It was too cold outside to stand out and get the perfect picture!
Once your first coat had dried, I suggest adding a second coat depending on the look that you’re going for. My first coat was rather light, so I actually went ahead and did 3 coats of the Riverstone. As I mentioned before, this is all about the look your desire; there is no right or wrong way! Once my base coats were dry it’s time to apply the Natural Crackle. The Natural Crackle has a very thick molasses texture, so depending not the size of the cracks you want, make sure you mix it with some water (more water for thinner cracks, less water for thicker crack). I like mine thicker so I only add about a teaspoon or so to about a tablespoon of Natural Crackle.
Once you apply the Natural Crackle, let it dry for about 2 hours. If you think you want more cracking, feel free to apply a second coat. Once your Natural Crackle is dry its time to add the second desired color. For me, it is the Soft White as I mentioned above. In an ideal world, you’ll add two coats of this, however, having a fast drying paint has some pros and cons. The pros are that its fast drying allowing you to quickly add a second coat. The cons are that once your paint starts crackle, it’s too late to apply a second coat. So, with your top color, time is of the essence. But don’t rush. Your project will still look great if you only have the chance to add 1 top coat of your other color choice.
Are you a visual DIYer like myself? You’re in luck! Here is the video I’ve watched on the Natural Crackle process more times than I can count.
Once you’re done painting, I like to let mine dry at least 12 hours. Is this probably an overkill? Yes. However, when I am applying the DeadFlat Finishing Cream, I like to make sure my paint isn’t going anywhere.
I’m so happy with how this frame turned out. It’s the perfect customization and dimension I was looking for instead of a plain white paint. I also love how some of the gray peeks through where I didn’t apply the Natural Crackle. This piece is going to fit perfectly on my gallery wall (you know, when I actually hang all my stuff up).
Until I provide you with a picture of my full finished wall, are you interested in trying out The Real Milk Paint Co. for yourself? If so, head on over to their website to order. You may also be one of the lucky ones who has a local seller near you!
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