Farmtable Makeover using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint

Today I am excited to share with you the transformation

of a 1970’s Ethan Allan Dining table into a modern farmhouse style dining table with chairs using Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Farmhouse White.  Let’s get started!

This adorable farmtable and chairs

did not start it’s life this way by any means.  In fact, the three pieces you see here didn’t even come to me together as a set!  Let me tell you their story…

A friend of my husband’s asked if we would like some small items from his deceased father-in-law’s home at the cost of helping with moving some old things from the home. My husband helped him and thus we acquired this chair.

I loved it of course! I mean who wouldn’t love a slender Windsor back chair with arms?? But I thought what in the world will I do with one chair?

A couple of weeks later, the same friend asked if he could come over again to continue the process of emptying the home. Hubby went and came home with another chair, the exact same shape and style as the first chair only this one was solid wood – no blue paint details like the first chair.  The two chairs were not intended to be a pair obviously because of the color differences.

My mind started moving and I figured I could paint the chair in blue so that when the chairs were painted in the final coat of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint they would distress in a similar way.

After cleaning the chair, I decided to use a spray on Rust Oleum Ultra Cover 2X Primer in a gray to neutralize the wood tone. Then I sprayed the chair with a blue spray paint I had on hand that was similar to the first chair. You can see the difference in the blue colors in the next image down.

Now for a table

What’s a girl to do? Well that same friend needed help filling the dumpster after completely going through his in-laws place and hubby and I headed over again! The family had already chosen the items they wanted and everything else was going to be donated.

We found an Ethan Allan laminate table with missing leaves. It was a solid piece of furniture for sure but the top was a very, very shiny laminate surface. Back in the 70’s I think people were thinking durability so you often find this plastic-looking, very shiny surface on tops of tables, dressers and night stands. I am sure it is durable but not very attractive.

After measuring the table top, we removed it and tossed it in the dumpster.  We kept the apron and the legs along with the hardware to attach the new top.

Hubby had the idea of replacing the top with a hand built farmhouse style surface. So he started digging around his reclaimed wood pile and found the perfect pieces to build the top.  I don’t have any pics of the building process – he mostly works alone in his shop after work.  That’s his down time 🙂

Remember the chairs weren’t painted the same?  The chair on the right was the first chair that was already blue.  The chair on the left is the one I tried to match with a blue paint I had on hand.  Not the best choice of blue 😉

See how he turned the boards on the ends in a different direction than the boards in the center of the table top?  That is called bread board ends and it is one of our favorite looks for a farm table.  He stained the top using General Finishes Water Based Gel Stain in a custom mix of Early American and Walnut.

One of these days I will have to grab some photos of him building these table tops!

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Farmhouse White

was the perfect paint for this project.  The crisp white next to the dark stain of the top makes for a beautiful contrast.

The whole set was clear coated for protection using General Finishes High Performance in Flat.  The matte finish adds to the farmhouse charm of the table and chairs plus will give this dining set years of protection. One coat on all of the white milk paint and three coats on the table top.

And the chairs after they were painted??….

I have no words!  They are so cute!  I carefully distressed each piece – not too much – I wanted only a slightly used look. Also, because the shades of blue did not match perfectly, I was careful to distress the set lightly.  In the end you can’t even tell that the blues didn’t match 🙂

Here is the final look!

It is the sweeetest little farmtable!  Two small benches like this one could be added to the sides for additional seating.

Can’t you just see this dining set in a breakfast nook or small kitchen?  Let me know what you think about this set in the comments!  I would love to hear from you 🙂

If you are interested in seeing this set in person, let me know!  You can contact me through the contact page at the top!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pin this post for inspiration for your farmhouse style breakfast nook, kitchen or dining area!