Hands-On Furniture Painting Class for the DIYer

Some things are harder than they look. Case in point – those BEFORE & AFTER photos on Pinterest where people take hideous, dull brown furniture they find at a garage sale and with a few coats of paint transform them into colorful, vintage chic furniture.

It’s amazing how distressed furniture can look so beautiful and modern! See the photo on the right for a perfect example.

You can spend hours reading or watching the tutorials online to learn how to do it yourself. But that approach can sometimes leave your more confused because you realize just how many options you have when it comes to paint, materials, and techniques. Arrgh!

What type of paint should I use? What’s chalk paint? What’s milk paint? Which is better for my project?
Do I need to sand my furniture first? How much sanding is even necessary?
What should I use for my topcoat? How do I apply antiquing wax?
What’s the best method for re-creating the gorgeous, distressed looks I see in online photos?

A furniture painting class allows you to learn by doing with help from an expert.

After reading about milk paint, I really wanted to try it because it’s completely free of any harmful chemicals. In fact, it’s made with only five all-natural ingredients. Milk paint also has the reputation of being easy peasy to use to get a chippy, antiqued or distressed look.

BUT… because milk paint comes in powder form, I was intimidated to try it myself. Plus, what a strange name!

So I decided to take a local Milk Paint 101 workshop. In the furniture painting class, we painted our own step stool using milk paint. I learned how to mix it and the different methods for applying it to get various distressed “looks.”

I’m all about learning by doing. Don’t tell me. Show me.

Our instructor, Allison, completely took the mystery out of milk paint and showed us it’s not as weird as the name sounds. I found out milk paint really is as easy to use as they say, and it’s very forgiving because of its thinner consistency.

It surprised me how quickly milk paint dries!

What surprised me the most was how quickly and evenly milk paint dries. No mess, no stress!

We all left the Milk Paint 101 class confident that we could use milk paint to turn any ugly piece of furniture into something we could proudly display in our home. And receive lots of compliments on it too!

More importantly, we became friends with Allison. Now we all have a milk painting expert on speed dial for any of our future milk painting questions. That was another confidence booster for using milk paint on my own DIY project!

A furniture painting class makes a wonderful gift for the DIYer or someone interested in quick, hands-on learning. It’s also a fun experience because you’re in a room with other people with the exact same interest. There are even classes where you bring in your own piece of furniture to paint!

My finished milk paint project! I gave my step stool a cute beach house furniture look.

There were two sets of mothers and daughters and a group of friends in my class who took the class together for a some fun, bonding time.

Mother’s Day is coming up. A gift certificate to a furniture painting class or workshop would be perfect and unique!

I took my Milk Paint 101 workshop at The Paint Bar in Edmond, Oklahoma. The owner, Allison Griffith, is the creative genius behind the website Refunk My Junk. She makes a living blogging, selling her beautiful refunked furniture, and also teaching painting classes so that others can create their own masterpieces.

Disclosure: I took the Milk Paint 101 class for free (a $75 value) in exchange for writing about it. I did it to satisfy my milk paint curiosity and because I knew it would make a great thoughtful gift post! All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.  – Vincent Van Gogh