Thanks so much to our friends at the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company for sponsoring this post.
I made these shelves a few years ago using this tutorial and I've loved them ever since. They were black and then a grey/white and now I've decided to use Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. in Soldier Blue. I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to go that dark again but I did know that the shelves needed more of a contrast. 
I joined the Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest this month and the theme was Farmhouse Fun. I had a hard time deciding what project to do but I've always known that these shelves have needed a rework for quite sometime.
The trick to mixing Milk Paint is getting the consistency right. You want to have a 50/50 mix of powder to water but I have found that using a tiny bit less water and using it warm has always worked well for me. I also like to blend it in an old Bullet mixer so that I don't have those chunks of powder in my mixture.
Paint one coat and allow to dry and then add your second coat. The paint will give you a cracked look and those are the places that haven't adhered well to the surface. The way to get the chippy look for these DIY farmhouse cafe shelves is to use a metal spackle knife. Just lightly go across the top of your surface and it will scrape off any paint that hasn't stuck.
I then mixed the Safecoat Acriglaze Matte Finish so that it almost resembled glue. I painted that over the top of the milk paint and it almost gives me a look of white wax. It'll protect the surface while showing off the paint well. 
There are a bunch of us doing projects this month so be sure to check out Evey's Creations post and Anastasia Vintage's post. If you're interested in joining the FFFC, email [email protected]
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Ivan Jordon says
This gives me the perfect idea about a good wall decor.. Gorgeous…
Morgan says
This is awesome! The shelf looks really sturdy and equipped to hold even heavier items. Nicely done! Thanks for sharing your idea!
Elena Gozo says
Awesome! Thanks for the tutorial. I really need to cafe shelve style for my farmhouse. I liked to letter “F” as well. Where did you buy it? Thanks! Good job by the way.
Frenchie says
Thanks so much! I actually got the F’s at The Vintage Whites market.