If you love upcycling your rustic furniture, you are going to fall head over heels for our latest new find. We love discovering independent businesses that are doing amazing things in the world of homes and interiors and even more so when they are flying the eco-friendly flag and helping us create stylish homes that are kind to our planet. Our latest favourite find is Cornish Milk Mineral Paints, a fantastic family business in Cornwall that makes water-based, non-toxic, non-solvent, non-chemical (that’s a lot of ‘non’) environmentally friendly paint with a lower than low VOC content. Created using organic earth pigments sourced from the UK and available in a gorgeous curation of colours that capture the true essence of Cornwall, the paints can be used on most surfaces, but are perfect when it comes to upcycling dining, living room or bedroom furniture.
We spoke with Reece and Joe, founders of Cornish Milk Mineral Paints to find out more….
First things first, what is milk mineral paint and does it contain actual milk?
No, there are no cows involved in creating our paints! Cornish Milk Mineral Paint is a water-based decorative paint that we created because we both loved using milk paints on our own upcycling projects. Upcycling furniture has always been a passion of ours and we wanted to make a mineral-based paint formula that had the same smooth and matt finish you get with milk paint, but without the fuss of having to mix a powder and water.
And where does the Cornish part come in?
It’s our home and it’s always been a dream of ours to have our own decorative paint collection ever since we started painting our furniture about ten years ago. After our upcycling hobby grew into a business and we started a family, we began to put the foundations in place for Cornish Mineral Milk paints. We knew from day one that our collection would be Cornish-inspired and reflect our beautiful home. We had great fun as a family exploring the pretty fishing villages and towns along the Cornish coast as inspiration for shades and names.
How do you make your paints?
We value the traditional way of paint making, not only because it produces the best results, but from an environmental perspective, it’s better too. All of our paints are made, poured and labelled by hand and then packaged by us before being shipped to our stockists and customers all over the world. By making and pouring our paints by hand, we have reduced our C02 emissions by 75%, compared to a normal machine operated factory.
All our Cornish colours are made with 100% real powdered earth pigments and contain zero synthetic dyes or stains. Our pigments guarantee a flawless finish with a superior richness to the colour.
What makes your paints ideal for painting furniture?
Our paints can be applied to almost any surface whether that’s on furniture, walls or exteriors, and the superior coverage makes it the perfect formula for upcycling. They offer exceptional coverage, outstanding adhesion and no visible brush strokes making it super easy to bring an old piece of reclaimed wood furniture back to life. Our unique formula ensures brush strokes disappear and after seven days of curing, the formula hardens leaving you with a smooth and matt finish every time. It’s also self-sealing, so no waxing or topcoat is required, saving you time and money and because it gives such a fabulous coverage and finish, you only need to apply one or two coats.
What tips can you give to get the best finish when upcycling furniture?
Preparation is key. Cornish Milk Mineral Paint is easy to apply and can be used on natural wood, varnish or over old paint, but to achieve the best finish, you should give your piece of rustic furniture a good clean. We couldn’t find a natural one that worked, so we created our own! Bioclean is a unique 100% plant-based and biodegradable furniture cleaner that removes dirt, grease and grime with no solvents or chemicals and is the perfect first step to painting furniture. Once it’s clean give your furniture a light sanding so that the paint has a surface to grip onto and you’re pretty much good to go.
Tell us what’s new?
We have collaborated with our official stockist, Jacked Junk, to create two very special limited edition Cornish Milk Mineral colours to raise awareness for Autism and raise money for The National Autistic Society. Seahorse and Coral are two beautiful and vibrant Spring/Summer 2022 colours that we hope will inspire our customers to get creative! The colours were hand chosen and named by Jack, who is 13 and has autism. Jack's goal is to own his own Jacked Junk shop, employing other autistic people in the business. 10% of all proceeds from each tin sold will go directly to the National Autistic Society and we hope it will help raise awareness of autism.
Find out more about Cornish Milk Mineral Paints or for some upcycling inspiration visit @cornishmilkmineralpaint.
If you liked this....
Check-out the Our Friends series to discover pro tips and gorgeous homes to inspire, including How to do pattern with Prestigious Textiles and stepping inside interior stylist, Maxine Brady's, chic Brighton home.
