How to Use Silk All in One Mineral Paint on Furniture

Today’s post answers the questions of how and why you would want to use Silk All in One Mineral Paint versus other types of paint.

The range of Dixie Belle Silk paint colors were originally 20 muted coastal-inspired colors.  There was a recent release of 10 more bold desert-inspired colors, so now there are 30 colors total.

Here is the small Ethan Allen cabinet we are transforming with Silk paint today.  Well-constructed and solid wood, but too dark and dated for today’s decorating styles.

It was given to me free, along with this secretary desk and entry table.  

The resource list for this project could be just 2 items for the exterior of it – white lightning cleaner and Oyster paint.  The interior makeover used a few more products, but sometimes you want that little surprise inside!

Resource List:

(Note: These are affiliate links for which I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for your support!)

• Ethan Allen cabinet (free)
• White Lightning
• Silk All in One paint Oyster
• Art Deco Bird Pattern decoupage paper
• Clear coat flat
• Thing-a-ma-jig

Help yourself to my free guides by clicking the pictures:

Silk All in One Mineral Paint – Tips and Tricks

In my Comprehensive Guide to Dixie Belle Chalk Paint: Everything You Need to Know, I list all the properties of Silk All in One Mineral Paint.  Some of these include the added primer and top coat, the mildew-resistance, and the gorgeous eggshell sheen.  

So today I wanted to give you a few lesser known tips about it. 

• Silk is NOT chalk paint.  It is acrylic based.
• A light scuff sand before using will make all the difference – don’t skip this step!
• The built-in primer is the equivalent of 1 coat of BOSS, so if you have major stains to cover, you may need more than 2 coats.  Allow more dry time between coats to increase the effectiveness of the stain blocker.  
• Works amazing under decoupage paper and transfers.
• Silk dries fairly quickly, so smooth your strokes and don’t re-work
• Silk dries from the surface down, so it will feel dry to the touch before it is fully dry underneath.  Allow the full recommended 2 hours of dry time between coats.
• If you want to add any clear coat, wax, hemp oil or Big Mama’s Butta, they all work great with Silk.
• If you want to blend paint colors, I’d recommend the Chalk Mineral paint line instead.

Silk Oyster Paint

Back to today’s project.  After cleaning and scuff sanding the cabinet, I gave it 2 coats of Silk Oyster.

This is a beautiful warm white color – a new favorite of mine!  You’ll want to use a synthetic brush to apply Silk paint to keep it really smooth.

You CAN lightly distress Silk paint, as you can see on my piece.

Art Deco Bird Pattern Decoupage Paper

For that little surprise inside, I added this funky decoupage paper to the insides of the doors.

I use clear coat to “glue” it down, as well as to seal over it.  I discovered the thing-a-ma-jig tool is a great little squeegee for smoothing the paper down.

I probably wouldn’t buy it just for that, but it is also great for raised stencils, silkscreen stencils and adding texture with Sea Spray.

Paint Wash for Natural Wood

This piece is solid maple, so I thought a natural wood drawer would be beautiful.  I sanded it down to raw wood.

To tie it into the rest of the piece, I created a 50/50 wash with the Oyster paint and water.  I painted it on, and wiped it back immediately with paper towels.

I know they say not to use Silk paint with water, but it worked well for this wash.  Of course, for opaque paint finishes you should still steer clear of mixing water with it.

After sealing the drawer with clear coat in Flat sheen, I re-attached the original hardware painted in Oyster as well.

If you like this project, please Pin it!

Here are some more Silk All-in-One Mineral paint projects you can check out: