Thursday, December 9, 2010

milk glass

In our new place, we have a lot of space over our kitchen cabinets.  I knew I wanted to do a little accessorizing up there, but I was trying to figure out what I could do without it looking cluttered or busy.  I wanted something light and fresh, that was a little more unexpected.

Thus began my love affair with milk glass






via kohler


I knew I needed to get my hands on some beautiful milk glass vases.  And fast.  That empty space about the cabinets was driving my crazy.

I figured that the cheapest and fastest (did I mention cheapest?) way to get this look was to create my own milk glass.  So I ventured down to trusty D.I. with Bradley and a bottle of hand sanitizer in tow, and picked up every vase I could find with nice lines.

With the exception of the white pitcher which I already had, I grabbed all these beauties for a grand total of $12.

I also picked up a few cans of high gloss white paint

threw on some latex gloves to protect my manicure

set up shop in my garage, and started spraying away

I loved the look of them instantly.  I sprayed on about 4 coats of paint give or take.  The trick is to spray evenly and not too close.  And have the patience to wait for the paint to dry in between coats.  Luckily it only took about 10 min to dry per coat.

When I got them all sufficiently coated and dried, it was time to arrange them.

I added a few pieces that I already had, and you can hardly tell the difference between the real and the fake ones.  It was just the look I was going for.  Clean, great lines, and cohesive. 







36 comments:

  1. Love this idea. I only have four pieces of milk glass, and they were kind of pricey. Love this diy. Thanks!

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  2. So easy, but so elegant looking!

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  3. yeah, like everyone else said- LOVE it!! that looks awesome! now i just have to figure out where to incorporate this into my house...

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  4. Love milk glass and love your diy solution. They look great up there above your cabinets.

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  5. I love it! I started collecting milk glass a few years ago when an elderly woman gave me some of her's. Since then I have found several AMAZING pieces at yard & estate sales. I use them in my sewing room to hold buttons and other trinkets. Right now I have one as my salt keeper on in kitchen. I never thought of painting pieces. Great solution!

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  6. so cute! I did a bunch of faux milk glass vases for centerpieces for an event I helped decorate. They look so much like the real thing when sprayed!

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  7. Looks great!! Thanks for sharing my photo and letting me know! And I'm so glad that you posted about spraying glass vases white, I have been wanting to do the same thing but was unsure how it would turn out. I'll have to try it out!

    xo

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  8. Love this, I can hardly wait to get started!!

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  9. So cute. It adds a ton to your kitchen. It's hard spray painting glass, huh?

    I just recently painted these glass ceremic lamps and it was tough.

    Great job!!

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  10. they look fabulous!! love it, good job :)

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  11. Love that!! I did something similar to some vases in the living room but never thought to use real dishes for the kitchen. Might have to borrow your idea!!

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  12. That's so pretty! I really like the effect of the white and the different shapes. I wouldn't have guessed it was going to turn out so well. Really gave those tired old vases a totally new life!

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  13. such a good idea! I really like the circle-door in the first photo, it's very unique.

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  14. Fabulous! I'm moving into a new home soon and your beautiful photos are inspiring.

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  15. This is beautiful!! I'm obsessed with apothecary jars, but this is a fun little idea that I'm storing away for my future home too!

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  16. When Chelsea was commenting on how good they looked on Sunday, you didn't even mention you did it all yourself. Very clever. I like the clean look. I'll have to keep that in mind for my new place. I will have the same space above my kitchen cabinets. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. I keep meaning to hit goodwill to pick up something. I LOVE what you have done. All of it looks great. I heart spraypaint!!!

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  18. Oh I love this! I don't understand all these people finding milk glass everywhere. I have NO luck! I'm totally going to try this.

    And oh yes, Oscar de la Renta is AMAZING!

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  19. I have space over my cabinets now too. That's where I store/display some of our nicer serving dishes and I tried to display them artistically too for a cleaner look. Mine are all one color but now I have the idea to get cheap vases and create the look I want with spray paint. Thanks for the idea!

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  20. I LOVE milk glass. There is a store here in Salt Lake called "The Store" and it's kind of like a thrift place, but I got a HUGE set of milk glass China that was listed at $150 down to $25 bucks. You can see here in my personal blog http://savandwren.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-new-place.html
    it's a long post so it's towards the middle on a gray book shelf. I love to get it out for parties. I love your milk glass, so cute to set it above your cabinets!

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  21. I like this idea for my DVD/Book shelf. I could add this infront of the items to make the shelf's look clean. I wish I had storage on top of my cabinets just to be able to do this. Thanks so much for sharing. =)

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  22. My first piece of DIY milk glass is drying out in my yard right now. I found a glass lamp at a garage sale last night for $2 and picked up some hi-gloss spray paint at Wally-world today for $.97. Can't wait to see it in our bedroom. Thanks for the awesome idea:)

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  23. that canister next to the large white pitcher is GORGEOUS!

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  24. These are beautiful! I've recently seen a pin on Pintrest where you do a similar crafting job to wine bottles.

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  25. I have the same cabinet top situation, am in the process of painting my cabinets black and this idea will be perfect to lighten the top up.
    Just pinned you!

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  26. Genius. Why didn't I think of that?! I love milk glass!

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  27. This is great! I've been trying to find milk glass with low price tags - no luck. I'll have to try this. Did you spray them with anything to keep the spray paint from scratching?

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  28. BRILLIANT!! love this idea!! Just wondering tho, up on top of my cupboards gets very dusty after awhile, so how do these hold up to washing in dawn dish soap??

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  29. Love this idea! Just recently started to collect milk glass, because I love the way it looks against a solid colored background, like my navy blue cabinet. I am busy collecting for above our kitchen cabinets - which needs very tall pieces, and this will make things so much easier! Thanks!

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  30. You inspired me! I Have several random old vases on a built in bookcase that have looked messy and unkempt. They are now a glowing shade of white and I LOVE IT!.

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  31. My eyes got all big when I saw this post. This is amazing!!! What a great idea. Thanks!
    Mandy

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  32. Your husband is one lucky man to have a wife that can do so many great things and provide for such comfort and cosiness in a home. Good job. I cannot get enough of your amazing talents! So glad I found this blogg! Keep it up. Loooking forward to new ideas.

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