I paint my chairs with milk paint from The Real Milk Paint Co.. Milk paint is a traditional finish for Windsor chairs, dating back hundreds of years.

A traditional Windsor chair is made of three kinds of wood: hard maple, for turned parts, because it holds fine details well; pine, for the seat, because it is easy to carve into a beautifully sculpted form; oak for the spindles and bent parts, because it is easy to rive and to bend. There are many other woods which are used - these are just examples.

Because the finished chair is comprised of three different kinds of wood, it looks a little discombobulated to some people. Milk paint hides the differences between the different woods and ties the chair together into a unified whole. But it does much more than just covering up differences - it also provides an entirely new dimension to the visual appeal of these chairs, one which could not be achieved with just “plain” wood.

There are some people who prefer unpainted chairs, as they want to see the wood itself. This is perfectly fine, everyone is different. ;) There are “two” ways to order an unpainted chair: 1) I make the chair with the three traditional woods, and simply finish it with the standard oil/varnish mixture without painting or 2) I make the chair out of only one (or perhaps two) nontraditional species of wood and finish with oil/varnish. A butternut seat with the rest of the chair made out of oak is one example. My rocker is made from this combination.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the possibility of painting with multiple colors - this can be used to wonderful effect. There are many different combinations which are possible, black over red is a popular and beautiful one seen here. Milk paint can also be mixed, creating a huge number of different colors.

You can see different colors of milk paint all over this site, but I think it is interesting to compare the same chair in two very different colors side by side. Here are some examples: