Repurposing a Baby's Mini Crib

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Repurposing a Baby's Mini Crib

⏱ A weekend 💰 $80 crib + ~$60 in paint & finish 🔨 Skill level: Intermediate

Nursery with the refinished dark mini crib beside a matching dresser and changing table

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The idea

Back in 2021 we bought a mini crib off Kijiji for $80, mattress included. It was white at the time, which didn't match the dark wood furniture look I wanted, and we were living in a condo where a mini crib fit the space much better than a standard-size one anyway. I painted the frame dark not long after.

By our 3rd child, that original paint job had gotten tacky and worn. Since we were trying to minimize VOCs in the house (and I was pregnant at the time), a normal hardware-store paint was off the table — I needed something clean while still keeping the dark look.

Materials

Real Milk Paint — 100% organic, zero-VOC
Color: Warm Ash (one pint covered 3 coats)
Sandpaper, for stripping the original paint back to bare wood
Primer, for any spots being painted over old paint rather than bare wood
Hemp oil stain/finish from Amazon, used as the top coat

What we did

First, the whole frame got sanded back — the goal was 100% of the original paint off and down to bare wood before any new paint went on. I also had some areas that were still the original 2021 beige rather than the later black repaint; on those spots I skipped priming and painted the milk paint directly over the old paint.

Black mini crib frame sanded down and prepped for repainting, sitting on a drop cloth

The Warm Ash milk paint went on in 3 coats from a single pint, straight onto the bare wood sections. Once it dried, I finished the whole piece with a hemp oil stain as the top coat, since I hadn't realized in time that Real Milk Paint sells its own top coat and needed something on hand to seal it.

Mini crib after applying milk paint and hemp oil top coat, with a weathered wood finish

What we learned: On the spots where I painted the milk paint directly over the old beige paint instead of bare wood, it started lifting almost right away. If you're painting over existing paint rather than sanding to wood, prime it first — don't skip this step like I did.

Tip: The hemp oil top coat worked really well and gave a nice weathered finish, but it smelled strong for about a week after application. Plan to air the room out, especially if you're using it on a nursery piece.

Result

A crib that now actually matches the dark wood furniture in the nursery instead of clashing with it, refinished with a genuinely low-VOC process from start to finish. If you're repainting furniture while pregnant or just trying to cut VOCs out of the house, sanding fully to bare wood is worth the extra effort — it's the difference between paint that lifts within days and paint that actually holds.