In 1974, Charles Thibeau, the founder of The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company, also founded The Country Bed Shop to make exact reproductions of early American Colonial furniture as can be seen in such places as Winterthur, Shaker Villages, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Old Sturbridge Village and The Shelburne Museum.

In order to get the authentic look of some early pencil-post beds, six-board chests, and Windsor chairs, he began to experiment with different formulas in an attempt to recreate the milk paint used extensively to paint furniture, walls and toys in early America. In 1974, he was interviewed for Yankee Magazine's series of books on "forgotten arts". This interview brought home the realization that a widespread interest existed among craftsman for this kind of finish and, "Voila". The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co., Inc. was born.

For the expertise demonstrated in his recreations, he was elected in 1981 to the membership in the Guild of Master Craftsmen in London.

Along with an abiding interest in craftsmanship, Thibeau has always had a deep-seated concern for the environment. In 1971, he founded the N.F.E.C. (National Foundation for Environmental Control, Inc.).

He knew that the early Americans, and the Europeans before them, made their paint with only natural materials. This fact and the ongoing concern for a healthy environment has always directed his search for just the right mix of ingredients for milk paint and other safe finishing materials.

CLOSE WINDOW