An Antiqued Nightstand Reveal

3 Materials
$75
3 Days
Medium
Recently I worked on making this little nightstand into a show-stopper from the ugly duckling MDF piece that it was. The original black paint was flaking off since this is just a fairly cheap piece of furniture and I thought it would be a good candidate for trying chalk paint for the first time!
There are two parts to this post and you can find those  on my blog, French Ethereal. But basically, you start with layers of chalk paint and wipe it back to reveal the underneath layers.
This is the little nightstand as it began life.... Cute with its sweet ornamentation and drawer front! You can see that the black paint was already flaking off and the underneath is just MDF board so painting it was the only option. :)


I used six different chalk paints layered on then wiped back to reveal the colors below. This first is Annie Sloan's chalk paint Aubusson, a lovely blue. Chalk paint dries pretty fast so there isn't much downtime between adding the next layers. You can sand back or just wipe back with a slightly damp cloth, which is what a friend's suggestion was. It was her blog that I gathered this recipe from with some different paints used to save money and when I couldn't find the right paint.
The second coat was Annie Sloan chalk paint Provence. A lovely lighter blue which adds lovely highlights. In this photograph I show all of the paints I used except for Amoco Rub'n'Buff in Silver and Gold, which I used at the very end to bring out the leaves on the table's legs and the door front lyre.
Here's a little reveal of the finished nightstand! I tried both the silver and gold on this piece and really liked both. I even took a poll on Instagram where everyone was for the silver hands-down! I went with more of the gold gilding as I wanted an older look on this piece and with the Burnt umber really accenting in all the decorations' crevices, I felt it needed the gold.


The silver is really pretty, too, and added a Hollywood glam which was very pretty in its own right! Perhaps you'd like that more.


Stop by my blog and check out more on how to create your own unique piece of furniture! I found chalk paint really easy to work with and am looking forward to future furniture refinishing projects.


Have a great day,
Barb icon  
Suggested materials:
  • Annie Sloan Chalk Paints   (Painted Tree Marketplace, Highland Village, Texas)
  • Amoco Rub'N'Buff Gold   (Michael's Craft Store)
  • Liquitex Acrylic Basics ~ Burnt Umber   (Jo-Ann's)
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Comments
Join the conversation
Next