How to lighten a painted vanity?

Alisande Mayer
by Alisande Mayer

I have a vanity that I purchased that is cream with a brown wash over it so that it has an antique yellowish color. The bathroom that it is in was painted harvest gold and I had red and black accents throughout so this was very pretty. This is now out-dated and I would like to paint the bathroom a light green that is a cooler tone. I can't replace the vanity and am not interested in just painting over it. I thought I might be able to do a white wash over the color it is now to lighten it up to more of a cream. Can anyone share instructions on how to do this?I was inspired by a recent Hometalk post where a lady took gold jacquard fabric covered chairs and painted them with white fabric paint and they turned out a beautiful cream where the pattern of the fabric could still be seen.

  3 answers
  • Trudi Trudi on May 06, 2019

    If there is a sealer on the vanity I would sand it down first. Then you could do a white wash over the whole thing. I would use a light coating with a chipper brush. Let it dry and then if you have some spots that you want covered more paint over them a little more. Then put a sealer over everything. Have fun with it.

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on May 06, 2019

    Would remove as much of the old finish as possible before doing anything or you won't have a nice surface to work on. Then, once you get a smooth clean surface, whitewash it.

  • There's a technique called wet distressing that may give you the look you're going for without too much prep since you can use chalk paint. You can check out one such makeover here:https://www.hometalk.com/diy/paint/furniture/how-to-use-the-wet-distressing-technique-on-furniture-17925129