Update Your Dresser by White Washing

Andrea Palmai
by Andrea Palmai
3 Materials
$20
2 Days
Easy

I find all kinds of furniture on my local Facebook marketplace and offerup. Sometimes its laminate sometimes its veneer sometimes its solid wood but its that yellow pine that's just not my cup of tee.

I found this dresser that had unique pulls and the mid century look i like but it was kind of yellowish brown that wasn't going to work for me...so I bought it!

Here is the before picture
Sand that thing down


I always start with sanding! That will give you a blank "canvas". You will be able to see the damage of the wood (if any) and you will have a better idea what you are working with. What part you can expose and what part you have to cover or fix.

So I sanded the drawers and top of the dresser down with 120,220, 320 sandpaper with my electric sander. If you are planning on refinishing more than a side table, I recommend getting one they are very inexpensive and will save you hours...especially if you are working on a whole dresser.

White wash
Apply the white wash


once it was all sanded down I applied the white wash. White wash is one part white paint one part water. I used the white wall paint I had on hand. So this half paint half water mixture becomes your "stain". I applied it with a brush let it sit for maybe 10 seconds then wiped it off with a cloth. Thats it! This was a solid wood dresser so it might act differently on veneer, I haven't tried that yet. I only needed to apply this one time and it gave me the color i was looking for. It made it a lot lighter but still showed some wood grain. If you don't want grain showing you can either leave it on longer or apply another coat. What amazes me with this technique is that it can be done with any color paint. You could do a green wash, purple wash, blue wash! The possibilities are endless.

Voila


I left the knobs raw wood and painted the legs and sides white. I loved how this dresser turned out and the new possibilities i have discovered along the way. If you like this transformation follow along my Instagram @andreapalmai

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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Lucía Lucía on Jun 11, 2021

    What goes on top of the white wash?

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  • William William on May 14, 2020

    Beautiful. Great transformation. The subtle wood grain with the white wash. Love that you left the pulls natural wood. I always love the look of wood and paint. Great job.

  • Anna Ibarra Anna Ibarra on May 20, 2020

    What a great piece, good color wood, but it was seamed so overwhelming huge and cumbersome. Well done, it so much nicer, lighter and brighter.

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