Antique Washstand Makeover

10 Materials
$100
8 Hours
Easy

These antique pieces have so much charm but I have yet to find one in great condition. This one was sadly no exception but I knew that it could be cute again with a lot of imagination and love (aka work). Check out the step by step below! Hope you enjoy and try your own diy makeover!

The first step in furniture makeovers is removing the hardware and any extra molding that will not fit the new look. It just makes it easier when cleaning. For this project I knew there was a lot of buildup so I used a sponge and tsp, scrubbed and then rinsed with water. Once that dried it was time to sand.

I used an orbital sander, then went over everything by hand with 220 grit sandpaper. I used a tack cloth to remove the sanding dust. I thought the backsplash was a bit too high, so my wonderful husband helped me out and cut it down to better fit the petite size of the piece.


Next, it was time to prime. I chose a clear primer by Wise Owl because sometimes oranges and reds take more coats to get solid coverage so priming is never a bad thing. After it dried, I went over it with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out any bumps or brush strokes. Finally, the fun part begins, it's time to paint! For this project I used a gorgeous orange by Country Chic Paint called Sparklers. It is the perfect fall color!

Here I used one of my favorite brushes, the Zibra round brush. These brushes hold so much paint and leave a smooth finish. They really make painting by hand so easy!

After my first coat, I used 500 grit sandpaper to smooth again, removed sanding dust with a tack cloth and then applied a second coat of paint. I sanded again once that coat was dry and removed any dust. Next comes waxing to protect and give the paint a nice sheen.

I then stained the top using a foam brush and General Finishes gel stain in Antique Walnut. I used a woodgraining tool to enrich the pattern. Isn't it cool?

I used Country Chic's natural wax all over to deepen the color and protect the finish. On high traffic areas or surfaces that will be touched a lot a little extra protection is always a great idea. This wax is a perfect choice. Once the wax was applied, I used a microfiber cloth to remove any excess and buffed to a sheen. As the wax was drying, I cleaned the hardware using barkeepers friend and a wire brush and scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed. After it dryed, I reattached it and fell in love!

Here is a cute side view with the reattached hardware and you can see the pretty sheen left by buffing the wax.

Another view of that cleaned up hardware.

And here is the final look. It is the perfect fall statement piece!

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  • Short Short on Oct 05, 2019

    R those the same handles

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