DIY Farmhouse Bedroom Makeover – Chalk Painted Nightstands
Next in the series of redoing my French cherry wood bedroom furniture was the nightstands. Of everything, these might have been the most beat up! Maybe not as bad compared to the footboard of the sleigh bed from my pets. But, the nightstands were pretty bad. And, there were two of them. I was outnumbered!
Materials I used to Chalk Paint Farmhouse Nightstands
- RUST-OLEUM Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona color
- PolyShades by Minwax polyurethane 1-step top coat in Espresso
- Clean with TSP wood cleaner
- A really good paint brush
- Home Made Chalk Paint
Directions
My nightstand was worse on the edges and corners (above). My husband’s was much worse on top where it had gotten wet.
The top was actually bubbled up a bit, so I did sand them down and then thoroughly clean them with TSP wood cleaner. Trisodium Phosphate — or TSP for short — does an unmatched job of cleaning and prepping old furniture for a fresh new finish. In some areas, TSP is not legally sold and there’s an equally good (in my opinion) alternative. Check your local hardware store, or you can buy online. Be sure to read the directions and use proper precautions when using.
I didn’t have a lot of faith that these would turn out well.
I used painter’s tape to mask off the top which I planned to leave wood color. Then, I painted four coats of homemade chalk paint. I didn’t remove the drawers (or even the contents of that top drawer, ha ha!) But I did take care to paint any part that would show when drawers were closed. The edges of the drawers can be seen a little bit, so I went over them too.
Remember, there’s no need to try to paint it all in one coat! You’ll have drips and globs, so go slow and paint thin layers that you can control. I actually put the nightstand up on spacers (I used a Frog tape container and O’Keefe’s lotion tubs, but you could use pieces of wood or whatever you want.) This allowed me to get all the way to the bottom of the feet, and not soak through the painter’s tarp I was using to protect my carpeting.
When the paint dried, I removed the top masking tape and went over it first with wood stain (made so that you don’t have to sand first), and then with stain+Polyurethane. The stain I used was RUST-OLEUM Ultimate Wood Stain in Kona color. And the stain topcoat I used was PolyShades by Minwax in Espresso color.
I am SO impressed with how easy this was to do, and how well it turned out. It’s been nearly a year since I refinished this bedroom furniture and it has held up incredibly well. It looks like I just did it!
If you don’t recall how bad this looked before I got started, go back up and look! This is the one that was warped and bubbled. You can’t even tell!
