Gray Painted Washstand Makeover

Can anybody really have too many washstands?

I honestly love these little pieces–they’re such a quick makeover and can be used in so many different spaces in your home!

This one I found recently at a local flea market. The wood was kinda orangey colored, so I thought a few coats of milk paint would really freshen it. I really like using milk paint on these types of pieces. I think the naturally worn look of milk paint complements the age of the piece well and also still shows off that beautiful wood grain. I think I’ve painted 7 or 8 washstands in milk paint now! If you want to take a look at a few of the others, I’ve linked them at the end of this post 🙂

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Materials Needed

Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Trophy
Flat paint brush
220 grit sandpaper
Miss Mustard Seed’s Clear Furniture Wax
Wax Brush
Shop Towels
Plastic cup and stir stick (to mix up your milk paint)

The wood on this piece had hardly any finish left, so I was pretty confident the milk paint would soak right in. I mixed up about 1/2 cup of the Trophy and started painting it on, and I was right! It all soaked down into that old oak and I had no adhesion issues at all.

This color of milk paint has pretty good coverage, I was impressed with how well the first coat covered. And you can see in this next picture how the oak grain still shows through the milk paint, which is something I really like.

Here is the whole piece with its first coat.

Not too bad with one coat, right? After about 30 minutes, it was dry and ready for a second coat, which wound up being all I needed to get the look I was going for.

After the second coat was dry, I lightly sanded the whole piece with my 220 grit sanding pad, focusing on the edges and corners to add a bit of distressing. Then I brushed on the MMS Clear Furniture Wax, which goes on so nice and creamy!

After 5-10 minutes I wiped off any excess with a shop towel and lightly buffed the surface. Then it was done! All in total, I think it took maybe an hour and a half to give this piece its makeover.

After Photos

No more orangey wood! Yay!

Check out though how well milk paint still shows off that pretty wood texture! And the final finish looks really authentic, like the paint had been on there for a long time.