Louvered Medicine Cabinets

 

While shopping at the local Goodwill, I spotted two matching medicine cabinets with shutter doors.  They were in the furniture department shoved underneath a desk and I do not know how I managed to see them in their hiding spot.  They must have been whispering for me to take them home with me.

 

 

These two medicine cabinets are great for extra storage in a bathroom.  The box is made of laminated wood, but the louvered doors are real wood.

 

 

 

 

I started by painting both medicine cabinets with Pure White Chalk Paint®.  I love that Chalk Paint® sticks so well to both laminate and wood, giving pieces like this a more unified look.

 

After the Pure White dried, I used a dry brush to casually swipe Provence Chalk Paint® over the Pure White, leaving plenty of the white showing through.  I finished this piece by distressing the shutter door to make the paint look weathered.  The ceramic sea star knob adds the finishing touch to this now beachy cabinet.

 

I decided to do something different on the second cabinet.  I still painted the whole thing Pure White, but then I dry brushed French Linen over it and added a ceramic, clock knob.

 

Nursery Furniture Redo

 

An expectant mother hired me to transform a cradle and an armoire for her baby's nursery.

 

 

She found the petite, vintage armoire on craigslist.  It is the perfect scale for a nursery, but required a cosmetic intervention.

 

She wanted the piece to look shabby and distressed. I painted one coat of Paris Grey Chalk Paint® with a dry brush to allow the dark stain to show through.  I used a little Old White Chalk Paint® on the trim to show off the lines and details.  After the paint dried, I did a bit of distressing all over with sandpaper. 

 

I sealed the finish with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax. 

 

My client said this adorable cradle had been in her family a long time.  She just wanted it to be simple, shabby, and white.

 

 

I painted it with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint and finished the cradle with an all over, light distressing, to add to its vintage charm.

 

Whitewashed Vintage Dresser

 

The last time I visited my family in Sacramento, I found this awesome pair of old dressers on caster wheels at a yard sale.  I do not come across such stylish dressers often, let alone two at a time! 

 

I was so excited and the woman I bought them from was happy when I told her that I fix up furniture.  She asked me if I was going to paint them white.  I thought about it and realized that when I started fixing up furniture, it seemed like I painted everything white.  I rarely paint anything plain white anymore, but I thought this dresser would look pretty in a simple white finish.  I decided to do white with a twist by adding a French Linen wash over Pure White Chalk Paint®.



 

 

The top was scratched, gouged and well-worn.  I patched the uneven spots with wood filler and then sanded it smooth before painting.

 

I love the long legs on these dressers and the fan detail on the second drawer.

 

I like the contrast of the original dark hardware and caster wheels against the new white washed finish. 

 

I used a dry brush and only applied one coat of Pure White Chalk Paint, so that the dark stain beneath would show through and add depth to the finish.  After the Pure White dried, I mixed the French Linen 50:50 with water to create a wash and brushed it over the white.  I used a rag to wipe off and blend the wash over the white.  I left the wash darker over the fan detail on the drawer front to accent the piece.  I completed this piece with Annie Sloan's Clear Wax for a soft, smooth finish.

 

 

While this is not a true white wash finish, it is a great way to create a white washed look over wood that is in poor condition and has been patched with wood filler.  I would not have been able to do a white wash over the wood filler, without it showing through.  The dry brush provided more coverage over the imperfections and the French Linen wash blended it all together.