Welcome back to Week #4 of the One Room Challenge! If you have missed the first three weeks of my bathroom reno, check it all out HERE! Don’t worry I’ll wait…the “before’ photos are totally worth gaping at! Pretty much the only thing we decided to keep in the whole bathroom makeover was the existing vanity. I liked the size and the layout of the cabinets, but the existing paint was worn and chipped. I know I’m waaaay behind the curve here, but I have yet to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint until this makeover! I’m ooohhed and ahhhed over other’s makeovers, but I thought this would be the perfect place to try it out. In fact I even created a tutorial over on Remodelaholic for my vanity makeover!
I chose the “Paris Grey” Chalk Paint with the White Wax. The White Wax gives a very subtle look and just slightly lightens up the paint color. Plus I’m in love with these fluffy brushes that came with my kit and the awesome Mix Mat.
We re-installed our existing vanity in the existing location. And this past week our top came! (More details on this next week, I promise), but I’m already in love:
I started off by giving the entire cabinet a good cleaning, using a water and vinegar solution. Then I removed all of these lovely (cough, cough) hand-painted clay cabinet pulls. I filled the holes, and sanded them down before I started any painting.
I’ll be honest here…I’m a total lazy painter. I love the thrill of seeing my new color transform the space, but I despise all of the work leading up to it: priming, sanding, caulking, etc. So I was beyond thrilled when I realized that you don’t need to prime OR sand when using Chalk Paint!
Best.day.ever.
I used my special fluffy paint brush and brushed on the Chalk Paint in a light layer, going with the grain of the wood. It is a bit thicker than regular paint, which made it really easy to work with, and minimized any dripping. The Chalk Paint went on really easily. This is what it looked like after one coat-as you can tell, it will need another one.
But more great news: Chalk Paint dries REALLY quickly. Like, it was dry about twenty minutes after I painted it. I did give it a couple hours to be safe, and then added a second coat to it.
So here it my vanity after two coats of paint. I did have to use a small craft brush to get into all of the nooks and crannies that the big painting brush couldn’t get to. But besides that, it was so easy and quick to use. I’m hooked.
This next step is completely optional, but I decided to distress my cabinets. I wanted to give it some farmhouse charm and character. So I waited until after I did both coats of Chalk Paint, then I started the distressing process. I took a sanding block and very lightly sanded along the raised edges of my doors and drawers. Relax during this step! Distressing is MEANT to look imperfect. And guess what-if you mess up: you can just paint over it again!
The following day I was ready for the final step of the process. At this point the Chalk Paint scratches very easily and isn’t impervious to water. It must be sealed with one of Annie Sloan’s waxes. My kit not only came with the White Wax, but a special brush to apply it.
So here is the key when applying the wax:
Less is more.
You only need a small dab, then I swirled the excess off onto my Mix Mat. I started with a small section of the cabinet and brushed on the wax in the direction of the wood. The color did change a bit so you could tell where the wax was applied, I really tried to work it into the wood with several passes. Then I used a microfiber cloth and buffed off any excess wax, again going with the direction of the wood. I found that it worked best to work in small sections, other the wax starts to dry and harden, and it is harder to buff off.
So here it is! I did two coats of White Wax. Since it will be around water, I wanted to make sure it was protected. When you rub on the wax, it temporarily makes the paint look darker, but when it dries, it slightly lightens the paint, giving it a limed look. Don’t I look happy with how it turned out? 🙂
I love how it turned out! Between the Chalk Paint and distressing, a feel like it looks more of an unique, charming piece, than that boring beat-up vanity we started with. Besides, we save thousands of dollars by not buying brand new cabinets.
You can’t see it in this photo, because we haven’t installed them yet, but I also bought a pair of bun feet (for about $7/each) off the shelf from Lowes. They are unfinished, and I painted them in Chalk Paint as well. I think they will further dress it up the vanity and give it more of a furniture piece look-for a mere $14 no less.
As you can see from photos, our floors are in as well! My gorgeous, drool-worthy marble hex tile is finally in! But…you will have to wait until next week to hear about that whole process (and see more of that pretty marble goodness!). But for now, I feel good with accomplishing the vanity makeover in just two short days.
Wow, next week is already Week #5! Check out all of the progress of the featured 20 designers and all of the rest of us who are following along the journey! You can check them all out at Calling It Home. In the meantime, I’m still in the real world working on Real Postbox Projects, so check out some other cool projects-check them out HERE (plus see how you can snag special offers on your own projects), and we can hang at Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I love sharing freebies, tutorials, and client’s projects I’m working on.
In Week #5 I’ll be putting on all of the finishing touches before the Big Reveal! It will be worth sticking around. Pinky promise.
Lizzie @ Living Pretty says
Lovely color and I can’t wait to see more of that tile and counter top!!
Mysha says
I’m a huge fan of chalk paint myself! Love how it turned out and love the hex floor