Redoing these nightstands created a drastic change in their look! They went from a tired ‘golden pine’ finish to a fresh, (yet vintage looking) Midnight Blue highlighted with a decoupage drawer front detail and a fantastic bleached wood look on the tops.
Want to repeat this look? At the end of this post is a shopping list with links to my shop for each product.
Want to buy these nightstand? They are for sale, (until they are sold that is) Details at the end of this post.
Here are the details, with special attention how to do that bleached wood looking top!
Nice and sturdy and mostly solid pine, I couldn’t pass up these nightstands… but then they sat for a bit while my imagination had to get going to see them a different way. Sometimes it’s hard to see beyond what you’re looking at.
Eventually I came around, and honestly, the new Roycycled papers now in stock in the shop really helped me get over the hump. There are so many inspiring designs, it’s hard NOT to have the creative juices kick in with the potential they offer!
For prep, as always, I first washed them with Fusion TSP Alternative, a no rinse formula.
Next I scuff sanded the sides.
Scuff sanding with a medium grit sandpaper puts tiny scratches in the finish creating a ‘tooth’ for the paint to grab on to. Fusion Mineral Paint adhere amazingly well, but for ALL paint projects, regardless of there brand, prep is key!
For the tops, because I wanted a bleached wood look on the top, I completely sanded the finish off down to the bare wood.
Here is how I achieved the bleached wood look… that looks like bleached wood, but isn’t!
It was all accomplished with Fusion SFO (Stain and Finishing Oil). The first coat was ‘White’. SFO is an oil based product that in a penetrating oil. All of the colors are very highly pigmented, except ‘Natural’ which has no additional pigment in it.
SFO needs to be stirred very thoroughly.
Like a James Bond martini, stirred, never shaken.
I don’t know what happens if you shake a martini for James, but shaking SFO, (as with most finishes) could introduce little bubbles in the product that could possibly show up in your finish. Plus, with the SFO there is a lot of pigment settled on the bottom that really needs to be stirred up and incorporated in the oil.
To apply it for this type of finish, I just brushed it on, very liberally, being sure to completely cover every area. Which paint brush? Doesn’t matter… you could even use a paper towel… just get it on the surface.
No need to worry about brush strokes, that will be taken care of in the next step…
After the entire top was thickly coated with the SFO, I let it soak in a few minutes, then started wiping…
Using a blue paper shop towel, (they’re lint free) I folded it and wiped back off the excess SFO.
Refolding to get a new section as each side of the towel got saturated.
After thoroughly wiping all the excess SFO off this is what the table tops looked like.
That single coat of SFO alone may have been enough protection, but since these are for resale, I like to be extra careful to offer the best protection possible. For now though, this coat of SFO needs to dry. It can take from 1 to several days to dry… depending on how thick it went on and the humidity etc. I left these table tops to dry for a few days while I worked on other things.
Next, time for the Midnight Blue.
Unlike applying the SFO, when painting with Fusion Mineral Paint, brushes do matter!
My ProHybrid Round Brush is a perfect choice to paint these table with. The fine synthetic bristles apply an even thin coat of paint, which is the best way to apply Fusion! The round shape easily follows the grooves and details, but also can handle getting smooth coverage on the flat sides.
Midnight Blue is a beautiful dark navy blue that has excellent coverage. Although 1 coat nearly covers it, I put on 2 coats for best protection. The second coat can go on a few hours after the first coat has dried.
Since I was going to decoupage the drawer fronts, I wanted a white base on the drawer fronts first, to prevent the dark wood grain showing through the slightly transparent paper.
It’s always a good idea to let that paint dry overnight before decoupaging over it, (you can speed up the drying process a bit with a hairdryer, but that’s really not ideal). What can happen is, adding decoupage gel to a super fresh paint finish can soften the fresh paint and possibly cause some paint to lift if you have to readjust the paper as you’re decoupaging.
Before I was ready to decoupage the fronts, I wanted to add a few more details…
I trimmed the front edges with Bellwood and Cobblestone and stenciled the sides of the drawers for a sweet little detail.
After all the paint details on the drawers dries overnight, I decoupaged the fronts.
(For detail on the technique I use to decoupage, check out this post). I used Fusion Decoupage Gel and a beautiful Roycycled paper.
I purposely cut the decoupage paper larger than the drawer fronts. That way after they were dry I could easily trim them by sanding across the edge. (Here is a video post I made showing this technique)
I was careful to center the design of the paper on each drawer, so they all line up and match.
Besides sanding the edges to trim the paper, I also distressed the actual paper and edges of the drawers with the sanding sponge. Super easy to do, after it dried, just sand across the paper a bit.
I almost always prefer a vintage, distressed finish on the pieces I do… guess it makes this vintage and distressed gal feel right at home with them.
For a very durable finish, I brushed on a coat of decoupage gel on top of the papered drawer fronts.
Finally, back to the bleached wood top, that wasn’t really bleached…
After the ‘White’ SFO was totally dry, I added a layer of ‘Natural’ SFO. The natural SFO has no pigment in it. To apply this second and final layer, I wet sanded with it and an ultra fine sanding pad.
Wet sanding is just having some sort of product, liquid or paste, between the surface and the sanding pad. Depending on the project, I’ve used water, hemp oil, furniture wax, beeswax, and now SFO.
Here’s how I wet sanded with the SFO.
First, I brushed on a coat of the Natural SFO onto the table top.
Next, using the ultra fine sanding pad, immediately after applying the SFO, working in small circular motions, I buffed/sanded the top to a buttery smooth finish.
Again, I used clean shop towels to wipe back all the excess SFO, and allowed this layer to dry a few more days before moving.
New knobs from Hobby Lobby went well with the fresh new look the nightstands were sporting.
The table tops have the look of bleached wood, yet, they are wonderfully smooth and are well protected with the durable finish SFO offers. And it was so simple to do!
Now that you know how easy it is to create a bleached wood look, do you think you might try it?
If you are local to the Frame and Frills shop, feel free to stop by grab your products for your own project! (or you can always order online too: FrameandFrills.com.
If you want to see/buy these nightstands, they are available for sale at a local, super cute boutique in New Richmond, WI, ‘Covet’, (until they are sold that is). Stop by ‘Covet’ for a fun shopping experience and to see other pieces I’ve redone!
The products I used for these nightstands are available in my shop online or in person:
Have questions? Please contact me, I’d love to help you be successful with your project!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and Instagram! I appreciate you reading along.
You can also find me at my shop, Frame and Frills, stocked with amazing DIY products like Fusion Mineral Paint, Stencils, Roycycled, Prima and Mint by Michelle decoupage papers, ReDesign with Prima Transfers and more! You can shop in person or online.
Here are more posts with furniture flips:
