Chalk painting furniture

This bedroom went from okay to really fun with a little chalk paint

After painting the bedside tables, I got brave enough to paint the new cherry entertainment center.

We have had the bedside tables for about 30 years. They were originally dark oak and about 20 years ago I stripped, sanded, and refinished them in the then popular golden oak. It was a great deal more work than  paint.

I was so happy with the finished look that I took our new entertainment center and finished it to match. I like the cherry wood, but it simply didn't add to the look of the room. It also showed dust badly and scratched easily when moving equipment around.

My daughter-in-law suggested painting the end tables originally. She liked chalk paint but couldn't tell me why. After painting with chalk paint, I see why she recommended it but it is hard to put a finger on why. I'd say it is easier to sand, has more variations in the color, and looks authentically aged. To make chalk paint, I used equal parts of baking soda to paint with a little Floetrol in it to prevent brush strokes. I'm not sure the Floetrol made any differences, but it did go on smoothly. I didn't use a primer first because I wanted the golden oak to show after sanding the edges. I did however, lightly sand the flat parts. It didn't have a high gloss finish on it from last time or I may have needed primer. I sprayed the old original handles with rubbed bronze spray paint. I was glad I kept the original handles and better yet, could find them. I needed two coats of chalk paint, polycrylic finish, dark glaze, and ended with another coat of polycrylic gloss finish. The glaze was made with 1/4 cup paint to 1 cup glaze. It goes a very long way the way I glaze.

How to update a small bathroom

This bathroom is only 4 feet by 5 1/2 feet (not counting the shower). No one liked to use it for much but a potty stop since the door swung into the sink in an awkward way. We moved the sink into the corner, added both mirrors and another light for added brightness. We swung the door the other direction which added a gazillion feet. It is now the favorite bathroom of the house.

We bought a boring oak vanity and cut it apart. We added the decals from Lowes and painted and glazed it. We added granite squares as a counter top. It is beautiful.

This is the old bathroom. It was so awkward, I couldn't even get a good picture.

Below is the new/used cabinet before the paint

We added legs to the vanity before installing them in the bathroom. They were on sale at Lowe's for 35 cents each. They were a little too long but easy to cut if you have a good chop saw from Costco. If you add the legs after the install, they have to be much shorter in order to slide them under the toe kick.

We glued the decals on, but you may want to consider nail gunning them if you don't sand first. We used my exercise weights while they were drying.