Vanity Remake, faux chalk paint and finishing wax for $10 total

I wish I could show you the end result!

With the sink and faucet!

I started to work on this to use as a vanity in the bunkhouse (cabin) we are building in Wyoming.

Unfortunately things did not go as planned with the carpenter and we are way behind.

Next year my husband will install it in the bathroom.

I found this buffet at a flea market a year ago for $10

I knew right away what I wanted to do with it.

It was a pretty piece in it's day but it has had a hard life and was beyond repair, just what I felt comfortable about painting.

I can't take a good piece and paint it...just goes against my grain.

My grandfather was a carpenter and craftsman, he made a few beautiful pieces and I own and cherish one of them...but that's another story.

So I made my own chalk paint by adding plaster of paris to the white paint.

About 3 parts paint and 1 part plaster of paris.

Add water as needed because the faux chalk paint thickens quickly.

It took about 3 coats to cover.

I then sanded to distress it.

I used Minwax finishing wax, applying it liberally and then hand buffing it using cheesecloth. I set the can in the hot sun to soften it. It makes it so much easier to apply.

Seeing as my husband had not cut the hole out on top for the sink I painted everything but the top figuring he would scratch it anyway while cutting.

That became an accidental surprise.

The whole thing was white except for the top, he cut the hole out and we both thought it might be nice to leave the natural wood top.

So he sanded it down past the finish and turns out that it had a beautiful dark wood grain.

I applied a clear stain and it was just gorgeous.

I then applied 3 coats (while sanding in between each coat) Minwax fast drying polyurethane.

Here is the 'almost' end result.

I couldn't set the sink in for the picture because he has not cut out part of the drawer to fit it yet.

But the white sink against that dark top is just beautiful!

It was missing one drawer pull so I filled in the holes in the top drawer and only used 4 drawer pulls.

Total cost of project $10.

I get all of my paint and finishing supplies at the recycling center near our home.

Gotta love that deal!

I can't wait to get this where it belongs, I have the entire bathroom pictured in my head, exactly what it will look like. I even have a white crystal chandelier!

It's mighty hard to wait until next summer to finish!

(if you click on the picture it really shows up!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Common Ground for Be Inspired

$10 chest plus free paint! Total cost $10! Super Thrifty!

We stopped at only 2 garage sales so far this spring, I spotted a chest of drawers for $10 and knew right away I could do something with it.

I really needed somewhere to store my vintage lace and embroidery.

 I sure wish I had taken a picture before I put my freshly painted chest of drawers into my closet!

What a pain to try to get a good picture with artificial light and have it turn out to be the color that it actually is, sorry about the glare but I just can't seem to fix that.

It's actually a very light aqua and all 3 photos are off.

This one below seems to be the closest to the actual color.

But...back to the paint job. We have a county recycling place close by where we can pick up paint, stain, polyurethane, bug and weed sprays, deck wash even books all for FREE! 

We stop in about once a week and stock up because we have a ton of projects coming up.

I found a full gallon of exactly the color I had in mind for this chest. It was Dutch Boy and called Hawaiian Sky. Doesn't that sound pretty!

I also found a full gallon bucket of Plaster of Paris...it's amazing what people don't want.

Well, I have never seen (other than on blogs) anything painted with chalk paint.

Now I know I'm supposed to distress the furniture but on some things it just doesn't feel right and this one is so plain that I decided to leave it alone. But I still wanted to find out what the faux chalk paint was like so I looked around online and found that I could mix 1 part Plaster of Paris with 3 parts paint.

(Be sure to mix the amount of plaster of paris with a little water first 'before' adding the paint or it will be lumpy, add a little water to the mixture as needed while applying onto your project because it can thicken a little bit as you use it)

I do like it because the Plaster of Paris gives it some 'tooth'. It seems to adhere well and cover well. I can see it would be great for distressing furniture but wasn't necessary here. 

I found that the Plaster of Paris causes the paint to sand off more easily...great for easily distressing but not so much if you just want to give the paint a light sanding...the paint sands off very easily.  But at least now I have an idea what all the rage is and I will use it on future distressing projects, but I'll stick with my thrifty 'free' supplies. (At $40 a quart for 'real' chalk paint...I'll save that money to buy vintage treasures!)

I then stenciled dragonflies here and there using free white paint (I already had the stencil).

I did apply a coat of wax (already had that) because the paint is 'softer' with the Plaster of Paris in it and it needed something to seal it.

I was going to put on glass knobs but decided I liked the old wood ones.

The before...not bad looking here but it was painted green and blue, pretty nicked up and a bit dirty.

I even sealed the entire inside using 'free' water based polyurethane because I wanted to make sure I didn't bring any 'bad' smells into my closet.

I just love this...$10 chest plus $0 supplies...total remake...$10!!!

How can you beat that!

Now I'm in the process of filling the drawers, I have vintage crochet table cloths in one, vintage embroidered linens in another, it's so nice to be able to open a drawer and see what I have so I can stop buying more!

On top I have vintage goodies and an old chippy white shelf that I am putting more treasures on.

When I get it all looking good I'll post it...soon. 

It really makes me smile every time I walk into my closet, straight ahead is the pretty dresser and all the lovey vintage treasures.

Check around and you may have a recycling center near you....

and if I decide I don't like a color of paint I brought home, I can bring it back and they will recycle it again!

Now that's being thrifty!!!

(I wonder how many times I mentioned free!!!) 

Linking to:

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday