Whitewashing is a great way to lighten dark furniture. Older furniture sometimes looks outdated and a whitewashed finish can freshen and lighten the stained wood.
QUICK WAY TO LIGHTEN DARK FURNITURE: WHITEWASHING STAINED WOOD
We got this piece free from one of our neighbors. You can’t beat free furniture. It is solid wood, squarish, and rather large. The brand is Hekman. I Googled the name and the company makes some pricy furniture.
Someone had etched little drawings into the top of the table. So, I decided to paint the top instead of sanding for hours. And I wanted to try a whitewash technique on the rest of the cabinet. I was inspired by a dresser makeover by my friend Do Dodson.
I used painter's tape on the inside of the cabinet doors and bottom shelf. Nice clean paint lines make the interior of the cabinet nice and neat looking. The inside of the cabinet got a good cleaning but will not be painted or whitewashed.
I did the whitewashing by sections on the table, first brushing on the wash and then wiping it back (or off) with a dry rag. Removing the whitewash with a dry rag leaves a lot of the wash behind.
The only thing left to do now is picking out new drawer pulls and paint the little keyhole thingy. I painted the metal keyhole thing with the same paint and nailed it back on the table. The pulls on the cabinet doors are some I had in my stash.