This weekend I've been working on creating a distressed bedside cabinet for my guest bedroom. It's not yet complete (the small issue of not being able to find suitable handles is stopping that happening) but I thought I'd share the handiwork so far.
This is what I started off with - a bedside cabinet bought for £10 from a second hand shop near Hirwaun:
My bargain piece of furniture.
The drawers inside are not great and if I was more adept (and more bothered) I would maybe consider replacing the buckled innards with new MDF but for the time being it will hold a lamp and whatever else you want on top of it which is the main purpose.
I've previously used chalk paint on other furniture (a chair and two bookshelves) but this was my first time sealing everything with varnish so I'll let you know how that all goes.
Essentially, I've done two coats of chalk paint (the kind I have is Annie Sloan in Original - click here for the link) on this cabinet. It doesn't matter that it's not real wood - chalk paint will pretty much stick to anything and stay there. There are other brands of chalk paint available locally too (Frenchic being one) but I've only ever used Annie Sloan myself - I'm sure it's all good though!
After just one coat of Original - looks alright! One other needed.
As I was painting, I decided that I may try and get some wallpaper to cover the top of the cabinet to give it a bit of colour and make it a little bit more interesting to look at. The theme in my guest bedroom is sort of travel / globe / world related and so I went with that theme to try and find some wallpaper. More on that shortly.
When two coats of paint have been applied, I then distressed the furniture I spent time so lovingly painting. This is pretty fun but should be done outside because the dust created is ridiculous. You can use sandpaper to distress but I have bought a sandpaper-type block that is easy to hold and easy to use from B & Q. I bought it last year so I don't remember how much it cost me but it wasn't very much at all and I've used it for all the furniture I've distressed so far.
Aim for corners and ledges when distressing as these will be the easiest bits to get to. If you want particular other parts rubbed down you might be going for a while.
Distressed edges.
Before the distressing (and after two coats of paint) I went to B & Q to buy some varnish. I chose some clear satin varnish from B & Q's own brand (Colours) and went for a smaller tin which only cost around £6. While I was there, I also picked up a lovely wallpaper sample for nothing:
Wallpaper sample from B & Q.
This is the wallpaper itself on the website, in case you're interested. Reduced too! Bargain!
Like the absolute pro that I am, I simply cut the wallpaper sample down to the right size and then used PVA glue to hold it in place on top of the cabinet. I did smooth it down with a large jar candle because - like all paper and glue - it went a little bit wrinkly.
Wrinkles are slightly visible ... Oh well!
I then varnished the whole thing and left it to dry overnight. The tin recommends two coats but I think one is fine for the time being. Considering I literally want this as a lamp-holder for my guest bedroom, I think it will be okay.
When I acquire handles, I shall post the results!
So far, for around £15 I think it's scrubbed up alright ...
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