HOW TO WHITEWASH FURNITURE FOR PROFIT!
G’day Folks and welcome to my How to Whitewash an Old Piece of Furniture for Profit, Blog Post!
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Many thanks to the good folk at MonstaDIY for supplying the Colourwash Paint for this project ?
Like a lot of upcycling fanatics, and l include me in this illustrious group, whitewashing an item of furniture is an awesome way of turning something dreary, into something to be admired, a masterpiece if you will.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to give myself a little bit of a challenge. A little while ago, we bought ourselves a dresser to go in our bedroom. We paid $30.00 for it on Gumtree (Australia’s equivalent to Craigslist) which l think is about the right price considering that it needs a little work.
What l plan to do is make-over the piece using a Whitewashing style paint, similar to chalk paint, but applying it directly to the raw pine finish, rather than applying it in layers over existing paints or stains. The paint is new to the market and is called Colour Wash which is produced by the company MONSTA. The paint provides a soft whitewash effect over surfaces applied to. Unlike traditional paints, the Monsta Colour Wash Series is translucent, e.g. not opaque. Ideal for timber surfaces to contrast the woodgrain.
The two BONUS’S with this product is that it comes in a variety of colours as you can see below and the paint is a full-strength paint which is superior to a watered down paint when it comes to adhesion and durability.
The result is a Scandanavian appearance, which is a popular trend at the moment, as opposed to a rustic appearance which traditional whitewashing does.
The Aim of This Whitewashing Project:
At the end of the project, I’d like to revalue the dresser after the Whitewashing and see how much money it would make if l was to sell it. I think it’s projects like these that make for a really good side hustle. With a side hustle, the key to a healthy profit is to make your money when you buy the product and then take the cream of the profit when you sell it.
Having said all that, I probably won’t sell it as we need the dresser but it’s nice to know what is possible regards to a money-making venture down the track.
What is Whitewashing?
Whitewashing is simply a technique of applying a watered-down paint to a wooden surface. Because the paint has been watered down the colour becomes a little more translucent. It’s an effective technique used to age, or weather a piece of wood.
With a conventional whitewash, most people just water down existing water-based paint to thin it out and then apply it. One issue l have with that is that Whenever you get a good quality paint and you water it down it starts to affect the quality of that paint in regard to how well that paint sticks, how long it lasts and also the colour consistency of the paint if using different mixed up batches.
The paint I’m using today from Monsta is called Colourwash and it covers all those bases. The paint comes premixed in a number of popular colours so you don’t have any problems with colour consistency, it has all the qualities of a full-strength paint and it’s also translucent meaning that once dry, the grain of the pine below will show through ….perfect for that Scandinavian or washed out appearance.
Show Me The Dresser!
As you can see, it’s your basic, run of the mill dresser. Some may even call it a Tallboy. Made from pine, and by the looks of it, the previous owner had a crack at stripping it back but must have found it too time-consuming to continue…..now that’s where we step in to finish off the job!
One major plus with the dresser is that the drawers have metal drawer runners. A lot don’t, so finding one that does was a big thumbs up!
To kick the restoration off you’re going to need a few tools which are listed below.
Tools and Resources:
Drill. Cordless or corded…doesn’t matter.
Makita Sanding Disc Pack. Contains 80, 120 and 240 Grit Sandpaper.
Portable Leaf Blower Kit. Not 100% necessary but very handy to have!
Portable Leaf Blower, Tool Only (no battery)If you already own battery-powered Makita Tools.
Please note that all of these tools are available from my Recommended Tools and Resources Page.
Before digging into the Awesome Selection of Tools and Resources l know and trust, an important disclosure:
The majority of the links on my Tools and Resources Page are affiliate links which means that if you choose to make a purchase, l will earn a small…and l mean small, commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you but it certainly helps to keep the lights on here over at DIY For Knuckleheads so that we can afford to keep producing great, informational content for You.
Please understand that l have experience with all of these companies and products, and l recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions l make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
Let’s Get This Show On The Road.
Step One:
The first thing to do is go out and source your piece of second-hand furniture. You need to snag yourself a bargain so check out places like the weekend garage or yard sales, Gumtree / Craigslist or even friends or neighbours that may be throwing out stuff!
Pro Tip:
Avoid any furniture that has the veneer peeling or is made of particleboard or MDF. Often these have been disposed of due to water damage or joints that have failed which can be costly to repair.
Step Two:
The type of Whitewash that I’m using is a product called Colour Wash which is generally applied to a raw wood finish. Because of that, we’re sanding off the existing finish which in this case is a stain.
Before you start sanding, remove all the hardware such as the drawer knobs.
To sand off that stain with an electric sander, l started off using an 80 Grit Sandpaper, followed by a 120 Grit and then finished off with a 240 Grit Sandpaper which gave the dresser a nice, smooth finish and ready to paint.
Step Three:
Before applying any paint, give the Dresser a thorough clean by wiping over with a lint-free cloth. If you have one of those Portable Leaf Blowers, they can be a great way of blowing off the initial layer of dust. Apart from that task, the Blower can be used for all manner of cleaning duties. I use mine every day to clean down the deck at the back of my house and also to clean out my workshop after a day of making a mess! Great little tool!
Pro Tip:
Using a lint-free cloth like an old tee shirt is a great way to finish off as it will remove any leftover dust particles.
Step Four:
Apply Colour Wash as per manufacturers instructions. Just remember that the aim isn’t to paint the Dresser a solid colour. What?? That’s right. Colour Wash has a transparency to it which means that the grain of the raw wood beneath should still be able to be seen through the paint.
You can see in the photo above that the grain from the pine beneath is showing through.
Pro Tip:
Do Not…l repeat, Do Not apply any type of sealer or primer prior to applying the Colourwash paint. If you do, the grain won’t show up through the paint defeating the purpose of using this type of product.
Whitewashing Pro Tip:
Between coats of paint (on this project l applied two coats), give the surface a light sand with a 240 grit sandpaper. This will smooth the surface down beautifully in preparation for the next coat. Once the second coat has dried do the same again.
Step Five:
Replace the handles. The originals were a little on the shoddy side so to jazz up the dresser l went with these grey and white porcelain ones that contrast with the drawer fronts nicely.
Pro Tip.
Replacing handles with ones of the same screw configuration makes a job a little simpler. For example, if the old handles were secured with one screw then replacing them with handles also only requiring one screw will be easier.
How Much was it Revalued At!!
The good news is that l took the dresser to a well-reputed Furniture Store in my local town that sells a lot of furniture made from reclaimed wood and they put a value on the dresser between four and five hundred dollars!!
The total cost including the initial purchase price of the dresser and all the materials required to refurb it was as follows:
Cost of Dresser: $30.00
Amount of paint used for the project: Approx $30.00
Porcelain drawer knobs: $13.00 and;
Sandpaper: $5.00
Total: $78.00
Basically, the profit made was between $322.00 and $422.00…..Not to bad ???
So what do you reckon? I think the dresser looks fantastic and the Bonus is that its value has skyrocketed! Just goes to prove that if you pick your furniture pieces wisely, buy them for a bargain price, inject a little TLC into it and the rewards will come.
And that’s it Folks!! I hope you enjoyed and found this Blog Post useful. As per usual you can find me on all the Socials…just scroll to the bottom of the page for all those links.
Alrighty, be safe, and till next time, I’m outta here….Cheers!
