Easy Furniture Makeover You Can Complete In A Weekend

Here's an easy furniture makeover that you can do in a weekend! Learn how to turn your old furniture into swoon-worthy statement pieces and get some wonderful furniture makeover ideas along the way!

Thrift stores and garage sales offer amazing budget-friendly deals on second hand furniture, but often times the used furniture pieces need a compelling DIY furniture renovation before you'd ever consider bringing them into your home.

Painting your furniture is easier than you think! So if you're looking to decorate your home on a budget, refinishing used furniture is a thrifty and inexpensive way to go!

Some furniture makeovers can take longer than others depending on the size and scope of the makeover. But today, I want to show you an easy furniture makeover that you can complete in a weekend!

furniture makeover, furniture makeovers, painted furniture, painting furniture, painted nightstands, grey furniture ideas, refinishing furniture

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products I love and use every day. This means that I receive a small commission for purchases that are made through these links. You may read our full disclosure for more info. I received products from Dixie Belle Paint Company to complete this furniture makeover.

PIN THIS TUTORIAL

Chalk Paint, Chalk Painted Furniture, Chalk Paint Furniture, Chalk Paint Ideas. Furniture, Furniture Ideas. Dixie Belle Paint, Furniture Paint

EASY DIY FURNITURE MAKEOVER

Nightstands have minimal drawers and a small surface area which make them the perfect sized furniture project to tackle over a weekend.

If you've never refinished furniture before, revamping a pair of nightstands is a great choice for beginners!

In this post, I'll break down the furniture refinishing supplies that I used as well as the time it took me to refinish these matching nightstands.

This furniture makeover was quick, easy and I promise I had plenty of time to watch football, attend my kid's soccer & basketball games, clean my house and make run to Costco!

STEP BY STEP FURNITURE MAKEOVER INSTRUCTIONS

Step #1: Clean/Prep Your Furniture

(Total Time 15-25 Minutes)

These nightstands were filthy. I vacuumed, wiped them down, gave them a light sanding, then scrubbed them with Murphy's Oil Soap and a scrub pad all within a 25 minute time period.

before and after, before and after makeovers, before and after furniture, how to prep furniture

If your used nightstands are in good shape you can usually get away with a light sand, vacuum and quick wipe down which will run you closer to 15 minutes.

Step #2: PAINT

(Total Application Time 2 Hours)

For this furniture makeover, I used a 2.5" Purdy paint brush like this one and the prettiest dark grey paint color called Gravel Road from Dixie Belle Paint Co.

This deep grey hue has a fabulous earthy grey-brown tone to it and it's one of my favorite grey furniture paint colors!

Dixie Belle Chalk and Mineral Paint goes on so smooth. It truly is one of the easiest furniture paints to work with!

furniture paint, furniture painting, painting furniture, painted furniture, chalk paint

Related Blog Post: I painted these nightstands in Dixie Belle's bold Plum Crazy paint color and loved how they turned out! If you haven't given Dixie Belle Paint a try, I highly recommend it!

Because I opted to paint the inside of each nightstand, this step took me close to 30 minutes per coat per nightstand.

However, if you decided NOT to paint the inside of your nightstands, you could cut that time in half!

The original finish on these nightstands was worn and had lots of dents, scratches and rough areas.

I decided to embrace that original imperfections and use those worn areas to my advantage to create a rustic finish.

That means I painted less in the areas that were already worn and that allowed me to skip the distressing step altogether!

**If you are someone who struggles with distressing furniture, the below link is a must read!

Related Blog Post: Easy Distressing Furniture Technique For A Natural Look!

In this fabulous tutorial, I share my secret furniture distressing technique simply by using just the paint on my paintbrush.

favorite paint, furniture paint, chalk paint, mineral paint, diy furniture, diy furniture ideas

I used 2 coats of paint on both nightstands.

By the time I finished the second nightstand, the first coat on the first nightstand was completely dry. My total paint time was just under 2 hours.

Because this paint has zero VOC's, I painted the nightstands inside my home while I watched a movie.

Have you seen the movie, Lion yet? It's such a good movie! I highly recommend it!

Step #3: PROTECT YOUR FURNITURE

(Total Application Time 1.5 Hours, Total Dry Time 6 Hours)

I completed Steps 1 & 2 before noon on a Friday.

Saturday afternoon I applied my first coat of top coat.

It took me a total of 30 minutes to top coat both nightstands. I ran errands, watched some football and deep cleaned my house during each two hour drying time.

I applied a total of 3 light coats for this furniture makeover.

Speaking of which, have you tried these $3 Sponge Applicators yet? They are a game changer and make the top coating process SO easy!

sponge applicators, dixie belle paint sponge applicators, top coat, how to apply top coat

I have had virtually NO brush strokes since I've started using these blue sponge applicators to apply my top coat. You rinse them out and reuse them again and again. They are AMAZING!

You can find them here for $3!

By now you've probably noticed that I spent more time waiting for products to dry then I physically worked to revamp these nightstands!

I told you this was an easy furniture makeover! Really, I meant it!

If you're considering creating your own furniture before and after you can do this!

In less then a weekend, I transformed two old wood nightstands into a rustic pair of end tables in the prettiest shade of grey!

best paint for furniture, hand painted furniture, painting wood furniture, painted furniture ideas, painting old furniture, chalk paint for furniture

FURNITURE GREY PAINT COLOR RECOMMENDATIONS:

If you'd like to paint your furniture in this shade of grey you can get it here. It's a great dark neutral grey hue that I would describe as "earthy"- a warm grey with brown undertones. :)

Sometimes it can be hard to find the perfect shade of grey! I've tried all of these grey paint colors on various diy furniture makeovers and I love them all!

So here's a few recommendations on furniture paint colors in the prettiest shades of grey! I'll put a star next to my favorite grey furniture paint colors.

Light Grey Furniture Paint Colors:

| *French Linen | Paris Grey | Seagull Gray | *White Rhino |

Medium Gray Furniture Paint Colors:

| Kensington Gray | *Hurricane Gray | Cloudy Concrete | *Elephant Skin | Thunder Sky |

Dark Grey Furniture Paint Colors:

| *Graphite | *Queenstown Gray | Slate Gray | *Gravel Road | Slate Grey | *Tester Ash |

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

furniture refinishing, grey furniture, refinished furniture, painted furniture, furniture flip, chalk painted furniture

RELATED THRIFT FURNITURE MAKEOVERS:

repurposed furniture, painted furniture, painting furniture ideas, chalk paint furniture, before and after furniture, diy furniture projects, easy furniture makeovers, easy furniture projects

second hand furniture, diy furniture, diy home decor, wood furniture, painted furniture, hand painted furniture

I still have half a jar of my 16oz. chalk mineral paint left from this furniture makeover AND the DIY art that I created from an old thrift store frame-

Another fun tutorial that I can't wait to share with you! ;)

MORE PAINTED FURNITURE MAKEOVERS!

Below you'll find some inspiratonal painted furniture ideas created from thrift furniture. We hope these incredible furniture projects and tutorials will empower YOU to give furniture refinishing a try!

These refinishing furniture ideas are here to prove that YES! YOU CAN create beautiful looking furniture on a budget!

FURNITURE MAKEOVER WITH WALLPAPER: These wallpaper furniture makeover ideas are fantastic! Do you have an old china cabinet that could use a facelift? Maybe this refinishing furniture idea would do the trick!

FURNITURE MAKEOVER WITH FABRIC: And old before and after china hutch makeover using fabric. It's easy to create a statement furniture piece using fun prints!

DRESSER MAKEOVER IDEAS: Oodles and oodles of painted dresser ideas you'll fall in love with! Get inspired with this round up of our favorite refurbished dresser ideas and old bedroom furniture makeovers.

FURNITURE MAKEOVER WITH CHALK PAINT: Here's a painting old furniture idea- come on over and see how we repurposed this vintage piano bench into a relaxing spot to sit!

DESK MAKEOVER IDEAS: This old vintage desk was given an artisan furniture makeover packed with personality and flair.. Now it looks more like furniture art!

DIY FURNITURE IDEAS: Click here to see our best furniture makeover ideas for lots more furniture refinishing inspiration!

THE IN's & OUT's OF THRIFT STORE FURNITURE: I think you'll find our Ultimate Guide To Refinishing Second Hand Furniture extremely valuable. If you're looking for information on furniture makeovers for beginners THIS will be so helpful for you!

NIGHTSTAND MAKEOVER: Get the skinny on how to make old furniture look modern! This furniture makeover before and after will blow your mind...

DIY DRESSER MAKEOVER: You don't have to spend a ton of money to have luxurious looking bedroom furniture. Here's a painted dresser idea that will leave you saying DIY bedroom furniture doesn't look so do-it-yourself!

THRIFT STORE MAKEOVERS: This ugly cabinet just needed a little bit of chalk paint and some new furniture hardware to make it shine. For less than $50, we refinished this thrift store furniture and created a beautiful before and after furniture makeover!

PAINTED FABRIC FURNITURE MAKEOVER: Before and after furniture makeovers are so fun to look at. Wouldn't you agree?! This painted sofa is no exception. Wait, what? Did you just suggest painting fabric? Yes! And we're going to show you how we did it right here!

COLORFUL FURNITURE MAKEOVERS: These refurbished furniture projects were made over in the prettiest, boldest paint colors! Would you paint your furniture in one of these daring hues?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on Pinterest or Facebook by clicking on our social share buttons. (This lets us know what kind of helpful resources and DIY furniture makeovers you'd like us to continue to write about in the future!)

Have a great week, friends!
Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street