Washstand Make over

It was one of those days where you feel like you have won the jackpot with a great haul - until you get it all home and stacked to roof in the garage and you suddenly remember to ask yourself "WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU WILL EVER GET TIME TO DO ALL THESE THINGS...."

I had been dying to try stamping on tiles with our Iron Orchid Stamps, so this was the perfect project. You can watch this fab You Tube video of these clever ladies using these stamps on tiles here.

​Our step by step process:

What you need:
- regular paint brush
-Vintage Paints Bondcoat Primer
-Vintage Paints Powder Blue
-Vintage Paints Antique White
-Vintage Paints Old Linen
-Vintage Paints Low Sheen Clearcoat
-Antiquing medium
-IOD Pastoral Toile Stamp
-IOD Decor Ink Provence
-new moulding SW9
-gorilla glue
-sandpaper 180 and 240

Because I  wanted a chippy shabby chic effect, we didn't spend too much time sanding.  A good scrub with Sugar soap and light stand. 
We applied our moulding to the center panel, by first tracing around moulding, then we applied contact adhesive to the back of moulding and inbetween our trace lines on the cabinet.  Once the glue was dry, we attached the moulding to the cabinet.  No need to wait any longer - start painting.

We applied our first coat of Powder blue.  We used rough criss cross strokes to create a texture effect.  We applied 2 coats of Powder Blue.

Next we applied a coat of Antique white again in criss cross strokes.

On the tiled splash back, I applied a coat of Vintage Paints Bondcoat Primer - a primer to allow for best adhesion, especially in a wet areas.  Once dried I applied  2 coats of Old Linen.  Once dry I used the Toile stamp with Provence decor ink.  I could have used a paint instead of an ink, but really enjoy using the inks.  I use a foam stamp pad to apply the ink to the stamps.
*important tip to remember with these stamps is to condition them before use - which means giving them a light sand with a 180 sandpaper.

It took several goes to get the stamps right.  The surface area of the tiles was textured, so the stamps "missed" in areas, which is also part of it.  It did my head in for a bit, until I got the pressure right.  If I didn't like the effect I simply wiped off ink straight away and applied another coat of the Old Linen, gave it blow dry with the hair dryer and stamped again.  

The base of the wash stand was then sanded with a 240 grit sand paper to reveal the blue beneath.  Getting this just right, takes a bit of practice, always be aware of what goes with what, and make sure you don't over work the drawers and not the door or table top.

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I then had a crisis of what to do next - do we use an antique medium or leave as is......
In the end we watered down our antique medium and made a very light wash.  It was painted over the cracks then wiped off.  How to water down the antique medium - A half cup of water with a half teaspoon of antique medium maybe enough.  Not sure whether it needed it or not, but I think it did take the edge off, mostly around the tiles and highlights the moulding.

We finished with 2 coats of Low sheen clearcoat.   Now all it needs is a lovely shinny new basin.