Japanese Inspired Refinished Night Stand

I recently completed a Japanese inspired refinished night stand. Wahoo, I’m finally at a point where we are starting to get settled and I can again work on projects! Storage is a HUGE issue here in Germany as there are no closest and NO bathroom storage. I needed something to go in our Japanese themed bathroom and this night stand (which is taller than your ‘average’ night stand) fit the bill! Plus I really wanted to project to try out my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) & wax!

I scored this nightstand with a Queen set that I bought for the spare room, at a steal I may add! Since there were 2 night stands in the set I only plan on using one in the room so it left me this one to play with.

One & a half coats with the image transferred on, before waxing

The great thing about the ASCP is that you don’t have to do any sanding and it’ll stick to just about anything, like this laminate pressed wood night stand. I ended up putting 1 and a half coats on. One full coat and let it dry and then a ‘half’ coat by dipping my brush in water and then the paint and applying a much thinner and smoother layer.

Image transfer before waxing

Then I decided to get crazy and try to transfer some Japanese images onto the dresser. This my friends is not for the less adventurous project people and has quite a bit of a learning curve. After some trial and error I was able to successfully get the images on and looking the way I wanted but it did take longer than I thought it would.

After I got the images on I used a clear coat of the Annie Sloan wax, which has a bit of a learning curve itself. Sure YouTube videos are great until they tell you how to apply it in a way that does not follow Annie Sloan’s advice…lesson learned! After I finally got the clear coat on how I wanted it I applied a coat of dark wax to give it an aged look, this part was so much fun!

After it was all said and done and the piece is finished I can say that I really LOVE it! It works great with my Japanese theme and I’ve been figuring out the ASCP & waxes, and a few new techniques like image transferring!

Now I guess I need to get started on the ever growing mountain of furniture in the garage that is piling up, I think Mr. B is gonna wring my neck if I ask him to pick up another piece of furniture anytime soon, LOL!!

Annie Slwring my neck if I ask him to pick up another piece of furniture anytime soon, LOL!!

Any input on using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint? I’d love to find a wax alternative because the stockist here is 2 hours away!