All In The Family

We had a poor pitiful washstand that was left in our garage after my mother in law passed away. Hubby wasn't too sure if it was too far gone or not, but we decided to tackle it, as it did have memories from his childhood. In my mind, I imagined an old piece in a boarding house, used over the years for weary travelers on their way home. I planned to add stenciling of old letters and colorful tile shapes. Where to begin??

As you can see, it was a little bit of a mess!

First things first, give it a good bleach bath. Not too much, but enough to kill any mold or icky stuff hiding in the cracks.

We had to glue the drawers, fill some holes and add a bit of trim that had gone missing over the years. Glad I save everything - found the perfect piece!

All clean - time for priming, and painting. I added a stencil along the back to mimic old tile or wallpaper. I also stenciled the top with old worn letters.

I then added distressing and aging to get the look I wanted. It now sits proudly in our guest room, ready for a weary traveler!