So, you buy a new bed, but you want to make your nightstands match your Passages vintage black bed. This is what a friend was going through. She didn’t want to drop the extra money to buy vintage black nightstands. She asked me if I could make her old ones match her new bed. Yes, I can do that I responded.
The old nightstands were in decent shape, and they would be the perfect choice to turn into vintage black nightstands to match the Passages bed. This post is in collaboration with my friends at Homeright. For all of the details on prepping and painting, please visit my expert page at Homeright DIY .
Freshly painted black nightstands
I had never used this kind of paint before, but I really like it. Generally when I do gentle distressing I use emery boards. But to get the look to match the new Passages bed, I needed a different look in the distressing. I grabbed a wet cloth and distressed after the first coat and then again after the second coat. Between the quality paint and the excellent job of the Super Finish Max –distressing was a little difficult. So, although I call it gentle distressing, I did have to work a little to get the paint off. 
Use brown paper to smooth paint finish
I really like to use packing paper to burnish the top of my painted pieces to make them really smooth after painting. Typically, I would sand in between coats, but because I was doing such a light paint on these nightstands it wasn’t necessary. Do you see the hint of brown peeking through the paint?
You may notice that where I wet distressed on the fluting has a whiteish look. I’m getting ready to take care of that!
Secrets to getting a great wax job on painted furniture
After the paint dried, it was time to wax. I used a clear wax with a car wash sponge. The key to getting the perfect waxing is to dampen your sponge slightly. It really makes applying the wax so much easier.
How much wax do I use on painted furniture?
Do you worry that you might be using too much wax, or not enough? My best advice for that is this—the wax should set up very quickly. But the time you’re finished waxing you vintage black nightstands, you should be able to wipe/buff the wax you applied first. For years, I hated waxing and buffing. But now that I know the two secrets to waxing furniture correctly, it’s not so bad. While applying and wiping off wax, it’s easy to follow through with more gentle distressing as needed.
Just to recap the two secrets to achieving a great finish using wax.
- Use a damp sponge
- Apply wax with a light hand—if it’s not ready to buff right off, you’re probably using too much.
After I finished the vintage black nightstands, I sent this picture to Kelly. She loves the new look of her old nightstands. It was good to get the paint sprayer out and use some paint other than my chalky paint primer. Be sure to stop by Homeright DIY for all my prepping, cleaning and painting tips. Bonus: see how easy it was to paint the hardware on these black vintage nightstands.
Don’t they look so much better?
gail
What type of wax did you use?
Trina,
The wax I used is no longer available, that’s why I didn’t show a label. I’ve used all brands and I don’t particularly love one over the other. If I had to choose a favorite over the years, it would be Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax. It seemed to be softer and easier to apply. I hope you find this helpful.
gail
These turned out great! I hope your friend shares a picture with the new headboard. I could not locate the brand of ‘milk paint’ that was used. I love the smooth finish.
Did you hop over to see how I got such a great finish on the nightstands Cathy? https://www.homeright.com/diy/projects/perfectly-distressed-painted-nightstands
It’s general finishes milk paint sprayed with my Finish Max paint sprayer. 😉
gail
That was the deal we made. 🙂 That she take pics for me.
they look beautiful! great job!
I appreciate you checking out the nightstands Nova!
I could never find out what kind of paint you used. Did I miss something. The nightstands turned out beautiful. Love them.
Dee,
I’m sorry for the confusion, I shared that information over on the Homeright DIY blog. It is a milk paint.
gail
I love what a coat of paint and wax can do. I suggested that we freshened our 1983 bedroom set with paint. The response, “but it’s oak”. 😂🤣😂 I didn’t win this time. I’ll keep mentioning it. The room is so small and the furniture is so big, I’d like to change to something smaller and less angular. I’ll keep working on him.
Good luck Jennie! Maybe you’ll wear him down. 😉
gail
It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do. They turned out beautiful!!
Thank you sooo much. My friend hasn’t picked them up yet, but she loved the pictures.
gail