farmhouse style.

Published on by Quandie

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m drawn to farmhouse style.  Maybe it’s because I live in what was originally a farmhouse.  Or maybe it’s because I always enjoyed visiting the South Dakota relatives who still live on the family farm where my grandmother was born.  This photo of one of my grandmother’s sisters and her farmer husband was taken there.

washstand staging

Most probably, it’s just because it’s really popular right now and I tend to fall for trendy stuff.

Whatever the reason, when Mr. Q brought home this little washstand, I got a vintage farmhouse vibe from it.

washstand before

This came from the same couple who sold me the primitive cupboards.  When Mr. Q went back to pick up the 2nd cupboard, he was offered this piece plus a galvanized metal pie safe.  He figured it was a safe bet that I would want both of them, so he brought them home.  And he was right!

After stripping the top, I originally put two coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Mora on the rest of the cupboard.  If you’ve used the Mora, you know that although it is a very pale grey, it has an almost minty green undertone.  That green tone just wasn’t working with the dark wood top.  If a color isn’t working for me, I’ll cut my losses and start over rather than try to be happy with results I don’t like.  So, out came the Marzipan.  Turned out that the warm almond color was perfect on this piece.  By the way, the finish on this was so dry that I didn’t get any chipping at all with the milk paint.

washstand title

You may also have noticed that I changed out the hardware.  I was not a fan of the drawer pulls that came with this.  I filled in the extra holes on the drawer and used some distressed glass knobs instead.

washstand corner

I left the rustic inside alone, and as you can see I staged it with just some of my many, no longer dirty, vintage blue Ball jars.

washstand interior

This little cupboard was missing its original casters when I got it, but I could see that it must have had some at one time.  Luckily I have a stash of old casters so I was able to replace them.  I like how they lift the piece up off the floor (or in this case, the ground) a little.

The top of this piece was in slightly poor condition.  One section had split off from the rest.  I asked Ken to repair it for structural integrity, but leave it kind of rough looking.  I also stripped the remaining finish, but I didn’t try to sand out all of the imperfections.  I liked the rustic nature of it.  Once it was stripped, I added a new stencil that I just got from Maison de Stencils.  I used black acrylic craft paint.  Once it was dry, I sanded over it to give it an aged appearance.  Then I just waxed the top with Cece Caldwell’s Aging Cream.

washstand top

This little cupboard sold very quickly at Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater, so clearly I am not the only fan of farmhouse style out there!

16 thoughts on “farmhouse style.”

  1. I think you are right farmhouse style is really hot currently this little gem turned out great. So those knobs – were they just in your stash of antique finds? Or are they Hobby Lobby reproductions? They are perfect and the stencil on top nice touch. I must add I am smitten with casters myself. I don’t know that I would have thought to pick some up along the way but now that it’s on my radar I will. When my daughter moved the movers lost one caster off her Eastlake chest so now it’s gimpy. I got a first coat on my daughter’s cute chest last night. My husband had a belt sander which is what it took to get the deep gouges out of the top – I can see how this can be addicting the transformation is pretty amazing.

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    1. They are Hobby Lobby knobs. I’ve used this style on quite a few pieces, including my own dresser in the Q Branch. Can’t wait to see your red dresser, you are right, transforming furniture is addicting!

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    1. Thanks Cheryl! To be honest, I don’t always hit the jackpot. I just don’t share all of the really bad garage sale days on the blog. For instance, this morning was all plastic toys and bad clothing. At one particular sale I wanted to say “the 90’s called, they want their stuff back!” I didn’t come home with a single thing!

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  5. This one is a cutie! I’m interested in seeing the top before you add the aging cream sometime if that’s possible….I have yet to try it. Happy hunting and painting this weekend!!

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