I brought this washstand home from the Mac-Grove sales back in August.

The finish was in pretty rough shape and it was missing a drawer pull.  The hinges on the little door were held on with nails instead of screws.  Otherwise, it was in fairly decent condition.

I started by removing the towel bar/harp thingie.  I find that leaving those in place really limits the usefulness of these pieces.  It also makes them look a little too 80’s country.  I do re-use these harps by turning them into shelves.  I’ll share a post on that soon.

Next I simply sanded down the top.  Most of the finish was already worn off and the wood was somewhat stained and beat up.  I was planning a rustic look for this piece though, so I simply sanded it well and then applied some of Miss Mustard Seed’s Antiquing Wax to the top.

I decided to paint the rest of this one in Dixie Belle’s Putty.

If you’ve never tried this color I want to encourage you to give it a try.  Just look how gorgeous it is.

If you’re familiar with other brands of paint, this color reminds me a lot of Annie Sloan’s Coco or Fusion’s Algonquin.  It’s a deep, rich, taupe and it pairs beautifully with a dark wood tone.  This is the first time I’ve tried it, but you can bet you’ll be seeing it again in the future.  It’s definitely a ‘safe and reliable’ neutral.

I thought it would be fun to play up the rustic nature of this little washstand by using Prima Marketing’s Fine Horseman transfer.  Here’s what the complete transfer looks like …

As you can see, I only used parts of it.  I cut out sections and re-arranged them where I wanted them on my piece.

Always keep this possibility in mind with these collage style transfers.

I was initially planning to use some clear glass knobs on this piece, but they really didn’t have the right look.  So instead I pulled out my stash of wood knobs and found 5 matching ones.  I filled the holes for the original pulls using Dixie Belle’s Mud before I painted and then drilled new single holes for knobs.

I really had some fun staging this one for photos.

That mesh dome on top of the books is actually a vintage horse muzzle.  I didn’t realize that when I purchased it, but later saw one in Flea Market Style magazine and realized that was what I had.  I have to admit, I never thought I’d actually have a specific use for a vintage horse muzzle but it sure worked well for these photos.

You also just never know when your non-collection of whisk brooms is going to come in handy.

What?  You don’t have a huge stash of old whisk brooms?  Actually, there’s a story behind mine.  I saw a wreath made out of old whisk brooms in Country Living magazine many years ago so I started grabbing them when I saw them at garage sales (and my picker, Sue, found quite a few of them for me too) so that I could make one for myself.  As it turns out, it takes quite a few brooms to have enough for a wreath.  Naturally, by the time I had enough, I no longer wanted to make the wreath.

But they look kind of cool piled into this canvas wine bucket.

I knew I had an old family photo or two with horses in them, so I dug this one out for staging as well.

My mom swears that is my Aunt Lu, but it sure looks a lot more like my grandmother to me.  She should know though.  Those horses certainly do look safe and reliable, don’t they?

It really was just a pleasure working on this piece.

If you’re a horse lover and a local, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale’ page to see if it’s still available.

As always, many thanks to Dixie Belle for providing the paint, the Big Mama’s Butta and the Mud, and to Prima Marketing for providing the transfer for this project.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing transfers check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Dixie Belle products, you can shop with them directly online or find a retailer near you.