Furniture Makeover With Chalk Mineral Paint: Nightstand with Stick & Style Stencil Design

This plain brown nightstand got a makeover into a classic beauty with the Redesign With Prima Stick & Style Stencil, chalk mineral paint and a beautiful gel stained top.

Read more for the details of this simple nightstand makeover with stencil. Any nightstand can get a total upgrade with paint and stencils. If you are new to painting furniture check out this post for basic tips and techniques: Chalk Mineral Paint Basics.

I love to refinish nightstands because they are smaller projects that can be done rather quickly! And you know I love using chalk mineral paint and gel stain to really give the older furniture some gorgeous upgraded color and style!

And these Stick & Style Stencils by Redesign With Prima are perfect for creating beautiful designs without the risk of the stencil moving and smudging the pattern.

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This nightstand was purchased at my local Habitat Restore for $35. It was solid and the drawers slide easily too. No major nicks dings or scratches so it was a good find.

Check your local Habitat Restore, Goodwill and other furniture thrift and resale stores to find project pieces.

For a Quick Video Short of This Project you can check out:

• Instagram Reel of the project

• Pinterest Story or

• TikTok Post

Prep Your Project: Cleaning & Sanding Your Furniture Before the Chalk Paint Furniture Makeover

I started this chalk mineral paint furniture makeover by giving this nightstand a good sanding to prep for the chalk paint and stencil. I sanded the top completely with an electric orbital sander and gave the rest of the piece a scuff sanding by hand with a foam 120 grit sanding pad.

Next up, vacuum the sanding dust and wipe down to remove any fine dust remaining. Then mix Dixie Belle White Lightening granules with hot water and give the piece inside the drawers and outside a good cleaning. Follow with a wipe down of clear clean water to remove any cleaning residue. White Lightening is a great cleaner for all your chalk paint furniture projects.

Cleaning the furniture properly is the most important step. Grime, fingerprints, oils, dirt and such must be removed in order for the paint to adhere well. And if there are oily spots or residue it may very well come through your paint and cause dark stain spots, especially with white or light colored painted pieces.

Prime Before Painting

With yellow paints primer is important. Weirdly I have found that yellows are harder to get good coverage than even white paints. So for this piece I used Dixie Belle BOSS Primer in Gray. This primer comes in white, clear and gray.

The gray primer works fabulously for yellow paints. The tip most helpful about BOSS primer is to stir it well. It tends to get very thick on the bottom and hard to stir but mix, mix, mix and it will work fine.

The Fun Part – Apply Chalk Mineral Paint!

Okay here’s where you get to see the chalk paint nightstand makeover project take form! I mixed a custom mix of Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paints of Buttercream and Colonel Mustard, about a 30/70% mix respectively. If you saw my prior post with the Moroccan Table Makeover, I used this same mix for that project as well.

To apply the paint I used my favorite brushes, the Cling On Brushes: S50 and S30. And the Dixie Belle Mini Angle. All synthetic brushes and lay your paint on smoothly. Use a spray mist bottle to keep your paint flowing nicely. I used total of two coats of the paint.

Apply Gel Stain To The Top of the Nightstand Makeover With Stencil Project

I love a gel stained top on a nightstand, dresser or table. Now I love gel stains by MinWax, General Finishes and by Dixie Belle. But the gel stain I use the most if General Finishes Java Gel. Oh my, this gel stain is such a deep rich color, just like the name implies “Java”. I did two coats of the Java Gel Stain. If you’d like more tips on using gel stain read How To Apply Gel Stain and Farm House Table Makeover With Gel Stain and Chalk Paint.

Next we’ll see how a stencil gave this nightstand makeover some real “wow factor”. To learn about more ways to get creative with your furniture makeovers go to:

Furniture Transfers and Stencils

Nightstand Makeover With Stencil: Redesign With Prima Stick & Style Stencils

These Stick & Style Stencils are just so easy to use. No taping down your stencil or applying stencil adhesive spray to get the stencil to stick.

Just pick the spot and lay the stencil down and press gently to ensure all the details are adhered nicely. The stencil has a light adhesive and it comes on a roll. This makes it perfect for drawer fronts or sides.

Now a super cool trick is to apply your paint or gilding wax or whatever medium to the stencil using the Dixie Belle Best Dang Brush. This is a thick natural bristle round brush and it is just the bomb diggity for stenciling.

Dab the brush into the paint lightly and dab off excess on a paper towel. Then dab onto your stencil until you are happy with the coverage.

I learned about using this brush with stenciling from Melissa at Top Drawer RVA. And I’m so thankful for this tip. It is the absolute best brush for stenciling.

Reveal your design by peeling away the stencil. For the stenciling I used Dixie Belle Silk Paint in Baja Gray. Another stencil was used on the sides of the piece, the Dixie Belle Belles and Whistles Royal Damask stencil. It is a gorgeous big stencil. I taped it down using painter’s tape and applied the paint the same way using the Best Dang Brush.

TopCoat To Protect Your Nightstand Makeover With Stencil

Lastly I applied a poly topcoat to finish up and protect this nightstand makeover with the stencil design. To the top I applied GatorHide. It has been hard to find GatorHide recently due to supply shortages so I didn’t list it above.

But the rest of the piece got two coats of Dixie Belle Clear Coat in Satin. For more help deciding between poly topcoats and waxes read Wax Versus Poly Chalk Mineral Paint TopCoats.

Chalk Mineral Paint Furniture Makeover Success: Summary

I hope you enjoyed reading about this chalk paint nightstand makeover project using the Stick & Style Stencil! As always my goal is to help you learn some tips that will make your first or next project easier! If you like to know more about basic furniture makeovers with chalk mineral paint go to:

• Chalk Mineral Paint Basics: Tips For Success

• Another similar post Morocco Inspired Table Makeover used the same colors of paint

And finally if you’d like to reach me I hang out on social mainly on:

• Instagram – send me a DM and go follow me please!

• Pinterest – I try to post project tips and tricks

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