Bathroom Vanity Chalk Paint Makeover: Part I

I am hereby naming our main floor renovation "The Snowball Project." What began as replacing floors turned into removing walls turned into painting trim turned into re-doing the kitchen turned into replacing light fixtures (not necessarily in that order)... Well, you get the point. 

The reason this renovation snowballed to include our hall bathroom is that the bathroom tile needed to be removed in order to install the new luxury vinyl plank floor. And that meant taking out the vanity and toilet. And that meant it was a prime opportunity to give the entire bathroom a makeover (except for painting, which I had done a few years ago and still really like the wall color). 

Still with me? Good.

Here's a look at our original builder grade vanity. 

Oh, and that tile on the countertop was pretty much the same tile the builders used on the bathroom floor. I was ready to say goodbye to that beige color and those grout lines.

We looked at some brand new vanity+sink options in the stores, but ultimately decided to just paint our existing vanity and buy a new integral sink countertop and faucet. It was more work (of course), but it did save us some money in the long run. 

And you wanna know a secret? I was actually looking forward to painting the vanity. After all, I'd had pretty good success chalk painting a coffee table and our kitchen cabinets. And compared to all those cabinets, a project of this size would be a breeze. 

Annnd, it was the perfect excuse to buy a new chalk paint color I'd been wanting to try: Annie Sloan French Linen. I felt this color would be the perfect neutral complement to the new dark floors, green wall color, and new oil-rubbed bronze fixtures. White would have been the other obvious choice, but since we were planning to get a white countertop, I opted for this khaki-grey on the base cabinet for some contrast.

Annie Sloan French Linen - This color is beautiful even just in the can!

It was a pain to pry off the layers of the old tiled countertop, but I mostly let the hubs tackle that demo. After removing hardware and drawer faces and taping off the inner edges, it was time to paint! (I didn't do any sanding of the existing finish; just a good cleaning with a water/vinegar solution.)

It only took two coats of the Annie Sloan chalk paint to get the desired coverage. Once the paint was fully dry, I distressed all the edges with sandpaper to expose the wood underneath. The final step was applying Annie Sloan clear wax (two coats). 

I'm super excited about the final result, but I'm going to make you wait just a bit longer for the full reveal of our revamped bathroom vanity... Until then, enjoy this sneak preview!