Hello dear friends! Now you know that after sharing 10 Black Painted Furniture Ideas on Tuesday, I just had to follow up with my favorite white painted furniture pieces!
I think just about anything can be saved with white paint!
My favorite products for painting furniture white include:
- White Lightning, a cleaner and deglosser
- Dixie Belle’s Cotton, a bright white
- Dixie Belle’s Fluff, a slightly less bright and more what I like to call vintage white
- BOSS in White, a life saver for the dreaded bleed-through! If you use the white formula to prevent bleed through before painting, it will also save you a coat of paint!
- Clear Coat Satin, suitable for sealing pieces that get light to medium use, or Gator Hide, perfect for high use pieces. Both are fantastic sealers that are easy to apply using the blue sponge.
I’ve included the links to each post (highlighted in blue) if you’d like to see more details!
Enjoy!
White Painted Furniture Ideas
1
Up first is a super oldie, but still one of my favorite makeovers, this hutch I picked up at the thrift store for $75:
The amber bottle “glass” was actually plastic and really dated this piece!
It is alway so satisfying to tackle huge projects like this hutch, and the after of this one is so much better than the original:
I replaced the plastic panels with beadboard and it instantly updated this piece! I also changed out all of the hardware.
Dated Hutch Makeover
2
At number two is another old favorite! This antique cabinet I picked up for $49 on clearance at the thrift store:
Replacing the missing glass door with hardboard was the perfect solution here!
I covered the back of the door with pretty fabric:
Antique Cabinet Makeover
3
Next up is this 10 drawer dresser that I thought would be perfect for extra storage in my office at our new house:
It was marked down to $70 from $150 and I had a $5 coupon, so $70 wasn’t bad at all!
I swapped out the two top knobs, and gave the rest of the drawers the stripe treatment:
It has been fantastic for organzing so many things!
The gorgeous details on this one were totally hidden before it was painted:
Dresser Turned Office Storage
4
This dresser was another thrift store find at $79. It was a solid Drexel piece, so I knew it was worth that:
What I didn’t expect was the free stink it came with.
I usually give my pieces the smell test first, but I didn’t really smell anything on this one in the store. Maybe because the whole store stunk ha ha. I remedied the odor using an unconventional method, but I think I’ll stick to my clear BOSS from now on!
Changing out the hardware and adding fabric to the drawer fronts gave it a pretty new look!
Stinky Dresser Makeover
5
This curvy serpentine dresser belonged to our neighbor from our last house:
She was selling several pieces when she was moving and I bought this for $100. That’s a bit more than I like to spend, but this was too pretty to pass up!
It wasn’t until I went to paint it that I realized it was spilt in two places across the top. I filled them though and continued on:
What a classic beauty! I put it in my shop and then went in one day to find the mirror harp broken and the mirror lying on top of the dresser. I brought it home to fix it and it never left.
You probably recognize the bottom half as a piece I use in my staging all the time!
The mirror is hanging in my storage and packing room to add a little pretty in there.
Antique Serpentine Dresser Makeover
6
How about a desk makeover?
I picked up this desk for $35:
It looks a bit masculine here, but white paint did wonders to soften the look!
I swapped out the knobs, for glass of course because they are always my favorite, and I added a handle to the faux drawer in the center.
The best part of this makeover though was the fabric coavered drawers! They just make me smile!
Thrift Store Dresser Makeover
7
At number seven is this petite dresser that got not one, but two makeovers!
Here is how it looked before:
It was $99 which was a lot to me beacuse I’m cheap, but it was in beautiful condition. Unfortunatley because of that, it sat for forever. I was hesitant to take a brush to it. When I eventually did, I painted just the shell and the top drawer white and left the rest of the drawers as is.
It sat in my booth for over a year I think before I brough it home, painted it the rest of the way, and added this pretty transfer:
Again, I swapped out just the two top knobs. This dresser didn’t last long once I put it back in my booth!
Antique Dresser Updated with Transfer
8
At number eight is another hutch makeover. I picked this one up for $99 also:
Again, my cheapo self usually tries not to pay that much for my pieces, but that really is decent for a large solid piece like this.
Like the first hutch I shared, I felt the door panels dated it, so they got swapped out for bead board:
I whitewashed the top of the buffet part, and I also replaced the backing with bead board and added fabric to the back of the door panels:
Coastal Cottage Hutch Makeover
9
I just recently shared this table and chairs makeover, but I had to include it since I love it so much!
It started out as this table I picked up for $15:
And these chairs that once belonged to my mom, then me, and then my friend who offered them back to me:
There were four chairs in all, and they all came together to create this super cute cottage-inspired set:
I’m kind of sad I let this one go!
How to Chalk Paint a Table and Chairs
10
This dressing table is one I would have seriously considered keeping had I not been redoing it for someone else:
This is over one hundred years old and was in pretty rough shape, but the magic of paint breathed new life into her:
All those gorgeous details really sing now!
Mary’s Antique Dressing Table Makeover
11
Our bedroom was in desperate need of an update. I finally put our bedroom furniture on the to-do list!
There were four pieces in all including a sleigh bed, a night stand, and two dressers.
Here’s my hubby’s dresser:
And here it is after a much-needed paint job in Fluff:
And here’s my dresser before:
And after:
Painted Bedroom Furniture and Bedroom Reveal
You can see a bit of the bed in that photo, but you can see it all at the link above. I can’t believe I waited so long to paint it!
12
This next dresser was a great deal for $60 at the thrift store:
This gorgeous transfer really brought it to life!
$60 Thrift Store Dresser with Transfer
13
This sweet piece didn’t start out as furniture at all!
It started out as this wall cabinet my sister had hanging in her bathroom:
Flipping it upside down and adding feet gave it a whole new way to store items!
And the inside got a pretty pop of blue!
Wall Cabinet Repurposed
14
This desk was a real bargain at only $19 at an estate sale, however, it wasn’t until I got it home that I realized it was super short!
I decided to add feet to the existing feet and also a mirror, plus a transfer…all the things to make this a real stunner!
This is another one of my favorites! It hardly resembles the original desk!
I almost always line the drawers of my pieces…these got a pretty navy blue print:
$19 Estate Sale Desk Makeover
15
Here’s another favorite…how many favorites can I have??
These chairs were an absolute steal at $60 for the pair in the antique mall where I have my booth:
Adding one of my favorite fabrics, a classic ticking, to the seats and framing these gorgeous hydranges makes them even more lovely:
All my favorite things are in that photo: ticking, cane, white paint, and hydrangeas!!
Updated Vintage Cane Club Chairs
16
Up next is this mass-produced desk I picked up for $20 at the thrift store:
I decided to whitewash the top (although it is difficult to see in the light of the window) and the drawer:
The drawer got a pretty pop of color:
$20 Thrift Store Desk
17
I had way too much fun with this next one. It’s a vintage secretary I found marked down to $34 at the thrift store:
It was truly a hot mess! The addition of this beautiful decoupage paper helped to hide all the imperfections!
But the inside might be my favorite…I painted it a moody black to contrast with the whimsical exterior!
Vintage Secretary Desk Makeover
18
At number 18 is another secretary. I redid this one for my sister’s MIL recently:
We ditched the top and accentuated this handsome piece with decouapage paper also:
The insides were left as is; I just painted the small drawers and swapped out the drawer pulls:
Becky’s Secretary Makeover
19
The next peice is this cutie pie bench I scored for only $5 at the thrift store:
It wasn’t so cute there, but it sure was when I was done with it!
I replaced the seat padding (or lack thereof) with fresh new padding and covered it in another one of my favorite go-to fabrics, black and white gingham check:
$5 Dressing Table Bench Makeover
20
Numbers 20 & 21 are sisters and are up there on the list of my all time favorites!
Here’s the taller of the two and the first one I redid:
Both of these dressers needed a ton of TLC, but it was so rewarding watching these beauties come back to life step by step!
I decided to keep the top and the ornately carved decorative bottom stained. I really wanted to highlight that amazing detail.
And since many of you enjoy the insides just as much, here is what went into the drawers:
Antique Dressser Makeover
21
And her sister was in an equal state of disrepair:
I decided to redo them to match:
I decided to share this piece last because it had all the issues:
- Peeling/missing veneer
- Musty odor
- Potential bleed-through
This post shows how to remedy those issues that you may encounter when painting a piece of furniture, especially an older one.
I was able to save enough of the original pulls to use across the top , but I had to replace the bottom ones.
How to Paint an Antique Dresser
If you haven’t heard the story of these two pieces, it’s a lovley one and probably the reason I love this pair so much. You can read about their story and how I remediead all the issues at the link above.
And that’s 21 white painted furniture ideas!!
I hope you enjoyed them!! Do you have any favorites? I could only share a couple of photos of each this time since there are so many, and I have a bunch more that I just couldn’t squeeze into this post!
We’ll be taking Jack to college tomorrow…I’m hoping for no ugly crying this time!
I’ll be back on Tuesday with Another 15 Ordinary Items Repurposed:
UPDATE: See how these everyday items became something totally new HERE now!
Have an amazing weekend!
XOXO,
Don’t Miss a Thing!
If you like what you see, there are several ways to follow along!
Mary Kaiser says
I LOVE every one of them! I remember every one of them also! I will never tire of seeing all of the beautiful you create when you take an ugly duckling and make it a beautiful swan!
Christy says
Thank you, Mary!! You are the best…and I love that you remember them all! Have a fantastic weekend! XOXO
Staci says
Jaw dropping gorgeous!
Christy says
Aww thank you so much, Staci! XOXO
Christina says
WUNDERBAR!! Wow, what a wonderful compilation of furniture makeovers in white! Love these! I can’t pick a fav… I just can’t.
Hope all is going well getting Jack all set up for college.
Christy says
Ha ha thank you so much, my friend! XOXO
Janice Holt says
You know it’s hard to pick a favorite because I love all of them but if I had to, it would be the serpentine dresser from your neighbor. Try not to cry too much when you leave Jack.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Janice!! That is a favorite of mine too, and I am so happy that I ended up keeping it!! Have a great weekend, and I’m going to try to be strong lol! XOXO
Geri says
Oh Christy, they are all so lovely but I am in love with the wall cabinet that you flipped upside down and made a little floor cabinet out of it!! I have passed those up so many times at yard sales and thrift stores as I thought no body would like them! Totally going to try this out if I find another one!
Thank you for all your beautiful inspirational things!
Geri
Christy says
Thank you, Geri! I love that one too…the best ones are always the ones you thought didn’t have much hope! I hope you can find an other one! XOXO
Michal says
Hi Christy,
Thank you so much for all this inspiration i just love following you and watching you create treasures. My question is when modg podging material inside a drawer or on the outside how do you get it off if it doesn’t look good or you want to update it again a few years later. Your updates are absolutely gorgeous. I am truly inspired.
Christy says
Aw thank you, Michal! When you use fabric, you can just grab a corner and pull it out, so I try to use fabric when possible! XOXO
Rebecca Payne says
Awesome! I just can’t pick a favorite. Love them all.
Christy says
Oh yay! Thank you, Rebecca! XOXO
Niki says
12, 15 &19 are my favorites. That dresser still just makes my heart beat a little faster. I am by no means a girly girl, but if I thought I could’ve afforded to I would’ve bought it and had it shipped. It is one of my all time favs of yours. The other is the recent blue wave dresser you did.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Niki! That was a pretty dresser for sure! I ended up selling the wave dresser to a customer who saw it on the blog and drove down to pick it up with her daughter! Enjoy your weekend! XOXO
Victoria Hempe says
You are such an inspiration. I love how you refinish your projects and the way you display your finished projects is a work of art. I am inspired and ready to refinish some furniture:)
Christy says
I appreciate that so much, Victoria! Thank you! I love that you are feeling inspired!! XOXO
Sue Mellette says
I enjoyed seeing these wonderful makeovers again. White, blue, and Black are really my favorite colors for refurbishing furniture. You nailed each makeover, making even the saddist piece shine and making each one perfect for the 21st century. I loved the drexel dressor you made over. As a coinindence, I have the same pattern in a chest of drawers and desk. I have had them since my childhood! I now know what they would look like painted in a similar fashion as yours! Thanks for the inspiration! Can’t wait to give my pieces a fresh start! Have a safe and fun weekend.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Sue! I’m glad I could offer some inspiration for your own pieces! Have fun! XOXO
Lizzy says
These are gorgeous. It’s amazing what white paint and a little extra love can do. White will always be my favorite.
Christy says
Thanks so much, Lizzy! Yes!! And me too…white will always be my favorite also! XOXO
Mary King says
I am such a fan of you and your work! All projects are lovely, but of course you know my favorites are 10, 20 and 21!!! 😉 Honestly you made 2020 a year of special blessings and memories for me. God Bless.
Christy says
Thank you, Mary!! You and your beautiful pieces were such a bright spot in my 2020! XOXO
Tissy Ramsey says
Christy! Got my Dixie Bell package today! I am ready to start some makeovers, girl! Yay!
Loads of love,
Tissy!!!
Christy says
Yay!! Happy creating!! XOXO
Cheryl Rippeyy says
Oh my goodness! Each and every one of them are just gorgeous! White is also my fave. How do you get so lucky finding your pieces! Every time I go thrifting I don’t seem to find much for furniture
Christy says
Thank you so much, Cheryl!! When I’m on the hunt for furniture, I avoid going on the weekends. I never have much luck then, and I go often! XOXO
Em Rose says
Christy,
I have followed you for several years now. You were my first DIYer love, but I have to confess others have followed. Still my heart beats faster whenever I find a new post from you. (See, it really is true love! (LOL))
Thanks for the lovely walk down memory lane. They are all amazing and beautiful make-overs.
Warm regards.
Marietta
Christy says
Aww I love that! Thank you so much, Marietta!! XOXO
Cheryl Atkinson says
Hi Christy,! You have painted some beautiful pieces.
Christy says
Aww thank you, Cheryl! XOXO
Jeanne Barrett says
Hi Christy,
I’m not sure if you’re sick of how often I say you’re my favorite. I’ve seen other DIYers do an all-color blog but feel like they make it more about themselves than the furniture. You never come off that way. I feel like we are kindred spirits in how we value what once was and feel a need to revive it as best we can. Of course, you tend to lead the way and I follow. If I were trapped on a deserted island with only the ability to watch one website (haha), it would be yours. Keep up the good work.
-Jeanne
Christy says
Oh my goodness, Jeanne! You totally made my day! I appreciate your kind thoughts SO much…thank you!! And yes, I just want to save all the things ha ha! It sounds like you do too! We are kindred spirits indeed!! XOXO
Dalila says
You’re so imaginative. Love your work!
Dalila
Christy says
Aww thank you so much, Dalila! XOXO
Sue Duffy says
Love them all! Would like to see a few black-painted furniture ideas, too.
Christy says
Thank you, Sue! I shared my favorite black painted pieces last week too here: https://www.confessionsofaserialdiyer.com/10-black-painted-furniture-ideas/ XOXO