How to Whitewash Wood Furniture: 8 Easy Steps for Your Next Furniture Makeover

If your personal brand of DIY is rehabbing interior pieces, one thing's for sure—wood whitewash furniture will never go out of style. Rather than lathering on a transformative layer of paint, whitewashing simply adds a muted coating that still maintains the original wood allure. Plus, there's no shortage of surfaces that could reap the benefits of a whitewashed rustic-meets-vintage look—think everything from your bedroom dresser to coffee table to living room floorboards.

Ready to take the plunge yourself? The good news is that you can easily roll up your sleeves and DIY a whitewash furniture project—it only takes a little water-infused paint and elbow grease. No matter which area of your home you plan to tackle, here's how to whitewash furniture for a quick interior facelift.

Step 1: Prep the Furniture And Assemble Equipment

So, just how do you whitewash furniture? Whether you're working with a massive six-drawer dresser or tiny nightstand, use 100-grit sandpaper to even out the surface. If you know that you want a whitewash furniture look with the wood grain showing partially through, don't prime. On the other hand, if you're traditionally painting a piece, apply one coat of a low-VOC stain-blocking primer and let dry fully.

Disclaimer: For your own piece of mind, you may also want to consider investing in a cheap paint suit to avoid staining your clothes.

Step 2: Water Down Paint

To create the whitewash furniture paint, thin down latex (water-based) white paint with water; about two parts paint to one part water.

Step 3: Test!

As with all paint projects, you should never dive in without doing a quick swatch first. Use a leftover scrap of wood to check your paint's consistency—if it's going on too thin, add more paint to the solution and repeat. Or, if you prefer a more opaque finished product, throw in a bit more water.

Step 4: Roll on Paint

Once you get the consistency to your liking, use a small dense foam roller to roll the thinned-down paint onto the dresser. (A paintbrush would work well too.) For larger surfaces, know that you'll need to wipe away all the paint before it dries, so work fast.

Step 5: Remove Paint

Quickly use a sponge to wipe the paint off in the direction of the wood grain. (Despite the photo, we eventually found it easier if you paint the entire length of your surface and wipe off that entire strip, rather than do short chunks.)

Step 6: Evaluate

Let the first coat dry. If you like the finish, great. We found we needed to do the entire process one more time to get the look we were trying to achieve.

Step 7: Remove Drawers, If Applicable

For furniture with drawers or hardware, paint the top and sides first, then remove the accessories to finish separately.

Step 8: Add Protective Finish

Once the paint is fully dry—which didn't take long since the coats are very thin—add a finishing coat to protect the paint from chips and stains. We recommend Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic Protective Finish in Clear Gloss.

You're Done!

When the protective finish is dry, add back your drawers, hardware, etc.—and admire your finished whitewash furniture DIY.