Painting a Bathroom Vanity

Having a bespoke vanity is what dreamy bathrooms are made of, and the price tag can be even more of a nightmare than a dream. Updating a thrift find is one way to get the room you desire at an affordable cost. Using Fusion Mineral Paint, painting a bathroom vanity is easy, and extremely durable for all those water splashes!

Before shot of bathroom vanity with prep items

A bathroom budget makeover

The supplies you will need for this project are:

Fusions TSP
Sanding sponge/paper
Lint-free rags
A good quality brush such as a Staalmeester
A pot of your chosen colour, this project was painted in Champlain
A Beeswax Distressing Block
Fusions Tough Coat wipe on poly.

Wiping surface with Fusions TSP - Fusion Mineral Paint

Prep

As always prep is super important, clean down the entire surface using Fusions TSP, our TSP alternative is a concentrated, no-rinse formula so you only need a couple of capfuls added to water. Once dry, lightly sand the entire surface. Your aim is to de-gloss the surface and bring down the sheen.

Lightly scuff sanding the surface suing sanding sponge - Fusion Mineral Paint

Once you have sanded remove the dust. After removing the hardware using the wax puck and rub over the high points or areas of interest that you will later distress.

Removing hardware - Fusion Mineral Paint

Rubbing the wax puck over the areas of interest - Fusion Mineral Paint

Using the wax puck as a resist

If you have used Fusion before you know that when it dries, it’s tough! and having to distress it can be hard work. Using the Beeswax distressing block over the areas we want to later distress helps make it easy. The wax acts as a barrier to the paint adhering to the vanity so when we come along with a sanding sponge it will be easier to remove from those areas.

See more about Beeswax Distressing Block

Runbbing the wax puck over the areas we later want to distress - Fusion Mineral Paint

Painting the bathroom vanity

This is always the fun part. Using a good quality brush such as a Staalmeester will help eliminate brush strokes and give a smoother finish. Apply 2 thin coats with drying time in between. The first coat you will be able to see through, this is normal, don’t apply the paint too thickly to try to get full one-coat coverage as you may get brushstrokes from too much paint being used.

Applying the first coat using a Stallmeester brush - Fusion Mineral Paint

Here you can see how great the coverage is with only 1 coat.

Applying second coat of Champlain - Fusion Mineral Paint

It’s virtually magical when you apply the second coat. Absolute full coverage!

Applying second coat of Champlain on bathroom vanity - Fusion Mineral Paint

Using the right top coat.

When your paint is dry use your sanding sponge or paper to distress the areas that you rubbed with the Beeswax block.

For projects that will get a lot of water ware, a top coat would be advised. For lighter colours such as Champlain, our Tough Coat wipe on poly in matte or gloss will be perfect. Just apply using an applicator pad or a sponge, additional coats can be added for extra protection.

If you are using a mid to dark colour we recommend our Stain and Finishing Oil in the natural.