How To Update A Medicine Cabinet

Updated: Sep 10, 2020

The Master Half Bath 1:2 - Reviving Pine Drive

For YouTube video tutorial: https://youtu.be/oOqCgoAkPvc

Hey everyone! I am working my way through the master half bath and wanted to show you how I updated the medicine cabinet in there. It was an orange oak with chrome lights and a mirror back plate to the lights.

I really dislike medicine cabinets. Or at least the ones that are in our home. I want a pretty mirror and cool lights. But the storage that they offer is just too good to take out!! I would just have to replace them with new medicine cabinets, so that all seems pointless.

My vision for this one was a natural, white washed type of wood. Like this finish from Pottery Barn. (Oh how I love Pottery Barn!)

I certainly could have sanded the cabinet down and refinished it with stains in this style, but that seemed like so much extra work! Instead I set out to fake this look with my trusty Annie Sloan paints & waxes.

First step was to take off the lights and the back plate.

I spray painted these, and almost any other metal in here, flat black. (More on how to do that in another tutorial soon)

Oh my, it was already getting better! Next, I cleaned the cabinet with vinegar, hot water & a bit of dish soap & taped off my edges. (No need to sand with Annie Sloan paint!)

I painted two coats of Annie Sloan Country Grey. I used an Annie Sloan natural bristle brush to paint and each coat dries in about 20 minutes. Which makes this a super fast process.

Next step was to dry brush Annie Sloan Graphite all over. I tried to keep my brush motions in the direction of the wood grain. Here is a video tutorial of mine on how to dry brush like a pro https://youtu.be/JrNOm7j08P4

Then I put Annie Sloan Dark Wax over everything, really working it in. Typically you need to put clear wax first, but in this case I am skipping it. This will essentially stain the paint brown. (I somehow missed taking a photo of this step, but you can see it happen live in the video tutorial.)

Next step was to dry brush Annie Sloan Original all over.