I love refinishing furniture. That’s what I do. Mostly, my refinishing keeps me to stain, toner, and lacquer—the classics.

But on occasion, I fancy a change-up. For the past week, I’d worked on and finished this dresser’s lowboy brother and nightstand sisters. In that process, I’d lived in the world of lacquer of toner (of course, while wearing a respirator). Here’s how they turned out. I was done with lacquer and toner though. As I scanned my mind for another refinishing option, I thought, “Whitewash.”

Huh.

Whitewashing: the hybrid between painting and staining, the way to refinish with paint while revealing the wood grain, the means of limiting any further exposure to lacquer and toner.

The result… I was ultimately pleased with. Below is the whole story of the piece’s transformation, along with a step-by-step tutorial on how to whitewash furniture . (Psst: It’s not hard!)