I found that using white wash to tone red was a big fat FAIL. It just left me with a cloudy red toned wood. To correct (cover) that mistake, I mixed up a glaze with briarsmoke and walnut stain and painted the entire base with it. After covering the base completely, I went back and wiped off anything that hadn't dried.

I thought at this point the white wash would give me the weathered look I was going for, but again, it just didn't work out. At this point, I switched goals from the weathered wood finish idea to a chippy paint look for the base. To get this look, I slopped on 4 different paint mixtures, scraping between coats with a plastic putty knife. This gave me the exact look I wanted for the base.

The plank top was still too red toned for my liking, so I again grabbed my can of white wash and brushed it on generously. The wood soaked up the white wash really fast, so I kept brushing more on until it started to puddle on the boards. After about 20 minutes of drying time, I went over the white wash with a light coat of weathered gray stain and quickly followed it with a dry brushing of walnut stain to give the 'weathering' some depth and to randomize the coloring.

So, while the white wash didn't work for the vanity base, it was the shining star of the plank top. The weathering would not have worked without the white wash base. It looks authentic and I am beyond thrilled with the results.

As a bonus, I applied the same paint mixtures from the vanity base to a terra cotta flower pot as I went along (shown in last photo). I followed the same steps as I did with the base, slopping on and scraping off. I finished the flower pot with a final randomly applied layer of white wash to give it a more chalky, porous look.

Chippy Weathered Potting Bench