DIY

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Refinished Nightstand Between Twin Beds in Kids' Guest Room

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When looking for pieces to refinish, do yourself a favor and choose REAL WOOD pieces only.  Don't get cute and get stuck with some particle board you won't be able to do anything with except paint.  Nothing wrong with painting, of course, but the great thing about real wood is that if you screw up...you can start over.  No problem.  If you don't like it...you can start over.  No problem.  

This piece had something I hate.  A non-working "drawer."  Like...there was a drawer pull on it and a fake line to simulate a drawer but it was just a side.  I was looking for a nightstand to put between the kids' guest bedroom.  It has twin beds and not enough room for two end tables so I needed to be pretty specific with size.  Also...I didn't want it to be too tall.  Initially, I was going to use a bookcase but struggled with lamp placement.  Since it's a guest room, something with a drawer isn't necessary and I've since put a low basket with a liner under it to hold books.  

Still working on the room for now, of course.  I'm planning to do a light colored wall behind the beds and decorate it with stars.  Why?  I like stars.  Duh.  LOL!  Funny because my nephew is currently visiting and he has his own ideas of design and implemented them accordingly.  *sigh*  He's quite proud of his handiwork.  What say you?  Think he has a future in interior decor?

The piece was scratched up like crazy so I removed the hardware on the faux dresser and covered the holes and the lines with wood filler that can be painted.  Then...I sanded the top really well to get as many of the scratches off the top as possible.  

I wanted a "front" so I used contact cement to add a pair of latex appliques to it.  I didn't decide this until I'd already put a coat of paint on it.  Next time, I'll know to make the decision BEFORE I've started.  Will make it a lot easier.  I added a bit of gold Rub N' Buff to the appliques so that they would stand out a bit.  I did the same to the bottom ring on the legs.

I put three coats of General Finishes High Performance top coat on the top to make it virtually indestructible and a dark wax along the base and legs for more of a shiny patina.  

I paid $5 for this table so yeah...even if one of the nephews Hulk smashes another one on top of it...I'm good.  LOL!

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Plant Stand Makeover in Annie Sloan Provence and Dark Wax

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This was tragic in the beginning. TRA-GIC!

I thought it was going to be a simple job of stripping and then painting but noooooooooooooo!  It had been painted and then covered with contact paper and then?  PAINTED AGAIN!  I didn't get anywhere with an entire can of Citristrip because of the stupid contact paper.  Once I got the top coats of paint off, then I had to pull off the contact paper and THEN I had to strip that paint off.  Seriously...I almost gave up on this thing thinking that a plant stand just really isn't worth all this trouble so I left it alone for a few days and worked on something else.  Then I thought about how gorgeous my trailing begonia would look on it so I stripped it, sanded it and painted it.  Then?  I got jiggy with it and used my stencils to put a few designs on it.  After that, I used 100 grit sandpaper to distress all the edges of the wood and went over it with dark wax.   

And now?  Me happy!  Had I known about all of the layers of paint and the contact paper in the middle?  Yeah...Idda passed.  I never want to do that again.  

Isn't it purdy?

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Vintage French Provincial Nightstand in Pink and Berry!

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First time I saw this...it was scary.

And now...it's all lovely and ish.  Perfect for a Princess' bedroom.  Isn't it gorg?

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Antique China Hutch in Annie Sloan Graphite and French Linen

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When I found this piece...it looked tragic.  It was covered in brown paint with faux wood grain contact paper on the shelves.  I bought it because I liked the details and well...I was also looking for a nice piece to use Annie Sloan Graphite on.  It is such a rich color that I figured it could be used to make anything look elegant.

When I got it home...I was curious as to what kind of wood it was made out of so I decided to strip it.  You don't need to strip paint to use Annie Sloan paint mind you...I just wanted to see it in  it's original state.  So I did it...and was shocked to find that the beautiful wood underneath the horrible paint was none other than rare mahogany.

Wow.

I honestly sat there and stared at it for a long time and then I moved around a bit just so I could make SURE I was doing the right thing by painting it.  Then...I decided that hey...no matter what...I could always strip the paint off again if I wanted to right?  RIGHT.

So I took the hardware and door off.  Then I collapsed the shelves and got to painting.  Since it was such a dark piece anyway...I knew I'd have to do a light color inside of it.  The hardware was pretty nice but I wanted it to seriously pop so I used a bit of Antique Gold Rub-N-Buff to make the color really stand out.

I put two coats of paint on it and then let it dry for a full day.  Next, I used General Finishes top coat for protection and now I'm sitting here debating whether I should wax it too.

This piece is so lovely to me that yeah...it might already be SOLD too.  :)

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Spray Painted Vintage Temple-Stuart China Cabinet

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MATERIALS USED:

Goo Gone Pro-Power

Porter Cable Palm Sander

Sandpaper

Rust-Oleum Comfort Grip Spray Paint Handle

Rust-Oleum 2x Red Primer (3 cans)

Rust-Oleum 2x Colonial Red Gloss Spray Paint (5 cans)

Rust-Oleum Hammered Black Metal Spray Paint (I've used one can for three projects so far on hardware.)

General Finishes Pitch Black Glaze

Minwax Polycrylic Spray

The before and after of this piece makes me super giddy.  I knew I wanted to go with a bold color from jump and I also knew that I wanted it to look smooth like a showroom piece at Ethan Allen so I decided to spray paint it!  

Steps to get a super smooth finish?

1.  Vacuum and wipe down with a bit of dish liquid in a bucket of water.  Don't wet it, mind you...but wipe it clean with a well-wrung towel.  Use Goo Gone to remove anything sticky, hard or icky. Then...let it dry completely. 

2.  Take it apart.  No...seriously...remove all screws, put hardware by type in Ziploc bags so you don't lose them and keep them together so you can get them ready to be painted too if you're using them.  Take the back off carefully using a hammer, pliers and a flat tool.  Either paint or add a piece of fabric using a spray adhesive as I did.  

3.  Use paint cans and spray paint tops to sit pieces on and sand.  Wipe down with damp cloth and then prime after it dries.  (I used a spray primer for red paint.)

4.  One coat of primer on all pieces if you're using the same kind of 2x primer I used.

5.  Let dry COMPLETELY.  I didn't paint until the next day.

6.  Spray paint using the spray paint handle so your finger doesn't get in the way or get tired from depressing that lil' thingy.  You should have a good rhythm and method since you spray painted the primer on.  Hold the can back far enough where you can do light sprays without paint runs.  Just spray evenly and lightly.  Follow the directions and apply your second coat when the can says to.  LOL!  

7.  Remove rust with a rust remover, clean, dry and spray paint hardware.  Let dry completely.

8.  If you're going to add a glaze, as I did, do it the next day after the paint has dried completely and you've corrected any mistakes or paint drips.  (Sand, wipe clean, repaint.) Glaze one section at a time so your glaze doesn't dry on you making it too dark in some areas.  If you love the super shiny, super bright pop of color...don't glaze.  For example...if I were to do a dresser or end table for a little girl's room in a pretty pink or raspberry I wouldn't glaze it.  The color would just be so happy to me as is.  LOL!

9.  Let dry completely and add a coat of polycrylic to any part where you'd sit stuff on like shelves and the top of the bottom piece.  This is just an added layer of protection.  I actually used the spray polyurethane for the first time on this piece and I adore the satin finish it gave.  

10.  Put it back together.  Add the hardware.  Sit back and admire your handiwork with a smug smile knowing that BAAAAAAAAAABY!  YOU DID THAT!