Shabby White End Table

I found this on Craigslist for $20 and had to snatch it up.  I usually don't like to pay that much for end tables, but I really liked the style of this one.  I sanded the entire top with my electric sander.  I usually use about 80 grit sandpaper to get the finish off, and then sand it lightly again with something more fine like 120 or 150.  After sanding the top, I wiped all of the sawdust off with a rag.  I then took a different rag and dipped it in Dark Walnut Minwax stain. I then wiped the surface evenly with the stain until it was completely covered.  You want to make sure to wipe the stain on in the direction of the wood grain.  After the stain dries, you want to put a coat of Polyurethane or Polycrylic. I then painted on 2 coats of Magnolia chalk paint.  After letting it dry I distressed with sandpaper, and then wiped it down well with a rag.  I used a light brown wax on top and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, i buffed out the wax with a soft rag.  I love experimenting with all of the colors of chalk paint.  I was really happy with how this turned out!

China Cabinet Makeover

I found this china cabinet at a flea market for $75.  They are so much work, but fun to paint!

I thought that the wicker made it a little more unique, so I decided to leave it unpainted.  I used Robin's Egg Blue from Maison Blanche. On the inside and for the handles I used La Bonne Terre.  I used a light brown wax on top of my blue, and clear wax on the white.

 I love how the colors turned out together!

Turquoise Dresser Redo

I found this dresser at a garage sale for $50.  I decided to paint it using Venetian Turquoise from Glidden.  I started by sanding everything down very lightly.  I took the hardware out and spray painted it black.  I then gave the entire dresser 2 coats of paint, and then let it dry.  I then painted some Miniwax Ebony stain over the top and wiped off using a wet rag. I didn't wipe the stain from the grooves because I thought it looked better that way. After letting it all dry, I put a coat of polyurethane over the top for protection. I love this color and I think I'll use it for future projects!

 BEFORE

 AFTER

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I link to these awesome parties:
Classy Clutter, Craft Envy, The Gingerbread Blog, Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, Be Different Act Normal, Positively Splendid, CRAFT, Homemaker on a Dime, Boogie Board Cottage, Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to My Lou, Sarah Dawn Designs, A Diamond in the Stuff, DIY by Design, Southern Lovely, Vintage Gwen, Chic on a Shoestring, Finding Fabulous, Five Days Five Ways, The Shabby Nest, Craftionary, Gingerbread, Funky Junk Interiors, WT Fab

Chair Makeovers (Before and After)

BEFORE

AFTER

Thrift Store Finds: Before and After

A few weeks ago I posted this picture of things I found while thrift shopping.  I finally finished most of what I had planned to complete.

I found this for $15 at the Habitat for Humanity.  I painted it Amber Wheat from Valspar.  I love the built in magazine rack!

I painted this using Swim from Valspar, and then used sandpaper to distress all over.

 I used Swim from valspar and white on this end table.

 I found this stencil at Wal-Mart and randomly stenciled over the top.

I had a really hard time deciding what to do with my 12 pane window.  I decided to put a different piece of scrapbook paper behind each pane.  I plan on adding pictures to the front and displaying it in my dining room :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Overall, i was happy with how it all turned out!

Triple Dresser Makeover

I found 3 of these dressers at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $30 each.  The bottom drawer is missing because I started painting it before I remembered to take a picture. Oops!  I had fun experimenting with the colors on each dresser.

For this dresser I used mustard yellow on the drawers, and gray on the outside.

I decided to add some stripes on top. I love stripes!

For this dresser, i painted the drawers light pink and the outside white.  I painted some brown miniwax stain on top of the pink and wiped most of it off for a more distressed look.  

The last dresser was painted using white and 5 different shades of blue.  I went to Lowes and found paint sample cards that were very close in color, each shade being slightly darker than the color before. I bought a sample of each shade for $3 each at Lowes. 

I painted the top drawer white, and then got darker with each drawer going down. 

Added stripes on top!  I think this one would be perfect for a little boy's room.

I Link To:
DIY by Design, Embracing Change, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Creek Cottage, House of the Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, Five Days Five Ways, At the Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest, Naptime Crafters, Craftionary, Miss Mustard Seed

Dresser and Bedroom Makeover

I found this old dresser on Craigslist for $30.  I've been dying to paint a chevron dresser, and this was the perfect style of dresser to test it out.  

 It was pretty banged up when I got it, so I added wood filler where needed.  I removed the hardware and sanded the entire thing down very lightly.

 I primed and painted the everything white.

 I measured the sides and centers to make sure everything was evenly aligned, and then I taped from point to point.  My stripes ended up being a little higher on the right side, but it was close enough.

I painted everything outside of my tape pink, leaving the inside white.

I glazed the entire thing with dark stain and added some polycrylic on top.  It was a little tedious, but really not as hard as I thought it would be.  It was super cheap and I had so much fun doing it!

After finishing this dresser, i was so excited to put it into my girls' room.  I've had a small dresser with broken drawers in their room for the past year and I was excited to get something new.  After putting the new dresser in their room I realized how bare the wall looked above it. So I went into my stash of frames and painted them a variety colors.  I made a chalkboard out of one frame, put chicken wire behind another, stenciled my daughters initials, and  put pictures in the rest. I cut out wood and stenciled letters to make signs.  I spray painted an old lamp base pink, and made a new lamp shade out of chicken wire.  

 When I was all finished, this is how it all turned out!

 I was worried about how all of the different colors would go together, but I ended up really liking the variety :)
 If you are new to this blog, I would love for you to join my site or become a follower on facebook.  Thanks a bunch for stopping by!

I link to these awesome parties:
Southern Lovely, Vintage Gwen, DIY by Design, Restore Interiors, Embracing Change, A Diamond in the Stuff, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Finding Fabulous, Five Days Five Ways, At the Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest, Naptime Crafters, Craftionary, Miss Mustard Seed, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Creek Cottage, House of the Hepworths, Craft Envy, Be Different Act Normal, Positively Splendid, Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Classy Clutter, Debbiedoos, Kampen Lane, Homemaker on a Dime, Boogieboard Cottag

Black and Gray Striped Table

My friend sold me this table for a really good price, and I was super excited to fix it up.  I was also a little nervous about painting it since I've never done a kitchen table before.

BEFORE



I couldn't figure out what to do with it, so I went to Pinterest for inspiration, and found this adorable striped round table.  I just love the color of the stripes with the pop of turquoise.  She gives an awesome tutorial here on how she painted her table.



I was so excited to try it out!

The first thing I did was sand the entire surface with an electric sander. 

I then primed the entire thing with white Rustoleum primer spray paint.  Normally I use valspar primer, but since it's a table and it gets a little more wear, I thought the Rustoleum would hold up and have better coverage.  After priming I gave it a light sand again just to smooth it out a bit.

I painted the entire surface gray, and the base turquoise. After letting the paint dry for about 2 hours,  I  measured and marked every 6 inches.

I put masking tape down on my markings

I then painted 2 layers of black paint between my pieces of tape.

After taking the tape off, this is how it turned out!

I added 3 coat of polycrylic just to make sure it was well protected. ( Make sure to sand lightly between each coat)

I painted the chairs turquoise with gray seats.

This is the end result! I think I have a new obsession with stripes.  Thanks Pinterest for the great idea!

AFTER

Linking to these parties:
Southern Lovely, Vintage Gwen, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Creek Cottage, House of the Hepworths, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, At the Picket Fence, Craftionary, Miss Mustard Seed, Five Days Five Ways, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Nap Time Crafters, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Craft Envy, Gingerbread, Hey What's For Dinner Mom, Be Different Act Normal, Positively Splendid, Classy Clutter, Serendipity and Spice, C.R.A.F.T., Kampen Lane, Homemaker on a Dime, Boogie Board Cottage, Sarah Dawn Designs, Between Naps on the Porch

How to Paint Furniture in 4 Easy Steps!

There are a ton of different techniques you can use to paint furniture.  I painted this gray and white dresser using just a few simple steps. 

I found this at a garage sale and it was pretty scuffed up, but looked like it had some potential.  I loved the fact that it was very solid wood. Let me tell you...this dresser was a piece of work! 

Here's what I did to fix it up a bit....

I first took out all of the drawers and sanded them lightly  with my electric sander, just enough to rough it up. You can also sand it by hand, but an electric sander speeds up the process. After sanding, take a rag and wipe down everything really well. Sometimes if there are pieces of dirt or old sticker residue, it can show up after you paint.  I chose to not prime this dresser because I'm going for a more distressed look.  Sometimes i do it, and sometimes I don't depending on what type of look I want for my furniture.

Now you're ready to paint! Apply a coat of paint onto the wood and let it dry for at least an hour. After the first coat dries, apply another. For these drawers I painted the front white with gray edges. I used a semi-gloss finish for both colors. You can actually buy paint samples at lowes for $3, which  I do all of the time when I'm trying out new colors. It allows me to test out a wide variety of paint for super cheap.

 

While waiting for my drawers to dry, I spray painted my hardware yellow.

 Now it's time to distress it! I love to use stain to distress my furniture, however there are so many other ways to distress as well. After letting your paint dry for at least an hour, you can add a layer of dark stain. I either use dark walnut or Ebony Black Miniwax stain. I would recommend buying the small sized stain so you try it to see if you like it. After applying the stain evenly over your surface, immediately take a wet rag or old t shirt and wipe as little or as much stain off as you would like.  In the process, some of your paint may come off, which will give a more shabby and distressed look. It's best to not let the stain sit for very long, or it will soak into the wood and will be harder to get off.  I also took a piece of sandpaper and roughed up a few of the edges.

 Now you'll want to allow everything to dry for at least 24 hours before applying a coat of polycrylic to protect your piece of furniture.

 This is how it turned out when I finished...or when I thought I was finished.   When I bought it, I knew I would be needing new tracks for 2 of the drawers, but what I didn't know was that nobody carries 15 inch tracks.  So after trying 3 different sizes I finally gave up and decided to get rid of the drawers make shelves instead.

I added a couple of baskets, and this was my end result! 

 Before

 After


If you are new to my blog I would love for you to become a follower or like me on Facebook. Thanks so much for visiting!

Linking to these parties:
The 36th Avenue, Somewhat Simple, Finding Fabulous, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, At the Picket Fence, Shabby Nest, Craftionary, The Shabby Creek Cottage, House of Hepworths, Tip Junkie, Classy Clutter. I Heart Naptime, Positively Splendid, Be Different Act Normal, Gingerbread, Craft Envy, The Grant Life, Serendipity and Spice, C.R.A.F.T., Homemaker on a Dime, Debbiedoos