DIY Monday: Chair redo

After and before

So it is time for another DIY Monday and this week I added a chair to the desk I redid last week.

Before

I had this chair (actually have 2) as leftovers from an old dining room table which is now my family room coffee table.   

After

Clearly my kiddo loves pink and especially any form of pink camo.  She actually has throw pillows in a similar pattern to the chair and her bed spread and shams are pink camo.  So are half her cloths so this fabric was a no brainer. 

Sexy Legs

Unlike the desk, I decided not to antique the chair.   I like that it is in the same General Finishes Antique White Milk Paint but isn't an exact match.   Obviously the chair is not a match to the desk either and sadly, doesn't fit under the desk but that's okay.   We have a plan for storing it right next to the desk. 

 All set up!

So that was my fun project this weekend.  The other project was putting in a little duck pond which required us digging a hole and then backfilling the pond area.  Our ducks are supposed to be in next week so expect some totally amazing photos of baby ducks!

Be a Warrior Queen

DIY Monday: Antique Desk Makeover, the end!

All the details on this piece gave me fits!

The end is near!

When last we saw the desk

As you may recall, my husband managed to salvage this old desk from the trash heep at a building where he was working.   

I spent a lot of time just working on the prep part of the desk.   The poor thing had 4 layers of paint and stain (at least) that I removed from all those little details and the legs, oh the legs gave me fits!

The drawers

My kiddo was very specific.   She wanted white, she didn't want it distressed but she wanted it antiqued.  The top had to be stained and I better do it right.    Normally, I don't use a gloss poly on pieces but her father requested it and I figured, what the heck.  It is pretty and I sanded the top down well so the gloss will highlight the beauty of the natural wood and stain.  

The shiny top

For this piece I used General Fiinishes Antique white Milk Paint and Java Gel stain.   Now, let me say I was shocked at how deep and dark the Java came out.  I left it on only a few minutes but the stain just penetrated the wood like water.   I told my husband I have never seen a piece of furniture that wanted to be stained more.  

For the antiquing I decided to use a silver glaze sole by Maison Blanche paint company.   When I buy paint I tend to use either General Finishes or Maison Blanche.  Now, I have some real milk paint that I am going to try on another piece so we will see how that works.   For this piece, because the kid was so clear on her wants, I decided to use something I had success with previously.

Silver antique

So I painted the body first with three coats of General Finishes Antique White.   Next came the Stain.  As you can see below the top just soaked up the Java Gel.

 

Luckily there was still grain showing through and I loved the contrast of the really dark top and the light body.  

All Done

Once the piece was done we moved it into the living room, temporarily so that we can get rid of the old computer desk.   I have some pictures on my camera that are way better and I will add them as soon as I figure out why my disk scanner on my laptop isn't working.   (It's always something!).

So to recap this project:

The desk was totally free and I am so glad my sweet hubby saved it from the dumpster and certain death!

The days/nights of stripping this thing made my time spent incredibly long but I think the finished product is simply lovely, feminine, and perfect.

The painting and staining took approximately 3 days from start to finish and included:

*3 coats of GF Milk Paint

*1 coat of Java Gel

*5 coats (with light sanding in between) of Poly Acrylic Gloss on the top.

*1 coat of satin Poly Acrylic on the base

* Antiquing with Silver Organza by Maison Blanche Paint Company

*Clear wax for protection

*Maison Blanche white Limestone Wax to soften the overall effect.

*Lots of buffing, cleaning, and bath time for me!


In between all of that I managed to help hubs repair our old shed/barn, mow an acer of lawn, plant the first round of our garden which included Turnips, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, radishes, Cantaloupe, Blue Berries, Raspberries, and Grapes, and also some flowers (Which my chickens were eating the tops off!).   Just an average weekend when we are home.  There is no rest for the wicked.

Happy Monday everyone.  It's spring break this week and we are doing lots of fun stuff like dentist appointments. 



Part 1 of the Desk Makeover

From beat to neat: Sofa Table makeover

Before and After 

I got this table last summer and it sat in my office for months and months because I didn't have room for it in the garage or time to refinish it.   I knew in principal what I was going to do with it and I knew that I wanted to use it for the TV.

Beat UP!

As you can see, I got it home last week and the top needed some special attention.  I have never had a piece that was so beat up on the surface.  Because it was going next to the buffet I refinished last weekend, I decided to make them match.  Obviously these pieces are different but I wanted them to coordinate.

Top all Sanded.  Don't you love the 1970's flower detail on the drawers?  

So I sanded the top with the idea of staining it with General Finishes Java Gel which I had used on the top of the buffet.  As you can see above, it sanded beautifully but I wasn't aware of how dry the wood was.  If I had been, I probably would have oiled it first so the stain didn't dry out as fast as it ended up doing on me.  Next up I removed the knobs which got a little brown spray paint treatment and then a removal of paint to make them look antique gold.   Next the base was lightly sanded with some fine grit sand paper.

I hate painting spindles! 

Then I started painting the base.  I hate painting spindles and had to do this super carefully, making sure to catch any drips and fix them before they dried.    This is finished in the same General Finishes Milk Paint, Linen, that I did the base of the buffet in last weekend.   I love this color but what I discovered about it is that I am so pleased with the way it looks without antiquing that I decided early on that this piece would not be distressed.   That is a departure from my norm because I love the distressed look of pieces normally.  This piece has some natural distressing due to the age of the piece and I decided to work with that only.

Halfway HOME!

Once I got the base coated in three good coats of the Linen paint I sanded it slightly to remove any imperfections and added a final light coat of paint and let it completely dry. I was ready to move on to the top.   I have learned something about myself this weekend, I am incredibly picky about my finish on pieces.  I don't like to see any drips in my paint and I am a stickler for no brush marks.  I noticed this when I was looking at on line garage sales and examining the work of other painters.   I told my husband, it drives me crazy when someone spends so much energy repainting something and I can see in the photos the brush marks, splotches where paint is inconsistent, and places where the finish just doesn't look smooth.   I am picky.  I would end up redoing all the finished pieces I saw.   This is why I do my own work, more than any other reason.  I would rather customize my home and know the pieces will last.

Supervisors always looking on.

Meanwhile, one of my hens decided to come supervise my work.  First she checked out the sleigh bed I picked up this weekend.   This piece is going to eventually end up in our spare bedroom as our guest bed, once I refinish it.  It was a steal of a bargain of $0.00 because a friend called and said if I didn't come get it she was putting it in the trash.   Hold up, wait!  WHAT?   FREE is my price of preference.   The side rail needs a little work but nothing I can't fix with some L brackets.  I was all like 'sign me up for free'.   So I ran out to get this Saturday and put it in the garage.

Someone wants to ride

Henrietta above, decided she needed to get some bike riding in and jumped up on the bike to go for a ride.

Or read??

Once she got up there however, she noticed the books and decided a 70 degree Saturday was much more of a reading day.   I finally had to grab her and remove her to the backyard so I could get some work done without worrying about her getting into trouble.

Top soaked up the stain! 

Back to work I went staining the top.   I only put one coat of Java on the top and by the time I had gotten to the end of the line, I noticed the stain had soaked right in to the wood like water.  This is gel stain and it is not suppose to do that, see what I mean about the wood being dry.  I am sure now that it was because the top was so scratched that the wood had simply no conditioner left to prevent this from happening.  Then I debated with myself, what to do, leave it super dark or sand it down, condition it, and redo the entire top.

Read for the sealers

I decided to leave it super dark and proceeded sealing the top with several coats of General Finishes High Performance top coat.  Once I got a good protective layer or 10 on the top this baby and I coated the base with or two coats (I can't recall) of the same satin finish then  I moved the piece inside.

Wax and then done

It dried and dried and dried.   I like how it looks with the buffet.   I was pleased.

Finished for now

So this morning I woke up, waxed the entire piece with clear wax, buffed it out and moved the TV on top.   The piece is finished for now.  I am going to add a shelf to the bottom to hold all the components for the TV.   However, for now, because we aren't in the market for a larger TV yet, I left the old crappy stand behind it and just covered it up so it didn't look so stupid.

Here is my main problem with this room, the room is long, super duper long, actually.   I have a 48 inch TV and when you sit on the sofa, it looks like a 26 inch TV.  No joke!    So when we get around to buying a giant TV, we will be able to move the TV back against the wall.   Yes, I would love to put the TV on the wall but unfortunately, this is not going to happen.   See, in this room, the wall the TV is on happens to be the same wall there is an ugly breaker box.   Why they didn't remove the breaker box to the new garage when they converted the old garage is beyond my comprehension.   I am a slave to someone else's home improvement laziness here folk.   Maybe at some point we can move the box and I won't have this struggle.  Until that time, the struggle is real.  

So, what do you think?   Table and buffet look awesome together don't they?   Who would ever imagine these pieces started out so incredibly ugly?

Below are links for Amazon where you can find the paint I used on these pieces.  Amazon affiliate links don't cost you anything additional if you purchase from them.  FYI. 

Buying and Selling: DIY fanaticism

Goodbye sweet Dry Sink. Pictures don't do it justice. 

I had my first official sale last night and it was to the nicest man.  He actually has a resale shop but fell in love with my dry sink (above) and wants it for his own place.  We talked for quite a while about painting and redoing furniture and he wants me to school him in the finer points of furniture refinishing.  He said my stuff is so much better than the stuff he has seen on the market that he wants to pick my brain. :)

I can't describe how wonderful it feels to have someone appreciate what you love doing.  I would love to do it full time someday but that's probably a pipe dream.  In the meantime, I love that something I made beautiful has found a home where it can be appreciated!  

Okay, here is a sneak peak at one of my next projects.   This is a table that has been sitting in my office at work.  I am refinishing this for my house.  

Project 1: my new TV stand. 

It will be my new TV stand.  I am going to paint it the same colors as I did the buffet that holds my DVD's.  General Finishes Linen Milk Paint on the legs and Java Gel stain on the top.   I have fallen in love with General Finishes Milk Paint.  This stuff goes on so smooth and it doesn't require a ton of sanding, the way chalk paint can.  No brush strokes! 

Very happy to see the beautiful wood grain. 

And I am about to start working on this as well.  This will be for the kiddo's room.  The body will be General Finishes antique white milk paint (her choice) and the top will be their java gel stain.

I am so excited to get my hands on this.  

In the meantime we found out today that we are going to be on the Tour De Coop this year.  On April 30th people will be coming to our backyard to check out our Chickens and the coop area.  I am so excited.  We don't have that Pinterest fancy coop happening so I wasn't sure we are fancy enough.   I love my chickens though and don't mind at all sharing the love with others.   Expect more on this sometime around 4/30! 

Happy Terrific Tuesday folks.   Do you refinish old furniture or love chickens too?  If so send me a shout out!

DIY Fugly to Fab: Buffett makeover

Sanding fugly 

Alright I am going to be honest here,  I have been sick as sick gets for the better part of 2016.  I have been through two rounds of antibiotics and countless hours in bed.   In all that time I have felt so blah And I mostly slept.  

But when I did go into my family room there was this ugly buffet (the bottom half of a China cabinet actually.  The top half is still in my garage waiting to be re-purposed into a curio cabinet.)  This thing had been sitting in my garage for 10 months.  I was suffering from serious buyers remorse and didn't want to work on it.   Hubs decided it had to leave the garage so he put it in the house  and said fix it or toss it.  

Primed and stained 

So this weekend I was finally feeling about 80% normal.   I could finally breath a little easier and hubs was out of town so I had time to do a few tasks I put off when he is around and this puppy was high on my list.

Above you can see I sanded and primed the piece white, except the top which I stained.  Now let me be honest this piece is not solid wood.  It's mostly veneer.  If you sand veneer you should be very careful not to sand too much or you will get down the particle board underneath.  

2 coats of Milk Paint later

I know a lot of people don't prime when they use chalk paint but I do regardless.  This time I actually used General Finishes Milk Paint in Linen and their Java Gel stain.   This was the first time I have used the Linen Milk Paint which isn't a true Milk Paint but has the look of the real stuff.  Let me tell you I love this stuff!  It went on easy and very smooth.  Sometimes with chalk type paint you get brush streaks.  Not with this stuff.   

After it dried I finished the whole piece with a satin Polycrylic top coat.  Use your best judgement on how many.  I did 2 coats on the whole piece but the top, if your piece is going to get heavy use, would need at least 3 coats.  This isn't going to get used for anything except brick-a-brac.  

The stained top

Basic of the project: 

1 coat primer on body.  

2 coats GF Milk Paint on body. 

1 coat of Java Gel on top.  (If you want it darker you can use another coat.) 

After this dried I used 2 different waxes to age.  One in brown and one in white to mute the brown and give it a little character and feeling of age.  Obviously it darkened the paint just a bit.   

This piece had some nice little bits of detail

Once it was finished, I was surprised at how much I actually like the piece.  We are using it to store DVD's.  Yes, I have a lot of movies. 

All done 

Aside from that it was generally a weekend of cleaning.  We had a beautiful sunrise Saturday.  

This is my happy place 

Yay cleaning!  Remember I have been sick so while the house wasn't trashed, it wasn't as tidy as I wanted either.  

One thing you can say, I am not afraid of color!

See this is a clean kitchen.  Lol.  It lasted all day before the kid put dishes in the sink instead of the dishwasher.  An aside here.   Kid says she can't ever tell if the dishes are dirty in the dishwasher so she leaves them in the sink.  Now, maybe I am just smarter than the average bear but of there are only 2 cups and some silverware in the machine, isn't it logical that they are dirty?

I love the signs I found somewhere and the little planter thing I got from Magnolia Market 

Have I mentioned before I have sort of a 50's retro kitchen happening?  Well I found these signs for super little money like Starbucks trip money, I'm talking.   How cute are they? 

Okay so that's my weekend.  I told my husband last night I look around the house and all I see are projects.  Hopefully there will come a time when the projects stop and the walls that I haven't painted don't call out to me to change them. There is nothing wrong with them, they just aren't my paint. :)  

So did you mark off anything from your To-Do list this weekend?   

Below you will find Amazon links to the products I used on this buffet.   Please note their is no extra charge for you if you purchase using these links.