Reduce - Reuse - Upcycle
My mom raised me on TV shows like Trading Spaces. And, I've always been a pretty frugal and crafty person. It seemed like a natural progression to take on some of the furniture refinishing projects myself. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or feedback regarding the below projects.
This table set was one of my first furniture projects. I purchased the table and chairs from My Favorite Place in Chamblee. I loved the red finish on the table top but it had some scratches and wear. In order to have the pieces match, I picked up a red stain, polyurethane, and flat black paint from Walmart to refresh them. This project cost me about $170 and two sunny afternoons in order to complete.
I really wish I'd thought to take a before photo for this project. In a nutshell, I found this AWESOME cabinet on Craigslist. However, it did NOT look good in person. There was some water damage that just wasn't salvageable. My original game plan was to refinish the wood on the cabinet and have a marble sink top cut for it.
For Plan B, I decided to reuse the doors which were still in good shape. I gave them a fresh coat of walnut stain and poly. Next, I repainted the hardware with Rust-Oleum's spray on metallic paint. The legs were purchased from Ikea for $15 each. In total, this project cost $60 plus one day of my sanity.
I wish I had taken more photos from this guest bathroom project. To give you a recap, the vanity you see in the bottom image was painted with an espresso stain-poly-in-one. It looked like a 5 year old painted the cabinet and was a complete mess. In terms of the walls, they were a denim blue with a lovely tan bath tile. It hurt one's eyes to look at it. The previous homeowner started framing the 1980's style wall mirror (similar to this one) with wood trim then gave up.
With my husband's help, the original mirror got chucked and the walls were repainted a complimentary neutral color. I thought a mirror collage would look better and add interest to the space. The fancy mirror on the left came from My Favorite Place and three smaller mirrors were from Hobby Lobby on sale for 50% OFF. The cabinet was repainted a light mint green color that I bought from Home Depot. They now sell a cabinet paint that can be painted straight on, no sanding nor prep work needed. The hardware was also from Home Depot.
Project cost: ~$100.
When we first moved in to our current home, a contractor repainted the house. I wasn't totally in love with the shade of red he used for our front door. The door also had some water damage underneath the kick plate, so it was in need of a total overhaul. I ripped off all the hardware and patched and sanded the problem areas. Next, I painted the door with a bright red glossy finish exterior door paint. I believe all of the paint supplies were purchased at Home Depot but Lowe's carries comparable items. The stencil I used was purchased from Hobby Lobby. I chopped the stencil up so that I would only have two filigree decorations per panel, then very carefully painted the silver finish on top.
Project cost: ~$50.
I purchased a light pine dresser from the Salvation Army for $97 on sale! (FYI - Wednesdays are 25% OFF day). For this project, I decided to try out chalky finish paint (color swatch: Grosgrain). For those who are not familiar, here is a great brochure. A quart of chalk paint costs on average $30-40 which sounds expensive but you can typically paint multiple furniture pieces with one can.
It took me about 3 days to paint and wax the furniture piece. For chalky paint you use clear wax on the furniture instead of a polyurethane top coat. The average piece will require 2 coats of wax, and I added a 3rd layer on the top for good measure. The little kitty in the bottom photo is Bosch inspecting my work. Project cost: $150.
Lesson #1: You don't need to pay $30 for a wax brush. A lint-free car cleaning cloth or wash rag will do. However, it is VERY important you wash the cloths first. Any stray lint or pet hair or even a granule of dust will show up on the wax if the cloth is not sufficiently debris-free!
Lesson #2: For a dark piece of furniture or one that already has a somewhat glossy finish, bite the bullet and use a paint primer. I know it's a pain because you're adding a step, BUT you will have a clean surface to work with and don't have to worry about bleed (especially if the wood has knots/imperfections in it).
Lesson #3: I wanted to glam up the drawers, so I purchased brass brackets from the hardware store. If you do not want the standard brass or aluminum finish, then you can prime and paint them a different metallic finish.
This little Ethan Allen chest of drawers was also from My Favorite Place. I believe I purchased it for around $40. I used it in the bathroom at our Pine Lake house since we didn't have a medicine cabinet in there at the time. It worked great but did suffer some moisture damage on the top. Never fear! I fixed this piece with a good sanding and base coat of paint primer. It then took 3 coats of green chalk paint for the body (color swatch: Grosgrain) + 2 coats for the drawers (color swatch: Trousseau Blue) + 2 coats of clear wax all over. Project cost: $50-60.
This red chest of drawers was a Craigslist find. It was a solid piece but pretty beat up. The new drawer pulls were purchased from Hobby Lobby. I rocked that look for a while and then came to terms with the fact this chest needed a refresh. After sanding off about 5 layers of paint (with my husband's help) we painted the top an espresso shade (it was a poly-stain combo) and then primed and painted the base Trousseau Blue. This piece now lives in our guest bedroom.
Total project cost: About $120.
We acquired this hutch from My Favorite Place on sale for $115. It was a nice piece but a bit too Gothic looking in terms of the dark stain. It also had white porcelain drawer pulls which dated it quite a bit as well. The new drawer pulls were purchased from Lowe's. We painted the accent areas an espresso shade (poly-stain combo). The base was primed and then painted Trousseau Blue. Total project cost: $150.