Project Two Rustic Table

This old wood table was the second piece I started but actually completed another project before this one was done (you will get to see it as well). This was partly stripped, then re-stained and painted. Curious as to what it originally looked like? Have a look...............

Before

So my original intention for the remake of this piece was to completely strip it and then stain the whole thing, but seeing how rustic the top of it really was I decided to stain the top and paint the rest. I knew I wanted a medium/darkish brown stain and I picked the shade of blue I used because I thought it seemed like a shade that would have been used long ago. (The blue seems lighter in the picture then seeing it in person) I got to try something new on this piece as well since it was my first attempt at stripping furniture.



These are the products I used on this piece.
(was gonna take a pic of the products but can't find the can of stripper, I do imagine it will turn up eventually, or not :)

1. stripper
2. Minwax wood finish stain
3.  Zinsser Primer
4. CIL paint sample size 450ml
5. Minwax Polycrylic
6. Lepage wood filler (natural) 
7. metal scrapper
8. putty knife 1 1/2 " 
9. sandpaper
10. angled paintbrush 1 1/2"
11. paintbrush 2"
12. small foam roller
13. stain applicator pads
14. steel wool

Step 1........
Since I was going to be using stripper I took the stand out to the ol' storage building and put some plastic down on the floor to catch the gunk that was gonna come off this thing. I could see that it had at least two paint jobs in it's past, the obvious yellow and some green peeking out under that. I covered the top of the stand with stripper using a paint brush and true to the instructions on the can of stripper the paint started bubbling up almost immediately. Using my metal scrapper I scrapped away the first few layers of paint and discovered that it had also been grey and white at some point in time. It was about this time in the project that I switched gears as I had mentioned and decided to only strip the top.  I believe the picture gives you a good idea of the gunk I referred to earlier as well.

a nice gunk shot :)

 So it took several applications of stripper (three I believe it was) Apply stripper, scrap another layer of color off, repeat. I used a piece of steel wool towards the end to get the last bits of paint off.

getting there

Step 2......
When the paint was finally all off and the top was dry I filled the nail tops and a bit of an indent on the side with my wood putty, let that dry then sanded it with 100 grit sandpaper. On the rest of the piece that still had paint I used 60 grit sandpaper to wear off some of the paint, smooth the surface some and scuff it up for primer. Before it would get to the priming or staining stage for that matter though my wonderful man and I ended up buying a small hand sander (in anticipation of lots of future projects) This was kind of the test piece before we do the kitchen table, coffee table, end tables. Anyway we both used the hand sander on it and this was how it eventually looked.

naked wood

naked on top with a bit of coverage below

Step 3........
The most fun part of any project is when you get to the point of adding the finishes, so it was time to start staining, a first for me. Using my straight paint brush (which will only be used for staining, not painting, just would never get it cleaned for paint and besides I have my handy angled one for when I need a brush) So I spread a coat of stain on and let it sit for about 10 minutes or so then wiped off the excess with one of the stain applicator pads, and let me tell you it takes awhile to dry, the can says 4-6 hours but it was tacky for a few days. The weather the next day was damp and it was out in an old building so I'm assuming that was the issue. Anyway I eventually did get a second coat on it and with weather, work and life it kind of sat out in the building for awhile (I'm guessing probably got rained on as well) So wanting to see a bit more progress I decided to prime the body of it for painting even though it was gonna get one more coat of stain. This is with two coats of stain and two coats of primer.

 For the third coat of stain I didn't wipe any excess away and it also sat out on the deck on a sunny day. So it was finally ready for the blue paint, three coats of it to be precise and one coat of polycrylic applied the day after the last coat of paint went on and finally a month later this little project was completed.

So I was happy with the end result and better late then never right?

Project One Ombre Dresser

 

So this is how my very first piece of painted furniture turned out. Pretty amazing what some paint, new hardware and some time can accomplish, especially when you consider that it originally looked like this............(points to the below pics:)

Before

Before

So my inspiration for this dresser was a picture I saw in a decorating magazine (I think it was House and Home, but not sure, I did find the pic though when I googled ombre dresser House and Home).

 I just loved the look of the different colored drawers and I kept the idea in my head for several months until I actually tried it.

The inspiration dresser

Having never painted furniture before and the piece I wanted to do also having a laminate coating I started doing some research to find out the best method and products to use. I watched various videos on youtube then I discovered Pinterest. Ok I knew about Pinterest but had never really paid much attention to it until recently. It was on there that I found the link to an amazing blog with so much information about her experiences painting furniture. Her pieces looked so amazing that I followed her advice on how to get a quality finish on a piece of painted furniture. This is what I did, this is how I did it. 

In the beginning.... 

(or getting your sh#t together)

These are the products I used:

1. Zinsser Primer
2. CIL paint sample size 450ml (4 cans)
3. Minwax Polycrylic
4. Lepage wood filler (natural)
5. Sandpaper various grits (100 and 220)
6. angled paintbrush 1 1/2"
7. small foam roller
8. putty knife 1 1/2 " 

Step 1........

So the first thing you want to do is take the drawers out of the dresser. Using the wood putty fill any holes caused by damage or if you're changing the size/placement of the knobs/handles. The handles that were on my dresser were larger then the new ones I used so I filled the holes from them on the bottom 3 drawers and a damage spot on the side of the main dresser. (If you look at the before picture of the top of the dresser and see the peeling of the laminate, I did not use putty on it, I simply sanded it lightly to help even out the surface.)

 When your wood putty is dry lightly sand all of the dresser and drawers with 100 grit sandpaper, this will rough up the surface a bit for the primer and smooth out your putty.

and it will look something like this

Step 2......

Next you want to prime the entire piece using your paint brush to get around any edges and corners but mainly using your foam roller to give a nice smooth finish. When the first coat of primer was dry I very lightly scuffed it up using 220 grit sandpaper, let that dry and again lightly scuffed up the 2nd coat of primer as well.

Step 3.....

Now on to the fun part, adding the color :) The same way you applied the primer, use the brush for getting into crevices and the foam roller for most of it. I applied 3 coats of paint, lightly scuffing between each coat with the 220 grit sandpaper. 

(Two coats probably would have been fine, but I figured what the hell. Even though I was only using the small sample size of paint considering 3 of the cans were only being used to paint one dresser drawer each, I had paint to spare.)

Step 4......

I let my final coat of paint sit overnight then added a coat of polycrylic using my angled brush. Apply it in small sections then lightly brush down the length of your surface to even out brush strokes, don't go over it too much though or it will streak. Since I was using 2 coats of polycrylic I let it dry for 2 hours or so, then very lightly scuffed it with the 220 grit sandpaper and applied my final coat. I let that sit for about a day before adding my new knobs and handles. 

Ok I added the knobs cause I was using the original holes for them and my boyfriend drilled the holes for the new handles. Yes I'm sure I could have done it but he did just recently buy that new drill.... :)

and Viola

a much improved dresser

(in my humble opinion anyway:)

I hope that will inspire you to tackle that ugly piece of furniture in your home just begging to be gussied up and if it does let me know how it goes. 

Till next time and Project Two (already half way there)