I am finished with my weekly DIY project # 3. This one was hard to do, yet a lot of fun. I learned a lot, such as "real" wood is much nicer to sand, a lot of paint is lighter than anticipated, and DO NOT SAND A PROJECT IN LIVING AREAS OF YOUR HOME!!!!! So here's the break-down. This is the piece that I have loved, and even enjoyed it pre-makeover. But it just was not "child" proof (you know what I am talking about, dings, scratches, and wear and tear) so it was not as nice as it once was. So with my electric sander, I took this:
and sanded it down to this:
It took about 3 (very distracted) hours to sand this down. I sanded the bottom also, and it has a lot of little nooks and crannies, so-to-speak. I waited till Collin went to bed, and than gave it two coats of paint, about 2 1/2 hours apart from each other. I than took the sander again and did some light sanding, with the finest grit paper I have. I sanded all the corners, edges, and even some flat areas to give it a more antiqued look. I beat it with the hammer, with both the blunt and pointy ends, hammered some screw ends in groups of three and 5-6's little dots, and took my paint can opener and bashed it some more. I used an old piece of knit fabric and dipped in the stain and coated over the whole table. After I finished the last part, I followed the same procedure to wipe off the excess stain with a clean cloth. I left for about 2 1/2 hours, and than came back and did a coat of polyurethane. I should probably have done two coats, but with Collin, and for time sake, it got one thick coat. And so here it is:
I love it. I was worried when I initially painted it that it was too blue, but once it was stained, it gave it a rich, warmer look that looks great. Here is the top view:
I'm not sure Mike loves the look, but I think it is great (he thought that the finished product was still a work-in-progress and I tried to not look annoyed!) But if you like less of the brown stain look, just do not sand as much before staining. I just happen to love the look. We used the same hardware, so the cost for this make-over was a mere $11 for the small can of paint (of which we used about a third of!) The paint is low VOC and the stain and polyurethane require a bit of ventilation (as does the sanding!) So there you go. Next week, I will be refinishing the bookcase we have had since we got married. It was Mike's Grandmother's and I love the look, just not all the scratches and dings it has. The challenge will be the intricate wood design. So until next week, get going on your very own DIY projects!
*Question: is it helpful to post the process and steps? Just wondering if these DIY posts are in anyway helpful.
and sanded it down to this:
It took about 3 (very distracted) hours to sand this down. I sanded the bottom also, and it has a lot of little nooks and crannies, so-to-speak. I waited till Collin went to bed, and than gave it two coats of paint, about 2 1/2 hours apart from each other. I than took the sander again and did some light sanding, with the finest grit paper I have. I sanded all the corners, edges, and even some flat areas to give it a more antiqued look. I beat it with the hammer, with both the blunt and pointy ends, hammered some screw ends in groups of three and 5-6's little dots, and took my paint can opener and bashed it some more. I used an old piece of knit fabric and dipped in the stain and coated over the whole table. After I finished the last part, I followed the same procedure to wipe off the excess stain with a clean cloth. I left for about 2 1/2 hours, and than came back and did a coat of polyurethane. I should probably have done two coats, but with Collin, and for time sake, it got one thick coat. And so here it is:
I love it. I was worried when I initially painted it that it was too blue, but once it was stained, it gave it a rich, warmer look that looks great. Here is the top view:
I'm not sure Mike loves the look, but I think it is great (he thought that the finished product was still a work-in-progress and I tried to not look annoyed!) But if you like less of the brown stain look, just do not sand as much before staining. I just happen to love the look. We used the same hardware, so the cost for this make-over was a mere $11 for the small can of paint (of which we used about a third of!) The paint is low VOC and the stain and polyurethane require a bit of ventilation (as does the sanding!) So there you go. Next week, I will be refinishing the bookcase we have had since we got married. It was Mike's Grandmother's and I love the look, just not all the scratches and dings it has. The challenge will be the intricate wood design. So until next week, get going on your very own DIY projects!
*Question: is it helpful to post the process and steps? Just wondering if these DIY posts are in anyway helpful.
Tell Mike not to feel bad and don't look annoyed at me either but I thought that was the work in progress too! :P Sorry! In the picture it looks white not blue and when you said blue before I was thinking a medium / darker blue not a pale blue. :) Anyway.... It's cute! I want to redo my end tables guess you just volunteered to help me! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm liking it.
ReplyDeleteI'll apologize for Mike. He is my brother, after all. I probably should take some responsibility for not teaching him more tact!
Now that I looked at the pictures again, it does look white. If you see it in person, you will love it. Megan pretty much wanted to take it home!!!!
ReplyDelete