At least I can update you on some of the furniture projects I've completed, though I still have plenty more to go. The first thing we did was my mother's bedroom furniture. Originally, these mid-century modern pieces were deeply stained mahogany and my mom kept them highly polished. Sometime in the 60's my dad "antiqued" them using a kit with paint and glaze. I was not impressed, but as they aged, they really got ugly. My daughter's dresser we stripped and just polyurethaned some years back. My son is using the small dresser and I doubt he's done anything with it. The pieces I still have are now sanded, primed and painted with a high gloss white, trying to take these into the realm of 1930's Hollywood glam.......close, anyway. I have a vanity, bench, mirror and nightstand.
They are pictured here sanded and ready to paint. I hand painted the primer, but the high gloss enamel paint for the top coat was extremely thick and just too hard to use during the high heat weather we were having so we resorted to canned spray paint. I should say my husband resorted to it, because he is SO much better with a spray can than I am! He did a great job!
Sorry for the poor quality of these photos. Lighting was awful and then there is the awful photographer (wink). These came out smooth and shiny, which is what I wanted. I will post the bench photo a bit later on. The legs were painted, but it needs a new fabric cover. I'm still debating with myself on the fabric.
The next project was a tall, but small table. Wooden legs and a square top covered with denim, of all things! And badly stained! I sanded the legs and used a grey chalk paint followed by a clear poly. It took several coats of everything, including white chalk paint on the fabric top. The chalk paint worked very well for the top (rolled on) and I really covered it with about 6 coats of poly. It was my first use of chalk paint and I'm not impressed. I don't care for the brush marks and I'm not one that wants to have to re-wax furniture every few months, so poly is my only other choice for top coating and my skill with that is sketchy. Or maybe it was just the weather???? Anyhow, I love the little table!
The next project was a tall, but small table. Wooden legs and a square top covered with denim, of all things! And badly stained! I sanded the legs and used a grey chalk paint followed by a clear poly. It took several coats of everything, including white chalk paint on the fabric top. The chalk paint worked very well for the top (rolled on) and I really covered it with about 6 coats of poly. It was my first use of chalk paint and I'm not impressed. I don't care for the brush marks and I'm not one that wants to have to re-wax furniture every few months, so poly is my only other choice for top coating and my skill with that is sketchy. Or maybe it was just the weather???? Anyhow, I love the little table!
I found this little "t.v. tray table" in the thrift store. It is a lot thicker and more substantial than the ones I usually see in Walmart, so I bought it for $5. I could have left it like it was, but I wanted some grey in it so I worked on it. Sanded the legs and top and sprayed the legs with grey chalk paint in a can. It took all of one can to cover these legs well, so not very economical, but certainly easy. Then I brushed on poly over that. I wanted to accent the grain lines of the top because it's so pretty, so after sanding it down to the raw wood, I rubbed on a "driftwood" stain and put several clear coats of poly over that. I love it!
The first photo shows it sanded and ready to paint/stain. The next is the finished piece.
The first photo shows it sanded and ready to paint/stain. The next is the finished piece.
MUCH more to come! I have nearly finished six chairs and will post those as soon as they are done.