Craigslist Makeover Dresser and Chest

Its all coming together!  I have used all the same techniques as with the bed and nightstand, so I won't bore you with the details.  I am just going to post a few pics and tips.

You remember before?  Shiny and brass handles???  It now looks so rich and warm.  Nothing like the 1970's look of before. 

I had quite the assembly line going!  Remember, the only thing I had to sand were the tops.  Everything else I simply used a de-glosser and primed. 

Love  <3

another view...



$7.00 Make-over

I love my bamboo barstools, but the seats were looking a little worn. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a remnant upolstery fabric for $7.00 a yard. 

It only took one yard to recover these stools. 

This is a picture of the "tired stools"

I took the seats off the stools, laid the fabric out flat so the pattern of the new houndstooth would be straight and pulled it tight and stapled with a staple gun.  Because the original fabic was not torn or stained, I left it on.  No need for backing! 

I didnt take pictures of all the stapling, but it was pretty easy.  Just started at the beginnng and worked my way to the back.  I did pick a fabric that was easy to work with.  I think stripes or too much pattern, would be a little harder to keep straight. 

yay! finished product!

Craigslist Makeover part 2 Nightstands

Love the way the night stands turned out!  Yay!  These are also part of the Craigslist redo.  We started by using the deglosser to avoid a lot of sanding.  We did sand the tops down pretty much all the way using the black and decker mouse.  Eveything else just got a couple of coats of deglosser. 



We cleaned it up with some mineral spirits to get rid of any residue.  Then we painted the top with PolyShades by Minwax.  The color was antique walnut. 

You have to work fast and keep the edges wet.  I think when we do the larger pieces we are not going to use the same product.  It is great for small surfaces, but we are afraid it might dry to fast and be difficult to work with.  I guess we will see.  After one coat, we let it dry overnight.  Lightly sanded and applied a second coat. 

Now its time for primer.  I used two coats on the first one, but when I started distressing, the paint was so thick, I decided to use only one coat of primer on the second nightstand.  They both turned out beautiful.....

Next comes the black paint.... I love Sherwin Williams latex enamel.  Goes on really smooth!  Get a good brush!

Next the fun part! The distressing!  We used the sander.  Do the edges first and then add more if you like.  You cant do it wrong.  I like to use stain and a sponge to go back over the bare wood.  Really easy and looks so good. 

The hardware that was on the furniture was in really good shape, however it was gold.  I liked the look but not the color. I happened to think about some Rub N Buff I had bought for some picture frames.  It comes in a lot of different colors.  I got it at Hobby Lobby.  The color is copper. 

You just take the Rub and Buff and rub it on with your finger.  I just rubbed over the shiny gold areas.  I took the picture backwards..... the finished ones are on the left.  When they dry, your just shine them up with a clean cloth.  This saved us tons of money.  There are about thirty!  If we had to replace them all it would have added up quick!..These look great and the copper color matches the wood perfectly.

Its all coming together! Stay tuned!

Craigslist Makeover!

Craigslist Bedroom Makeover! 

I am going to post the finished pieces as I do them.  We found a bedroom suite on Craisgslist for $200.00  It consisted of a Full/Queen size headboard, 2 night stands, chest, dresser and mirror.  It is solid wood and very heavy!  We thought it was a great buy! 

I started on the headboard.  I hate to sand! I really hate to sand!  Soooooo I decided to use a liquid sandpaper trick. 

I will post the picture here later.....

You just rub the liquid on and rub it off.  It leaves the furniture kind of sticky and in ten minutes you are ready to paint!  

I used two coats of primer.  I primed  on two different days, allowing for plenty of drying time.  My husband went to Sherwin Williams for me a picked up some black enamel paint, and two really good paintbrushes.  go ahead and splurge for the good ones.  It will be worth it. 

I painted the bed with two coats of the black paint as well.  It goes on really nice and smooth.  Only water to clean up!  I decided I wanted to use the furniture in my 14 year old son's bedroom.  I decided distressing would probably do best.  I usually distress by hand, but there is going to be so much to do I decided to use my Black and decker mouse sander. I also used some stain I had laying around and a small sander block to smooth it out. 

I start our by distressing the edges.  I usually get carried away with this step and end up distressing alot.  You can't do it wrong so don't worry.  After I have sanded to satisfaction, I use the stain and rub over the exposed wood. 

I used a sponge off of a craft paintbrush to rub it on, and a clean dry cloth to rub it off.  alot of my primer white came through.  I like the way it looks.  If you prefer just the wood, you could probably have your primer tinted.  Might be fun to use a color?? Red maybe? Anyway.  When you think it's enough, clean everything off and use a coat of Polycrylic. 

Twin Headboard Makeover

We forgot to take the before pics!  Oops!  We started by spray painting the headboard black.  It didn't have a very shiny finish, so we just lightly sanded and cleaned it up, and started painting. 

We went to work with the mouse sander on the edges, "Ballard Design" style.  I was a little nervous at first! I sanded for awhile and then my husband, Robert, took over.  He used the sanding blocks and roughed it up a little more.  It started really taking on some personality!  I went back with some stain that I had laying around and rubbed it over the distressed areas.  I used the sponge on a craft paintbrush and then rubbed it off with a clean cloth.  I have used a q tip too.  Whatever you have around. 



yeah! All we need is Polycrylic!

Love <3