Likes by Liz

Friday, May 2, 2014

how i paint my furniture part one.

sharing one of my favorite hobbies with you today...painting and antiquing furniture! almost any old, ugly or well worn furniture can be transformed with a little paint and a little labor. i know there are so many  great blogs out there on how to paint furniture, but i have had many friends ask me to teach them how i have done mine, so i'd thought i share! 

back in my junior year of college my parents let me take a lot of their old living room furniture with me, as well as a dresser that i used growing up.  i also found an old, junkie desk in a family friends garage that i stripped, sanded and painted....with my dads help of course. i'm blessed to have been raised by the most handy man of dads who has taught me how to do many furniture rehabs.  

and what's the greatest thing about painting old furniture? saving lots of money. my coffee table, two living room side tables, dining room hutch, bedroom dresser and desk were all given to me for free! my antique dresser that is in my living room, which i use as a tv stand, my sister bought for only $25 at a garage sale! it's my favorite piece of furniture which i never plan to get rid of!

if you're wanting to give it a try i recommend you hop around to some garage sales or frequent your local goodwill or consignment shopt to find a fun piece to start out with.  that's half the fun. i get giddy when i find a neat piece of furniture that i know can be made pretty with some paint! like my now, custom french arm chair and ottoman. my sister found the pair for me at a resale/consignment shop in Tyler for around $90. i painted and antiqued it myself and then sent it off to get it reupholstered (that i haven't learned how to do yet, nor do i have all the tools needed for re-upholstery...one day). fabric and upholstery is not always the cheapest route to go, but i now have a one of a kind chair and ottoman that i will forever love and it's neutral and small enough to go in just about any space...like my master bedroom one day!

okay, so onto the pictures, paint colors and techniques.....

i prefer to use all sherwin williams paint (because that's what daddy does). oil based with a satin finish. if sherwin williams doesn't have your perfect color then you can bring them a paint swatch of any different brand of paint and they'll match it for you. that's what i had to do for my coral hutch and the color turned out perfect.

this oval coffee table was plain, oak wood.  i first painted it red for my house in college station. when i moved to my first apartment in the woodlands i gave it a new look. i primed over the red, painted it this lovely turquoise color and applied an antique stain on top (i'll explain how to antique furniture later) i finished it off with a clear polyurethane coat to protect it and make it look polished and clean. with the black and white striped rug underneath, this table is the perfect pop of color in my living room! love the statement it makes.

(please excuse these not so great iphone pictures)
 these two black living room side tables were also the same oak color as the coffee table when my parents used to have them...from the 80's i'm sure.  the oak furniture needed a good sanding first to prep it for the paint.  also i didn't want to prime these two black side tables because i wanted to give them a distressed look.  after the two coats of black paint dried i used a fine piece of sand paper to rough up the edges and let the natural wood show through. to finish these two tables off i added a clear coat of polyurethane. when working with polyurethane, be careful not to shake around the can.  it will cause bubbles and will not apply smoothly. i use an angle flat brush to apply the polyurethane.
let me add that this tufted, velvet ivory sofa i bought brand new for $300 on woodlands online. score! sprayed a couple layers of scotch guard on it and it has remained clean and new looking.

this is the beautiful, antique dresser that my sister found at a garage sale for $25. so grateful she decided to pass it on to me. this piece i know will be used in many of my homes for all different purposes. that's why i decided to keep it a neutral color. i used dover white from sherwin williams on this dresser as well as some of the furniture in my bedroom. i started with a white primer first, then two coats of dover white and lastly one coat of espresso colored antique glaze. the antique glaze is valspar brand and i bought it at home depot. you apply it with a hand brush and then wipe it off with a clean, damp, *lint free rag. apply it light or heavy, just depends on how "antiqued" you want it to look. 

i had planned to buy all new hardware from anthropologie or world market to give it an update, but couldn't find the correct size...anywhere!  so i just decided to spray paint the original brass hardware with a venetian bronze color. i was pleased with how it turned out!

these two arm chairs i bought from my sister for $50!  one day they will probably get some paint and will be reupholstered but for now they're fine. i really like symmetry in a room, so they work perfectly beside the antique dresser.

 before
after
here's a before and after of my $90 consignment store, french arm chair and ottoman. totally transformed and now one of a kind.  the fabric i bought at calico corners in dallas. i saved some money by getting it reupholstered from a guy in tyler instead of here in the houston area. i spray painted the chair first, leaving the old fabric on it, then applied an antique glaze.  the chair and ottoman were NOT easy to glaze.  notice the tiny details and cracks.  i had to use a q-tip to apply the antique glaze in the small detailing. it was worth it...i think.

i sometimes choose to sit on the sofa across the room just so i can stare at this pretty chair...just kidding. :) but it does remind me of one i saw in the ballard designs catalog which cost around $1200.  in the end my total came to about $500 including purchase of furniture, fabric, paint and upholstery. it helped that i completed the project a little at a time so i didn't "break the bank". one day it'll probably end up in a reading nook in my master bedroom. i finished the chair and ottoman off with some scotch guard as well. i swear by that stuff. 


stay tuned for part two of how i paint my furniture.  i'll also include paint colors and show you a pic of what brushes i used.
xoxo,
elizabeth


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