Thought we'd break down a minute by minute walk through of our latest
"One Hour, One Paint Can Challege"
(exciting stuff... we know!)
Hopefully it can inspire you to look at pieces in a whole new light.
When looking for furniture, we rarely take into account the color and finish on a piece.
In fact, sometimes when the paint or varnish is pretty worn it just makes your job of sanding it down, that much easier.
Look for nice lines in a piece, and structural stablility.
That's it.
All of the rest can change with some vision,
time
and a little paint!
Here's our Before
An end table purchased off Craigslist.
The color was too dark for what I wanted but structurally it was in amazing shape,
and I loved the lines and detail of the piece.
It also came with a matching coffee table.
This suits my decor much better
So,
Here's the breakdown of our hour...
(we're excluding the dry time on this piece since we are staining the top and had to wait for it to dry to seal it.
Fair enough?
Actual work time is one hour).
Excuse the poor pics (it was just me and my tripod and timer outside trying to catch it in real time).
Ready, Set, Go!
Sand down entire top of surface.
The parts you'll be painting, you just need to quickly scuff up.
I used my Dewalt Orbital sander.
20 minutes.
First I tape off anything that shouldn't be painted.
This piece had metal wrapped feet.
Also, remove all hardware.
5 minutes.
Just a little tip,
I always flip my furniture upside down if possible. It allows you to get the underside and all the little details and angles that are hard to reach upright and then can be drying once flipped back over).
Begin painting.
It was cold on this day but I took advantage of the little bit of sunshine that came out and crossed my fingers.
Paint doesn't like the cold.
I usually use a paint and primer in one but on this piece I knew I would be heavily distressing the body and all the wear and tear would be on the top surface.
I'm using Rustoleums, Heirloom White.
15 minutes for spraying.
Next, stain the top
Just wipe on with a rag and wipe off any excess.
I usually do two layers just to deepen the color.
Once stained, give it overnight to dry and then seal.
5 minutes to stain
and another 5 to brush on the seal.
I used a Polycrylic seal (not shown)
Then, using my sander I distressed the piece
5 minutes.
And here's the AFTER
with a few minutes to spare for styling. :)
So for 1 hour and a $4 can of spray paint you can give you're furniture a new life.
Now if this weather would just warm up,
I've got some projects in waiting. :)
