Red Radio Cabinet

You may have seen a similar cabinet on Pinterest. Like me, you may have even pinned it. Twice. And you might have also thought, "I NEED that." Of course, radio cabinets aren't all that easy to come by, but when you do find one on Craigslist. In your town. You BUY it! And then you paint it RED.

Okay, so that's what happened. One dark and stormy night, the ever-beleaguered Hubby went out and brought home this bad boy: an antique wood radio cabinet.

I seriously thought about painting it white. "White goes with everyone's décor," I said. But my daughter convinced me to go for the red. "Not too many people can fit red into their house," I said. "Yes," she answered, "but that means the ones who can will be REALLY excited to find something in red."

Okay!

Here's a quick rundown of the process. First, Hubby removed the fabric "speaker" in the front. Then I sanded a few of the rough spots. Not enough, though. After I painted, some of the dents showed through, but we'll call that "character."

Then I primed it with Zinsser primer. This step may or may not have been necessary. I was going for a bit heavier distressing than usual, so I could have probably gone without the primer.

Then I painted the whole piece red. (Acrylic craft paint, Walmart craft section.) After that, I sanded it with a sanding block.The red was a tad on the orangey side, but I didn't mind because I knew I'd be going over it with a dark stain, which is the last process: to brush on stain and wipe it off. The stain helps bring out the sanded wood, essentially staining it again. It also adds depth and a little shine to the piece while giving it a layer of protection.

I really love how she turned out! Once again, I wish I had a bigger house, because I'd keep this one! Alas, it is moving on to greener pastures.

Secretary Makeover With Damask "Tattoo"

I have been so busy.
Also lazy.
Well, lazy about posting to my blog, anyway.
But that just means I've gone into overdrive on my Porch!
Check out this cute little wood secretary makeover that I  am too tired to properly write about:

Before: this secretary had seen better days. It was pretty scratched up, and the drawers had major opening issues.

After! The secretary got a lovely paint job and a little sanding to give it a chippy look.

I painted the inside gray with a cute little damask "tattoo". :)

I printed it out in sections and lined the pieces up, then I colored on the back with willow charcoal (at Walmart, craft section). When I lined it up where I wanted it, I traced the design with a regular pencil. Okay, not just a regular one, a HARRY POTTER pencil!

 

The willow charcoal left a decent design behind, which I filled in with paint. Careful not to smudge it away!

I used a dry brush technique to make it look worn and faded. Just dip a paintbrush in your gray paint, wipe it on a paper towel and lightly brush over the white design.

 

Duncan Phyfe Table Makeover

So, we are getting ready to put our house on the market. That means we need to do some major cleaning, repairing and PRAYING. It also means the Porch, the place where I paint, hammer, sand, and generally make a big ole mess, needs to be pretty and pristine! So, I told Hubby I was swearing off any more projects until after we move.

Enter Duncan Phyfe table.

So, I'm at a thrift store with my kiddo when I spot it! A gorgeous (and by "gorgeous" I mean scratched up and heaped in a corner) antique table with four chairs. It's a bit pricey, but still a good deal. But then I remember my promise! No more Porch projects! So, I resist. I am so proud of myself. I get a cookie.

Then a week later, I'm at the same thrift store. This time, with Hubby. There's that pretty table and chairs. I wander innocently over and check out the price tag and... holy moly! It's dropped by 20 bucks! I start gesticulating wildly to get Hubby's attention. I'm pretty sure he pretended not to see me. But when I let out a high-pitched squeal he (and everyone else in the store) was forced to look. I did a little happy hop while pointing madly with both hands. Poor hubby. He didn't stand a chance.

"Last one! Promise!" I said as we stuffed the table with its four chairs and four extra leaves into the back of our van.

Deciding how to refinish this bad boy was a real challenge. I gave about five second's thought to sanding it and giving it a drift wood finish (like my OWN dining set). Then I remembered I HATE sanding, and it takes forever, and paint is SOOOOO much easier. So, painting it was!

Next, I thought, "What color? What kind of technique? Do I add words? Do I do some kind of fancy grain sack stripe down the middle?" Then I remembered all that stuff takes TIME. And I needed to get this done double quick if I ever wanted to list our house for sale.

So, I did a layer of Zinsser primer. Then a layer of paint. I don't know what to call this color... so let's call it "antique linen" because that sounds better than "sorta beige." It was leftover from painting some room or other. It's not quite white, but definitely not beige. I hate the sound of that word!

After the coat of antique linen latex paint was dry, I grabbed my sanding block and some fine sandpaper and went over the whole, MASSIVE 8 feet of table. All four leaves. Yep. That puppy got some serious chippy goin on! It's nice because I get the distressed effect, plus the added bonus of the white primer showing through just a bit--gives it dimension.

The chairs got the same treatment along with a new dress to boot! They were an ugly green-rug-from-grandma's-kitchen kind of fabric, and needed something new. This was an ORDEAL. I could NOT decide on fabric. At all. I had a bolt of green with pink flowers in my HAND. Then I spied a pretty patterned fabric in a robins egg blue. The other fabric was a quick-the-fabric-guy-at-Walmart-is-leaving-so-hurry-up-and-choose kind of decision. I bought three fabrics and used two of them. I guess the other one will be a pillow in some future blog post.

All-in-all this was a relatively quick redo--mainly because of necessity and partly because my wrist was giving out and I needed these DONE. Now.
I do LOVE how it all turned out, though.

I'd do it again.

Just don't tell Hubby. ;)

Chair & Foot Stool

Pretty chair and stool makeover! I found both of these beauties at the thrift store. They don't exactly match, but the color and grain sack theme tie them together.

For the stool, all I had to do was tighten the legs with some wood glue and sew this pretty, shabby tuft for the top. I basically sewed a rectangular pillow (adding some pre-made graphic patches). Then I stuffed it and tufted it by sewing on buttons. I attached it to the stool using a few upholstery tacks.

 The chair I primed/painted and distressed with a sanding block. Then I sewed some graphic pillows, even adding a pretty graphic to an existing cushion.

 

 They make a fine pair! Don't you think? :)

Rescue Hutch

Hutches are my new obsession. In the last two months, I've bought three of them and worked on a fourth one for a friend (see it here). They are oh-so-fun to makeover! They go from looking like something your grandma kept porcelain figurines on when you were eight to something BEAUTIFUL... not to mention the awesome storage they provide.

In fact, right now the hutch in my dining room (a Salvation Army find for $75, total bargain) hides a jumble of board games and seasonal decor underneath and displays books and photographs above! Maybe I'll post pics of it later, but back to the rescue hutch.

So, when I found this baby on Craigslist, I jumped at the chance to make it over. The sad thing was a victim of basement flooding and had some damage to the finish  on the bottom portion, but glass doors, an interior light and those fabulous engravings more than redeemed it!I knew I could refinish it and make it shine like new. So, I got to work.

This hutch was a mixture of solid wood, most likely pine, and composite wood. Sanding was a bit of a challenge. But I managed it. Then, I put it through the usual routine: prime, paint, distress, glaze and seal. The end result is stunning! (And sold.) :)

French Country Table & Chairs Makeover

Chairs BEFORE.

French Country Table & Chairs Makeover
I picked up this table and chairs set a few months ago with high hopes of refinishing them into something be-you-ti-ful! They did not disappoint!

Table BEFORE.

The pretty fluted legs and molding details are really what make this set special. I knew with a little love (and a lot of sweat), I could bring out those details, so I got to work. First, as always, is the sanding. Lots and lots and lots of sanding. The trouble with pretty little details is they don't like to be sanded. But I did my best.

Next was painting. I used an ivory latex color to coat the whole thing except, of course, for the top of the table. That got a dark walnut stain. Gorgeous!

After painting, I distressed with some sandpaper, glazed with a mix of acrylic paint and water, and sealed it all with spray-sealer. After staining the table, I sealed it, too with a matte finish Mod Podge. Three coats. They were brushed on with a sponge brush (you can find these cheap in Walmart's paint section).



Pretty details.
Ugly cushions

Finally, I had to cover those hideous chair cushions. While in great condition, the fabric just screamed ugly. Loudly and annoyingly. So I covered up that nasty jungle print with faux grain sack that I made myself. I bought a darker muslin fabric and also a striped fabric. Then I printed images from The Graphics Fairy and used Citra Solv to transfer the images onto the fabric. This is like magic. The kind you only dreamed of as a child. You can find out more about Citra Solv image transfer here. FYI, I washed the fabric directly after transferring the images, and yes! They do stay!

Despite a few imperfections, I think the table & chairs are beautiful! I'm only sad that my Porch will most likely be closing down soon for winter. :(

AFTER! So pretty!

 

 

"Grain Sack" Cushions.

Love the details!

Shabby-Chic Nightstand

So, my daughter sent me a frantic text saying her friend's neighbor had just put some furniture out on the curb and would I be interested? I texted back saying, "Send pics!" THIS is the result of that fateful text.

I decided to ask my teen daughter if she'd like to take on this little nightstand and keep the profits. Like any American kid, she perked up when she saw the dollar signs and agreed to make-over the nightstand. It was a pretty little thing with good bones. I knew it would turn out great!

So, my darling daughter began sanding and scraping off veneer. It was a lot of hard work, and I honestly expected her to give up and lose interest, but she didn't! She persevered and by the end of the day had scraped and sanded that little nightstand so much that we actually had to get out some wood filler to repair the little dents.

She painted a couple coats and then got very busy with school. So, I decided to put the finishing touches on it myself, wondering if I was stealing her thunder. I knew it was a mistake. She was disappointed she didn't get to, "Put the little knobs back on" herself. I should've let her finish the work she'd begun, and I promised next time to let her do it all herself. But when she'd heard that it had sold for $55 on Craigslist, she forgave me. ;)

Hutch Makeover

All sanded.

What I Did
Something I realized over the past two weeks is that refinishing furniture for a client is SCARY. I don't know if I want to do it ever again. See, when I buy something from Goodwill and decide to fix it up, the worst thing that can happen is it looks bad, or I dent it, or I just can't sell it and get my thirteen bucks back. Really, the consequences aren't all that dire. But when I'm working on someone else's furniture, I have to worry a little more about if I'm doing everything right and if it will stand the test of time.

Left unglazed. Right glazed.

That being said, I really did LOVE working on this hutch, despite my fears. And in my opinion, I think it turned out BEAUTIFUL. The client seemed happy, too, which was my biggest fear.


How I Did It
First, all the hardware was removed. Yes. All of it. Next, I sanded the whole thing. Yes. All of it. My fears here were if I didn't sand it, the paint would slide right off. It's a lot of work, but in the end, sanding really pays off.  Next step was priming, then painting with a creamy satin latex paint. It took a few coats to cover it all up. After that, I sanded all the

I also painted the hinges to match the
new hardware.

edges to bring out the details of the molding. Next, I glazed it with a mixture of burnt umber acrylic and water, brushing it onto the surface, then wiping it away, leaving just a hint behind for that aged/worn look. And finally, I coated it with a clear acrylic sealer. I used spray matte finish Mod Podge and then also brushed on few coats of matte finish furniture-quality Mod Podge.

Bruno and the Pile of Projects

Today I have a LOT of work to do! On My Porch right now I have a desk, a table, four chairs, a china cabinet, a side table and an old window that all need makeovers. Plus, I have a friend who needs her hutch sanded and painted by yours truly.

Let's forget the overwhelming pile On My Porch for just a moment and focus on one item in particular: a desk. This little guy--let's name him Bruno--was rescued from Salvation Army a few weeks ago. He's been hanging out On My Porch ever since, waiting patiently for a makeover while other, more glamorous items have had their turn.

My plan for Bruno is to turn him into a beautiful buffet table. I want to sand his veneer, paint him a creamy white, distress and glaze him and finish him with a shelf and some baskets.

Unfortunately, Bruno is going to have to wait a little while longer. I'm itching to makeover a table and chairs I got last night, plus my friend's hutch will take a lot of time and attention for a week or two. After that, I might work on my own china cabinet and well, poor Bruno is just sitting on the back burner. At least he's not lonely out there.

Don't you love his old hardware and cute little drawers? Plus the top drawer is divided so neatly. I can't wait to see how Bruno turns out, but I suppose I'll just have to.

French Wine Label Coffee Table

So, it's time to post again. I have a few new projects on my porch but, alas, technology has defeated me. The drive for my SD photo card is hateful and vindictive and will not allow me to access any of my photos. So, instead of showing you What's On My Porch this week, I'm going to show you what was on my porch earlier this summer.

Of course, I have no "before" photos. Sometimes I forget to take them. It happens. Suffice to say this coffee table was a light stain and scratched up a bit... like a lot of my projects. I began by sanding it. Then I applied creamy white paint (the usual three coats).

I hand-painted a design on the top from what appears to be a French wine label. I honestly cannot recall where I found it. I should probably keep better track of those things.

Then I changed my mind. I'd thought about distressing it by sanding away at the corners. However, the light stain underneath wasn't the look I had in mind. I wanted something darker, warmer, richer. So, instead of sanding, I did a dry-brush technique with a dark-brown acrylic paint, highlighting the edges and also lightly brushing across the white surface to give it an old... wait for it... VINTAGE feel.Yuk yuk.

The finishing touch was to lightly sand the painted words and then spray with a light coat of matte acrylic sealer. And voila! A beautiful coffee table that I sold for $65. Not too shabby.