I really enjoy pretty things, and I just love decorating, but I'm also very thrifty. What's a girl to do? One of my favorite solutions: paint! For today, I'm not talking walls (that's for another day), but revamping old furniture with a new coat of paint.
Some people have a hard time painting antiques because they aren't "authentic" anymore, but I have several thoughts on that: If I have sentimental attachment to something, I'd rather use it than hide it away because it doesn't fit my decor. It's quite likely that most things have had a little something done to them already so they probably aren't exactly original. Even if they are, there aren't many items that are so valuable that "original condition" would really make a difference, so why not make it more usable? And paint does wonders for ugly or outdated furniture!
On with a few examples...
A couple of years ago, my mom found a great little side table at an antique shop for about $15. It was black, and the top had obviously been replaced and was huge. But Ken cut the top so that the shape was similar to the bedside table in our room, and I repainted it antique white and aged it with some watered down wall paint I had left over from a bargain Home Depot paint can. (Note: they sell them really cheap when the customer doesn't approve the custom color! Sometimes the colors are hideous, but use your imagination!) Then I coated it with polyacrylic, and finally Ken coated it with paste furniture wax. That stuff is awesome! Keeps repainted furniture from chipping, makes it have a nice subtle sheen without being shiny, and makes for much less dusting. I love the finished project!
I had this old china hutch that looked kind of dreary in it's old finish. I removed the door. (The glass had broken years before, and I have plans to make what's left of the door into a frame.) After sanding, I painted the inside with more of that leftover discount paint, and then dragged the hutch out to the middle of the driveway to spraypaint it black. My neighbors probably think I'm nutty! Anyway, after that I sanded some areas to distress it, and coated it with polyacrylic. I still haven't waxed it, but that's coming soon. Now it sits in my breakfast area and holds part of my teacup collection, some poetry books for reading at the table, and Kathryn's little homemade apron. Now it's just perfect!
When we moved in, our kitchen was ugly! Fluorescent yellow paint, a peeling fruity wallpaper border, and boring dark cabinets. Perking up the kitchen was a priority. I redid the walls before we ever moved in, but we were here about 6 months before we tackled the cabinets. Somewhere I have a before picture, so I'll have to dig that up.
I am the one to come up with these grand plans, but Ken is often the one to figure out HOW to actually accomplish my ideas in real life! He took on the task of scrubbing the oven hood; I thought we'd have to replace it, but he got it looking like new. Then we raised the center section of cabinets over the stove, and he cut out the panel of the two top side doors. That allowed me to put in these cute curtains! Before painting the doors, I filled the old screw holes from the door handles, and the new and improved cabinets have small old-fashioned glass knobs. We couldn't find new hinges that would
work, so I repainted those, too, with Rustoleum. The drawer handles came from Target for $1/each! Great bargains make me do the happy dance! I am still not done yet; I will add brackets to connect top & bottom cabinets on this section (after we replace the countertops) and then we'll add furniture feet under the bottom cabinets so it will look like a big old-fashioned hutch. Over on the other side of the kitchen, I left off the door under the sink and hung a curtain instead. I can't fit a farmhouse sink in here, but I'm going for the illusion of one. You can see more photos of my kitchen in my Confessions of a Tea Junkie post.
Back to the bedroom for a minute.
My dad had a friend who made pine furniture, so Dad gave me an unfinished blanket chest. I used leftover paint from a former bathroom re-do as the base color, then free-handed this design with leftover off-white trim paint. I found this design in a magazine in a photo of a headboard, but a stencil would work just as well. I distressed the piece by banging on it with hammers and such, and sanding randomly. After that, I used a mocha-colored glaze (in the paint department at Lowe's), coated with polyacrylic, and then paste furniture wax. By the way, we even used that wax on the kitchen cabinets. It's good stuff! Now this blanket chest sits at the foot of our bed.
So far this armoire has avoided a paint job, and I'm still happy with it the way it is. But this sign was another little project I came up with, and was quite pleased with the results. It is actually one of the cabinet doors that we didn't use (we made shelves there instead - see that tea junkie post). I just painted it white, then painted the frame of it black, freehand painted the letters, then sanded in spots and used a little of my watered-down beige paint to age it. That quilt was the first one I ever made; I decided to teach myself to quilt when I was 18. The curtains were another bargain: $5/yard fabric, and I made the simple panels. The curtain rods were another thing I painted with Rustoleum.
Start looking around and see what you can transform with paint. Use your imagination! If you don't like how it comes out, you can always repaint it again!
Some people have a hard time painting antiques because they aren't "authentic" anymore, but I have several thoughts on that: If I have sentimental attachment to something, I'd rather use it than hide it away because it doesn't fit my decor. It's quite likely that most things have had a little something done to them already so they probably aren't exactly original. Even if they are, there aren't many items that are so valuable that "original condition" would really make a difference, so why not make it more usable? And paint does wonders for ugly or outdated furniture!
On with a few examples...
A couple of years ago, my mom found a great little side table at an antique shop for about $15. It was black, and the top had obviously been replaced and was huge. But Ken cut the top so that the shape was similar to the bedside table in our room, and I repainted it antique white and aged it with some watered down wall paint I had left over from a bargain Home Depot paint can. (Note: they sell them really cheap when the customer doesn't approve the custom color! Sometimes the colors are hideous, but use your imagination!) Then I coated it with polyacrylic, and finally Ken coated it with paste furniture wax. That stuff is awesome! Keeps repainted furniture from chipping, makes it have a nice subtle sheen without being shiny, and makes for much less dusting. I love the finished project!
I had this old china hutch that looked kind of dreary in it's old finish. I removed the door. (The glass had broken years before, and I have plans to make what's left of the door into a frame.) After sanding, I painted the inside with more of that leftover discount paint, and then dragged the hutch out to the middle of the driveway to spraypaint it black. My neighbors probably think I'm nutty! Anyway, after that I sanded some areas to distress it, and coated it with polyacrylic. I still haven't waxed it, but that's coming soon. Now it sits in my breakfast area and holds part of my teacup collection, some poetry books for reading at the table, and Kathryn's little homemade apron. Now it's just perfect!
When we moved in, our kitchen was ugly! Fluorescent yellow paint, a peeling fruity wallpaper border, and boring dark cabinets. Perking up the kitchen was a priority. I redid the walls before we ever moved in, but we were here about 6 months before we tackled the cabinets. Somewhere I have a before picture, so I'll have to dig that up.
I am the one to come up with these grand plans, but Ken is often the one to figure out HOW to actually accomplish my ideas in real life! He took on the task of scrubbing the oven hood; I thought we'd have to replace it, but he got it looking like new. Then we raised the center section of cabinets over the stove, and he cut out the panel of the two top side doors. That allowed me to put in these cute curtains! Before painting the doors, I filled the old screw holes from the door handles, and the new and improved cabinets have small old-fashioned glass knobs. We couldn't find new hinges that would work, so I repainted those, too, with Rustoleum. The drawer handles came from Target for $1/each! Great bargains make me do the happy dance! I am still not done yet; I will add brackets to connect top & bottom cabinets on this section (after we replace the countertops) and then we'll add furniture feet under the bottom cabinets so it will look like a big old-fashioned hutch. Over on the other side of the kitchen, I left off the door under the sink and hung a curtain instead. I can't fit a farmhouse sink in here, but I'm going for the illusion of one. You can see more photos of my kitchen in my Confessions of a Tea Junkie post.Back to the bedroom for a minute.
My dad had a friend who made pine furniture, so Dad gave me an unfinished blanket chest. I used leftover paint from a former bathroom re-do as the base color, then free-handed this design with leftover off-white trim paint. I found this design in a magazine in a photo of a headboard, but a stencil would work just as well. I distressed the piece by banging on it with hammers and such, and sanding randomly. After that, I used a mocha-colored glaze (in the paint department at Lowe's), coated with polyacrylic, and then paste furniture wax. By the way, we even used that wax on the kitchen cabinets. It's good stuff! Now this blanket chest sits at the foot of our bed. So far this armoire has avoided a paint job, and I'm still happy with it the way it is. But this sign was another little project I came up with, and was quite pleased with the results. It is actually one of the cabinet doors that we didn't use (we made shelves there instead - see that tea junkie post). I just painted it white, then painted the frame of it black, freehand painted the letters, then sanded in spots and used a little of my watered-down beige paint to age it. That quilt was the first one I ever made; I decided to teach myself to quilt when I was 18. The curtains were another bargain: $5/yard fabric, and I made the simple panels. The curtain rods were another thing I painted with Rustoleum.
Start looking around and see what you can transform with paint. Use your imagination! If you don't like how it comes out, you can always repaint it again!
