Thursday, March 22, 2012

room makeover - furniture refurb

The painting is finished! On to the next and what feels like the 110th part of my project to turn our guest room into a little boy room was to  refurbish 2 dressers. These dressers have been around since my husband was a kid and he had them in his room. When he moved out, they moved with him and into our first apartment, our first house and now our son's room. If wood could talk.....


Dresser with white primer
Anyway, rather than buy new furniture I wanted to update these pieces because frankly, there was nothing wrong with them except the color and hardware.Spray paint is the way to go. I tried other paint and it is just not good. You can see the brush marks and it takes many more coats. Here is a tip though. I decided to spray paint inside - bad idea. Apart from possibly developing "the black lung" (Zoolander) it is such a mess. I covered everything near the direct spray but it created a mist that went everywhere. Luckily it's easy to clean up the 'dust' with just a vacuum or damp cloth but needless to say when I began the second piece of furniture I hauled it out to the garage.


Even with the mask I had paint up my nose - ick.
On the first piece I used a primer. It took longer but I think in hindsight it has a better gloss look because of the primer base so I would say it is worth the time to do that. The second piece is in navy blue so I didn't use a primer and the finish is slightly lacking. Still, it's good enough and I'll share that picture soon.




I had some crackling which made me crackle I can tell you. It wasn't cold or too hot when I was spraying so it may have been a substance under the paint that caused the issue. However, when I didn't use primer I didn't have any crackling. Not sure what that means....


Sun is shining very brightly! Almost makes my dresser look angelic. 
The hardware if from Home Depot. I was kind of limited because the old hardware was 64mm wide and the selection was not great. Still I think it worked out nicely.


So far I'm about halfway through the list of things to do in this room. Just finished the trim today and wallpapering starts this weekend - gulp. 

I shared this story at some awesome link parties - check them out. 

15 comments:

  1. Great colour - and it covered so well! I bet you hubby doesn't even recognize his old drawers!

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  2. that's awesome! love the color, and it looks seamless!

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    1. Thanks so much! After some trial and error I got it right in the end.

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  3. Looks great! I love that you used spray paint! Bright and colorful!

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    1. Thank you! The spray paint worked out well and the color came out so sharp! Thanks for the comment :)

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  4. Such a great colour Marie Claire! A dash of fire engine red makes such a bold statement in a room - love it! xx

    Anna (My Design Ethos)

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    1. I know! Can't wait to share the photos of the completed room.

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  5. such a fun make over...I think the crackle is because you didnt sand after the prime
    visiting form thrifty decor chick

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    1. You are right - I totally did not do that. Learning lots for next time!

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  6. Man, wish I'd see this piece before I started hand painting a nine drawer dresser (first time DIY'er). Will know better next time! Great looking piece!

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    1. How much have you done? A not so wise man at home depot told me that I could use gloss paint with primer and I painted two drawers with 3 or 4 coats of paint. I wasn't happy at all with the finish so I went and got the spray paint. You can't tell the difference between the drawers that I had already attempted to paint. If you haven't done that much of it you can wait for the paint to dry and then just spray paint it anyway!

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  7. Looks GREAT! I have some spray painting of my own to work on tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration! I'm your newest follower!

    XO, AImee

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  8. What a handsome new look! Following you from TDC-stop on over for a visit!

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  9. I LOVE the red, bold choice, and it looks amazing!

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