Friday, April 1, 2016

A Bright Retro Makeover

I never knew how much I loved vintage items until moving into this house.
I love the character.  I love the history.  And most importantly, I love the blank canvas.  
It's an opportunity to put my personal touch on an item and get the
ever-so-satisfying before and after.
 
Painting furniture is a lot different from painting walls so I started small to get my feet wet. 
 
I repainted 2 coffee tables. 
 
 
And then I took on this beast:
I found this on Craigslist.
 
Here it is in the dining room. 
It looked alright but it needed something to brighten it up.
 It was too dark. The simple, cheap, but tedious solution was paint. 
 
Here's what I used:
Valspar furniture paint (color is 'du jour')
Tack Cloth
3M Sandblast Pro sandpaper (100 medium)
one paint brush
one small paint roller
 
 
Nate took off all the doors and removed the magnetic hardware.
 
 Then I sanded all of the surfaces that I would be painting.  NOTE: the Valspar furniture paint states that sanding is not necessary.  I firmly believe that if it sounds too good to be true, then it is, so I sanded.  (Valspar, I'm willing to give it a try...I'll skip the sanding...on a smaller future project). 
 
After sanding I used a hand towel to wipe down the dust.
 
Then I used tack cloth to remove any excess grime.
 
 
Ewwww grime.  You can see why this step is so important.
 
I painted 4 coats on this. 
 
Notice that we removed the back of the china cabinet top....
 
....and that's because I wanted to paint it a different color.
Tip: paint the back of the backing. The side that is inside the china cabinet is shiny finished surface which makes it the enemy. You want the dull rough unfinished side.
 
 
 Nate painted 4 coats on this.
 
And I did 4 coats on this.
NOTE: you have to wait 8-12 hours between coats.
 
YAY! putting it back together!
 
Nate putting the doors back on.
 
TAHHH DAHHHH!
 
so happy and bright :)
 
Funky retro. :)
 
Of course I have before and afters...
 
you guys know I live for the before and after. ;)