An Old Vanity Turned Into Two Night Stands

Banister and Handrail Refinish

One of the things that I knew I wanted to update in my newly purchased home was the entry handrail and banister. They were outdated and didn't fit with my decorations, like my wood wall art.  I was a bit overwhelmed with this project and didn't even know where to start. After doing many searches online and sitting on the idea for quite some time I decided to dig in.

Before

I was absolutely shocked how easy this project was and couldn't believe it took me so long to start. I did the normal; sand, paint, and topped it with a polyurethane. The biggest help in my ventures was the very aggressive sand paper I used for the places I stained.

This project just took a few days and only a hour a day. I was a bit of a perfectionist because I didn't want paint on my carpet and it is right in my entry, I can't hide anything.

Great project that was easy and the end results where great.

Kitchen Island Redo

We have the smallest island in our kitchen.  I do have to say that I love it though.  We used to live in a basement apartment that had no counter space so I love every inch of it in our house.  My husband and I decided we wanted to do a little something to spruce up the kitchen.  So we started with the kitchen island.

Okay so the before picture is just ridiculous.  It is from when we first moved in and it was the command center for cleaning, and painting.  Well hopefully you can ignore the mess.

We wanted to use bead board but it can get pretty expensive so my husband decided to use wood paneling.  I actually kind of liked it better because it had all of these pretty knots that would look awesome when we started distressing.  
 

After the paneling was added we put a molding on the top and bottom and a corner molding on the sides.  We left the front of the cabinet the way it was.  After sanding everything smooth we were ready to paint.

We did two coats of black paint then distressed it and finished it all up with a high gloss lacquer.  It turned out way shinier than we thought.

 

I love how it turned out and I love the black against the tile.  I think it adds so much to my kitchen and it looks like a whole new place!

Remodeling my Kitchen - Part One

I was hesitant to share this post but have gotten too excited to hold it in any longer. I am refinishing my kitchen. The cupboards are done, but my counter tops are not finished yet. I was going to wait until the end to show the wonderful "after" picture but decided I will show you as we go along and let your imagination finish it, as that is what I am left doing at this point.

So this is what I am seeing, in my head.

I love everything about this kitchen! I love the white cabinets, the wood counter tops and the bead board backsplash. Everything, this is just what I am going for but a titch more rustic in the cupboards. Picture bellow. (All pictures from Country Living)

I like the feel of this old drawer cabinet. 

I love these shelves. I will be putting three shelves on one of the walls in the kitchen, by the fridge. I think it is darling to fill the containers with flour, sugar, oats ... you get the idea. I love the cabinet on the left as well!

This is the width and color of wood I like for the counter tops.

Alright, so once I found what I liked, I told my husband all about it. One of my personality traits is I am not patient. Once I have something on my mind and I know what I want, I get right to work. This is just what I did.

Here is the before picture of my kitchen. Everything is fine when it comes to quality and holding up but it is very out of date and doesn't scream spend three hours a day in me!

I started digging in. My little guy wanted his hands in the project as well. He sat in my lap the whole time I used the drill to take the doors off. 

 After painting, glazing and sanding my cupboards were done in less than 6 days. I painted all the hardware (again) with a better paint.

Okay, so lets talk about what worked and what has not worked.

Hardware A while back I posted about painting your hardware. Well, I found that the spray I used rubbed off. I used a different spray that is textured this time around. It grabbed on nicely and I could put a nice thick coat on them. After just a week the texture wore down and they are much smoother now. I have researched and it seems to  be this is the best way to go

Sanding You don't have to strip or do an aggressive sand. Just make sure you scratch up your surface with sand paper.  I could tell a difference in places I wasn't very thorough. Take the time to get the corners and creases.

Paint I went to Home Depot and chose their brand. I chose the paint with the primer included. They say it only takes two coats but I felt like three worked best for my project.

I added an additive to the paint to make it so I didn't have any brush strokes from the paint brush. This worked great and really did what it said it would do. I was really excited when I found this product because one of my biggest concerns was the brush strokes. Also, high quality paint brushes are a key as well.

I did a light brown glaze on top. I did this because it helps with the rustic look and it makes the cupboards look a lot more forgiving of my mistakes and imperfections. My goal was for the glaze to show all the dents and marks.

I also sanded all the corners. I was exceptionally happy with how the sanding highlighted the center design.

I have been using my cupboards for a few weeks and I have been super happy with them. They wipe up really nicely, and I haven't had one problem with them thus far. I would highly recommend doing this if you want to switch things up and are ready for something new. It is a super fun project with great results.

So... back to drawing board. My husband mapped and designed my counter tops.  Now he and my Dad are making them in the shop. I also will be putting in a bead board backsplash and wood shelves. I will keep you updated on our progress.

Have any of you refinished your kitchen? Are any of you wanting to refinish your kitchen? Please feel free to ask questions or make comments!

Trunk Transformation

I love a good transformation project, and I am so excited to show you how this project turned out.

When we were at my in-laws for Christmas, they told us they were cleaning out the basement and offered this trunk to anyone who wanted it.I was excited no one had bitten on this great offer. To be honest, I was stumped on what to do with it at first, but I knew that it had potential.

Dresser Refinish

When I got married almost 6 years ago, this was the dresser I brought with me.  It is old, beautiful, and beat up!!  Unfortunately I forgot to take the BEFORE picture, and we had already sanded the bottom two drawers when I remembered.  But I am sure you have a good imagination.

Here is the majority of what we used (when I say we I mostly mean my husband, I did help though). 

First we sanded it to death.  It had a thick layer of varnish and stain that was hard to get off.  After it was sanded we wiped it down with paint thinner to clean it up real nice.

Then we painted 2 quick coats of white paint that we had lying around (it isn't pictured above).  Before using the paint we added a little Flotrol (also not pictured).  This helps the paint go on smooth with no brush strokes.  After each coat it was lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper.

Then we painted 3 coats of the color I picked, Valspar's Flood Tide 5001-6A.  We also added Flotrol to this paint.  Again it was sanded in between each coat.  This made it so smooth!  After it was all painted we were going to glaze it like they do here.  We started painting it on one side and, YUCK!  I don't know why it didn't work, but it looked terrible!!  It made everything just look dirty.  People would have looked at it and said, "man, do these people every clean their furniture".  So instead we used a wood stain.

To get this same look, after the dresser is sanded and distressed the way you like, brush on some of the wood stain.  We used Walnut colored stain.  Leave it on for just a little while then wipe it off again.

Since we painted with white underneath, when you sand just the color off it shows through beautifully.  After we stained the whole dresser and distressed it, we sprayed it with the Clear Wood Finish.  This lacquer worked wonderfully.  It is very easy to use and doesn't run.  We did 3 coats.  After the first two it was sanded with 400 grit sandpaper.  The third coat was put on really thinly.

For the hardware we spray painted them with a rubbed bronze finish.  Before spraying them, they need to be roughly sanded so the paint will stick.

This is the top of the dresser.  I love this big spot, it probably won't ever be covered.

Here is the AFTER picture ( I got all the drawers in this picture!).

I am in LOVE with this dresser.  It turned out just the way I pictured it.

Shabby Chic Ladder

I thought this would be a perfect example of the "make it your own theme."

We just purchased our first home and it has been a complete joy to make our own! I came across this idea from craftsbyamanda and was in love!

I new I wanted to make something like it but wasn't sure how I was going to get my hands on an old ladder. I started spreading the word that I was looking for an old ladder and I got one. I couldn't wait to start.

All the frames I had packed in a box that I wasn't using. I chose a color that would match my living room, a burnt yellow and then used a red glaze to pull in a second color. I was so thrilled on how it turned out! It fits my style perfectly.