Furniture Collection

It came to my notice that quite a collection of furniture had gradually been building up in the shed/attic/all over the house, stuff that I had bought with the intention of painting that I never got around to, so this evening I made a decision to go through it determined to find time in the coming days to get started on doing some work on at least one piece.  I made my way to the shed as it needed tidying anyway and buried under a pile of paint and tools, there was a couple of coffee tables that I had picked up some time ago. I pulled out one of them and dragged it into the house - this girl means business!

It's a really unattractive table so it's going to need a lot of TLC but it is the ideal candidate for a TOTAL revamp and brand new look. This is the kind of table that may still be ugly after the makeover but I'm going to do my best to get it looking good.  I'll just have to do something fancy with that undershelf.... but first it needs a good cleaning and I'll start with some sugar soap and I'll give it a light sanding so that the paint will have something to grip on to.   As I will only be working on it evenings after work and on weekends, you'll have to bear with me as it's probably going to take a while.  For starters here are some pics of it as it stands.  Not a pretty picture. Wish me good luck and don't forget to stay tuned here on www.funkyjunkjunkie.blogspot.ie to see the finished job.

Table Top

Table End

Table Undershelf

Undershelf

Table Top

Table Top

Wardrobe Makeover

The wardrobes in my home, although in good condition, had become dated and needed refreshing. As I was also totally fed up looking at them I decided to paint them and while I was checking them out to see what way I could proceed with the job, I noticed that the 'laminate' had lifted slightly from one of the doors.  I pulled at it and to my surprise it started to come away - all of it - in one piece as can be seen the the first photo below.  It took me less than 5 minutes per door to remove everything, each piece lifting off easily and you can see the entire sheet just after it was removed in Photo 2 below. Underneath, the doors were MDF with a white finish.  They would have been fine left white but it wasn't the look I wanted  so I made up some sand coloured chalk paint using the recipe on this blog and painted a coat of it onto one of the doors.  The MDF was a perfect base for painting although it will need another coat or two and of course the surround will have to be painted too for completion.

I am really happy with my discovery and the fact that I will have totally new look wardrobes for the cost of some paint.  I will post again on this when the job is finished so keep watching.

Bar Stool - Upholstery

I started to revamp this old bar stool a while back and got side tracked with a bunch of other projects and of course being away for 6 weeks in the Summer didn't help either but unfortunately, I couldn't bring it to the South of France with me - it just wouldn't fit in my suitcase!  It needed a complete strip down and reupholstering and I had finished stripping down the wood and had polished it and I had started the upholstery work.

It's difficult to find time to do everything and I always have a few projects on the go at once and tend to jump from one to the other, however, I will eventually get it finished.  It's quite a noisy job so it can't be done in the evening and that just leaves what little time is available at weekends.

Since I last posted about my bar stool I have tacked in the first layer of burlap over the first stuffing and trimmed it up.  I have temporary tacked on another layer of hessian over the second stuffing which I have yet to secure, tack in and trim up. Remember folks, this is traditional style upholstery so no staple gun being used on this baby.  There's a bit of work to it if you want the job done right, a few more layers to go yet but it's coming along nicely - here are the latest photos:

Second stuffing

Second Burlap

Pine Bedside Lockers - Revamp Completed

I'm delighted to finally post pics of the finished bedside lockers.  I decided on a deep red for the drawer fronts and couldn't find the right red.  Eventually, I mixed a deep plum with some fire engine red and came up with this colour which is exactly what I had in mind.

I thought long and hard about what to do with the drawer knobs, I thought about découpaging them like I did for the Chest of Drawers revamp which really turned out great but in the end I decided to do something different  and hand paint a design onto them - a very steady hand was needed for this and let me tell you, I don't have one!!   To say the least, it was quite a challenge, so they're not perfect but I think that just adds to their overall finish rather thank taking away from it.  I used a pencil to outline the design and then filled it in with a very small paintbrush.  I suppose I could have used a marker but it would have felt too much like cheating.

For the finish I used a dark French antique wax.

If you would like a piece of furniture finished in this style, please contact me by email.  The details can be found on the Contacts tab on this Blog.  Please scroll down to see all of the photos.

 

Bedside Lockers - Distressing & Drawer Lining

You learn a lesson from every piece of furniture you remodel, no matter how much experience you have.  I have been restoring and revamping furniture for many years and I'm still learning today.

I didn't use a base colour before I painted these lockers beige and because they were a natural pine, which was very close in colour to the paint I used on them, when I distressed them, the effect was quite subtle. In this case, this is what I wanted however, if you did want a more pronounced distressing it would be best to darken up the furniture by painting a quick coat of a darker colour before you paint on the intended colour so that when you sand it there is a contrast.  I'll use a dark wax to finish these and that will intensify the distressing some more but I want these finished with a lighter distressing than ususal.

You'll need to click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

I painted the insides of the drawers using the same paint but without adding the Plaster of Paris as I didn't want to seal the interiors with wax as these lockers will be used for clothing and a more 'satin' finish suited best for this.  I also lined the drawers as you can see below with this great vintage fabric that I picked up.  I bought a metre and have some left over (for another project) as the drawers are quite small.

Red Mirror

I always like a little change in between finishing one piece of furniture and moving on to the next and since I've just finished the Chest of Drawers I'm going to do just that.

I love working on small projects too and have plenty to choose from (there's a queue of stuff in my work area).  Right now though, I'm in need of a red mirror for my son's bedroom and can't find one in the shops that doesn't cost a week's wages so this little baby is my next victim.....

It's a horrid old 'mahogony' mirror that's been lying around the house for years - well, now it's getting a makeover and when completed will be looking a lot more funky to suit a little boy's room.

Did You know?

I've done quite a bit of research on Chalk paint and discovered how simple it is to make your own - yes, that's right you can make your very own home made Chalk paint by using some easy to find products!!

There are many variations of course, but for me, the best one is using Plaster of Paris, which can be bought at any good DIY or Builders Providers or indeed online.  You simply add the plaster to your regular emulsion paint et voila!

The measurements you use and the paint quality are the important parts.  If you use low quality paint, you will get a low quality Chalk paint so it's best to stick with well-known brands.  I use a matt finish as the whole point is to have the end result as chalky as possible.

Grout and Baking Soda are some of the many other alternatives to the Plaster of Paris, both of which work fine.  If using the grout make sure to use one without sand (unsanded grout).  I found the grout mixture more gritty than the other two.

Here is my own recipe which is not by any means written in stone, make your own adjustments according to the feel and texture of the mixture - which is exactly what I did.

Happy paint making! I'd love to hear how you get on so please don't forget to comment below with your results.

Fabric Choice

I'm really excited about reupholstering my stool but first I've got to decide on a fabric.  I have a few odd yards of various materials in the house left over from other upholstery jobs that I've done and curtains and cushions that I've made and I've been thinking about using one of these.  I've also bought a couple of new ones to add to the pickings...

 

 

Help me choose by going to my FunkyJunk Facebook page.