My summer projects...

I'm sure plenty of you know by now, I love refinishing furniture. I had quite a busy few weeks this summer refinishing our dresser, night tables, a chair and a desk! It all looks SO much better now and it looks like it belongs together!

Dressers before (pic doesn't show, but it had lots of stains on top and chips/peeling on the sides):


O ya, and this cheeky little thing


Dresser AFTER (hardly looks like the same one huh?):


Night tables before:


And after:


Chair before (pic doesn't show well, but the upholstery was pretty ripped up and disgusting, and the legs had old stain that ran so it looked like drips):


Chair AFTER I painted the arms and legs a matching paint to the rest of the bedroom set and re-upholstered (not really good at it, so forgive the not-perfect job!) it in a more modern fabric:

And finally (saved the best for last), this gross old computer desk we had which has long been a magnet for clutter. Since hubby took over our regular desk completely, I have attempted several times to make this desk mine. It used to have a bunch of little storage spaces for CD's and things I didn't need, so I busted all those out and put in just one top shelf. FINALLY it is a neat, organized desk my husband is not allowed to touch!:

Before (and yes, the doors in the back looks every bit as gross as the rest!):


And the near-magical transformation AFTER pictures:




Even made the old pull out tray for a keyboard into a little "drawer" for office supplies!

Gosh, you do some awesome work, April!!! :32: What type of paint did you use, and did you need any kind of primer first?

LOVE what you can do to furniture! You could make a bundle teaching people how to...or even doing it for them.

JerseyWendy said:

Gosh, you do some awesome work, April!!! :32: What type of paint did you use, and did you need any kind of primer first?

LOVE what you can do to furniture! You could make a bundle teaching people how to...or even doing it for them.

Click to expand...

Lol. Not sure I have the patience to teach people:09: but if I had the room, I would totally work on a commission basis. We rent, and while the landlords don't mind me doing the occasional project for myself, don't know how they'd feel about me doing it constantly for profit...

On the dresser and night stands, I actually stripped those down to bare wood and stained them (kona). The chair and desk I used a "layering" method of Rustoleum Kona and Espresso color paints to get a more realistic wood look. I used primer on both (never believe that it's paint and primer in one!), but I used regular primer on the chair and a special primer designed to stick to cheap laminate furniture on the desk.

Now I'll be driving you nuts with questions...sorry about that.

Do you use polyurethane when you are done, or any other top coat?

(I swear, I'm only asking because I ventured doing some furniture for my Mark. They turned out 'all right'. It was a boatload of work, too. We're re-doing the other spare bedroom next, and the dresser in that room is pressboard, so I'm planning on painting it. Still unsure of the color though.)

April, everything looks not only brand new, but better than the things I see for sale in the expensive furniture stores here. That computer desk does not even look like the same piece!
I agree with Wendy, you could definitely make money doing this, maybe a future business you?
On a side note, I am in love with your bed.

JerseyWendy said:

Now I'll be driving you nuts with questions...sorry about that.

Do you use polyurethane when you are done, or any other top coat?

(I swear, I'm only asking because I ventured doing some furniture for my Mark. They turned out 'all right'. It was a boatload of work, too. We're re-doing the other spare bedroom next, and the dresser in that room is pressboard, so I'm planning on painting it. Still unsure of the color though.)

Click to expand...

I don't mind questions

On the nightstands and dresser I used a rub-on poly to seal the stain. On the chair and desk, I had 4 coats of paint plus 2 coats of primer and didn't find a top coat necessary. Rustoleum paints are usually pretty durable, but they only make a limited number of colors (not the kind you pick a chip and have them mix).

If you paint pressboard, get the special laminate primer that will adhere to the stuff, or else the paint will peel off in big swaths in no time at all (trust me, I've made this mistake before:52. You'll probably have to go to a paint store to find it rather than just Home Depot.