Furniture Makeover

For the second time in my tenure as Chief Designer of our home, I have given - let's nicely term it - mature furniture a makeover. My first endeavor was to turn my childhood bedroom furniture (white with blue trim and stenciled flowers) in to a sophisticated guest bedroom set. 

For any of you who can remember this far back - before we sold our old house, we put our old bedroom set in to storage in place of our Restoration Hardware investment! Since we settled in to our new house - it was time to resurrect our old bedroom set and give it a facelift as a cost effective furniture solution for our toddler who is in desperate need of a big-boy bedroom! I'll save the details of decorating his new room for another post - but I will give you a step-by-step guide to turning old, scratched and mildly beat up furniture in to virtually brand new furniture!

Step 1: Fill in any scratches or gouges with wood filler. Allow to harden for at least 24 hours.

Step 2: Lightly sand furniture surfaces of wood (my hubby used 220 grit sand paper). Pay attention to areas where wood filler was used - sand these carefully. You shouldn't feel any difference in the wood where you have used filler when you run your fingers over it - it should be smooth perfection!

Step 3: Depending on your wood tone/color of furniture - apply 1 to 2 coats of primer. We used a grey primer for darker colors - since we painted the furniture a navy blue color. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours.

Step 4: Apply two coats of semi-gloss paint. A semi-gloss finish should be used to ensure durability and easy cleaning/wiping. Allow 24 hours for drying in between coats.

Step 5: And this one is controversial - Home Depot (and other paint shops) will tell you that a clear, top-coat is not necessary when using semi-gloss paint. They will even go so far as to say that it will cause you more trouble applying it than anything else. My husband is convinced that they don't recommend it because they don't sell it. Coincidence? I think not! Anyway, I used a coat of Minwax Polycrylic on top of the first set of furniture I refinished - and it not only gives the paint a nice sheen, but has protected that furniture against all chips and scratches. The last thing you want is for your furniture to chip, making it look cheap and unfinished. Even if it seems to be overkill, I highly recommend at least one well-applied coat of Polycrylic clear-coat. It doesn't even take as long as one coat of paint to apply - and will be well worth it to prevent against chips/scratches that can occur due to daily use. Refer to directions on can - allow to dry for 24 hours.

If your furniture was like mine, it has old - and somewhat ugly - drawer pulls/knobs. I went to Target and got a set of 20 for $20! It was a deal - and they look great on the furniture. TIP: New drawer pulls/knobs can do wonders just about anywhere! They could also be used on kitchen/bath cabinets to give a quick and inexpensive lift to an out-dated room.

Big-Boy Furniture complete!

Before:

Note long dresser in the above pic.

After:

For more fun ways to makeover/enhance your home with paint, click here for Better Home & Garden's tips! I'm partial to their fabric makeover ideas and the chair back name cards! OH - and on page 13 - they DO recommend TWO coats of polyurethane be applied to painted furniture! Take that, Home Depot!