furniture

Hand Painted Sunflower Stool

Hello World,

I went thrifting recently and found this solid wood stool for only $4! If you are sensing a pattern here, I like to buy thrift shop items and give them makeovers. The stool I bought had dents and wear on it. Instead of just sanding it and staining the wood, I decided to give it a cheery update.

stool

I started by sanding the stool by hand to remove the shine and painted the entire stool with white primer. Next, I applied two coats of periwinkle interior latex paint. At this point I thought the stool looked too perfect, so I took a fine grit sand paper and started sanding the edges of the stool. Some parts I sanded more than others, so the white or original wood would peek through.

I next used acrylic paint and painted my sunflower. I did a base of white first, as yellow paint always seems to be slightly transparent. I used black for the center, and used a fan brush to texturize dark grey paint over it.

After painting my sunflower, I sanded it (going with the grain of the wood) as well to give it some wear. I then sealed it with some clear spray paint.

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My mom loves sunflowers, so *spoiler MOM* I might give it to her. If I find another stool at that low of a price, I might make another with a daisy painted on it. Do you like to makeover thrift store items as well?

Happy Crafting!

Thrifted Dresser Facelift

Hello World,

I bought this dresser two years ago for $25 at a thrift store. I liked that it was made of real wood and with some TLC it would be like new again. I even has ‘Massachusetts’ stamped on the back, so I’m guessing that is where it was made. Well, two years passed and I didn’t do anything to it except line the drawers with pretty contact paper.

Fast forward to last week, and I finally decided to give my dresser a well-needed makeover. I have started replacing or updating my mismatch broke-college-student furniture, and am aiming to decorate my room in neutrals with pops of metallic.

dresser2

This dresser needed some love. It had a crooked drawer, and dings and dents like nobody’s business.  I started by removing all the hardware. These drawer pulls in particular left dents in the drawer faces, so using a different set of knobs would mean intense sanding.

dresser

At first, I hand-sanded the drawers, but that was going to take hours, so I borrowed my dad’s electric sander. I used a rough grid sandpaper first to remove the stain and most of the dents. Some of the edges were hard to get with the electric sander, so I folded sandpaper and sanded those areas by hand.

Next, I sanded the entire dresser with a finer grit sandpaper to smooth it out. After sanding, I wiped the dresser down with a damp rag and let it dry. To paint my dresser, I whitewashed it by watering down interior satin-finish paint. (Roughly 1/4 paint 3/4 water in a small bucket.) I did two coats of the whitewashed paint, and spray painted my knobs.

I actually wish I had left the knobs in their original color, but for now I am just letting them be. My dresser matches my room so much better now, and I might go in and sponge darker paint on some of the edges, for a more distressed look.

Happy Crafting!

Time for a little (chair) makeover

Hello World,

My mom bought me this chair at a yard sale when I was 11 years old. Since then, it has gained some wear being my craft room chair. My cat loves to use seat cushion to sharpen his claws, I’ve dripped glue and paint on it, and I’ve been meaning to give it a makeover for quite some time now.

I started by removing the seat cushion with a screwdriver, and sanding down the wooden frame. I then painted it with primer and two coats of latex paint. (My local Walmart wanted $0.28 for a paint stirrer, when did those stop being free?)

I next gave the seat cushion an update. I simply just laid my seat upside down on some cotton fabric, pulled that fabric tightly over each edge and stapled it into place. I then reattached my seat to my chair with a screwdriver.

The seat might look uncomfortable due to its not-cushiness, but trust me, this baby is pretty dang comfy.

Happy Crafting!