Chalk Paint + Distressing Furniture

Are you guys ready to see some serious makeovers?? 

This is only my 2nd time using chalk paint, so I was a little nervous. I just took the plunge and I'm so happy with the results!! My mother in law, Cindy, just moved into a new house and was hoping for a bedroom makeover (umm I am ALL over this). We used all of her existing furniture and totally transformed the look of her room. I enlisted the help of my sisters-in-law who are WAY better at home decor than myself. I couldn't have done it without them.

Cindy really loves that warm teal/blue color that has been floating around.  She already had a black and white bedspread so we decided to use what she already had! This was going to be one cute black/white/teal bedroom.

BEFORES

The furniture was not real wood, but you would never know! The chalk paint didn't mind either :)

Forgot to take a before picture of this one before I started painting. It was a white end table - pretty banged up. Needing some TLC

I couldn't decide if I should paint all of the furniture the same color or if that would be too overwhelming in the room.  My sisters-in-law agreed that it was a bedroom set and with all the black and white we were going to use in the room it wouldn't be too much.

I used Benjamin Moore Vintage Revivals chalk paint called "waterfall". The beauty about Benjamin Moore's chalk paint is that you can mix ANY one of their colors into chalk paint. The sky is the limit!

STEPS

1. Clean the furniture really well before painting

2. No sanding or priming required, just paint!

3. Distress furniture slightly with sandpaper

4. Add protective coat

Paint is drying

Once 2 coats have dried I decided to do a little distressing

I took an 80 grit sandpaper and 220 grit sandpaper to do the distressing. The higher the number on the sandpaper the more fine it is and the lower the number the more rough it is (obviously haha). 80 is a very rough sandpaper so thats what I used for the majority of the distressing.

Fresh paint about to get mangled!!

I try to distress only on areas that would naturally get wear and tear, (mostly on the edges and corners of the furniture). It's a pretty simple process you just kind scratch off the paint and let the natural dark wood show through. You can't go wrong, I promise!

No distressing

Slight distressing

TOP COAT

Rule of thumb for a top coat is that if you're covering a light color paint you want to use a WATER based protective coat because it stays true to the original color, I usually use Minwax Polycrylic. An OIL based protective coat (Polyurethane) gives the furniture a slight yellowing. Even though I used a light color and a polycrylic would have been appropriate I went with what I already had at home which was a polyurethane. I figured it would make the color a little warmer and would compliment the distressing I would be doing by making the color a little more vintage. 

You can see how the polyurethane made the color a little warmer and not quite so knock-your-socks-off blue.

I sprayed the original handles with my FAVORITE spray paint. This stuff is a dream, no drips, and perfectly even coverage

Put the headboard up, now just looking for some perfect pillows <3 And some cute pictures in the frames obvi

I added some cute black flower knobs at Home Hardware to tie in the black and white theme with the nightstand. Technically the nightstand drawers don't use knobs to open them, but come on how cute are they?!

DIY Frame Corkboard

This is probably my favorite garage sale find of the summer. I was perusing at this older couple's house, and there was this man there who was low balling everything at their sale. He had a HUGE pile of stuff he was basically taking for free. I hadn't noticed the frame for some reason, but I heard him trying to barter them doing from $20 to $5 (ugh ya right??) I was curious what he was bartering for so I turned around and my heart started pounding. I knew I had to have it. So I  pipped up and said "5 dollars?!?! I will give you 10!!" And they went for it MuaHaha!! He was not pleased with me, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. 

I was originally going to turn this into a chalkboard... but I already have so many chalkboards and I wanted to try something new.... 

                           

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-old frame

-chalk paint or spray paint

-spray adhesive

-roll of cork

-old table cloth or fabric

-gorilla glue

I used a 50% off coupon at Michael's and got this small jar for like $7. Perfect Color!

It was my first time using a spray adhesive so I just got an all-purpose one I can use for future projects

Gorilla Glue... where would my life be without you??

Surprise!! you can actually buy a ROLL of cork at your hardware store, I picked mine up at Rona. It was the perfect size.

Step 1:
Paint your frame - I'm usually a big time spray painter but I couldn't find a color I liked in Rustoleum's options. I refuse to use Krylon, it is the WORST for drips!!! I sprayed it first but it wasn't the right color - so I opted for chalk paint. I ended up distressing mine a bit too so the embellishments on the frame were more prominent.

Step 2:
I rolled out my cork onto the original canvas from the picture frame, then I gorilla glued the heck outta that beast and let it dry for ~30 minutes. The cork was a little difficult to work with because it wouldn't lay very flat from being so rolled up and if you're not careful it can crack or rip if you man handle it. I had to stack quite a few heavy books on the edges while the glue dried.

Step 3:
I sprayed the adhesive on top of the cork and let it dry for a few minutes so it wasn't super super sticky - that way I could still pull and tug the lace around to center the pattern. Then I put some gorilla glue on the edges of the frame and laid it on top and snapped it into place. Cut off the excess lace/or fabric and you're done!! Easy Peasy.

Now I just need to find the perfect place for it in our room. I'm redoing our master bedroom so stay tuned for some more huge makeovers, my house needs a serious face lift!

Stencilled End Table

Here is another one of those classic pictures everyone pins on Pinterest. You know why we all pin them? Because they are ridiculously cute. I'm pretty sure every single one of my friends has this pinned. We all love stenciling but have no clue how to do it. Let's be real people, most of us can't afford those $50 stencils from Michaels. So I made my own stencil with vinyl!

PINTEREST:

MINE:

cost

table: $5.00 at a garage sale

paint: free - some extra lying around

vinyl: free

Step 1 - This table isn't real wood so I didn't bother sanding or priming. I used a 2 in 1 paint + primer and did 2 coats. Make sure the table is 100% dry before putting vinyl on, or else it will peel off some of the paint when you remove it!!

Step 2 - I printed off a vinyl design and peeled out the areas I wanted to be white. I placed the vinyl on the
table then used spray paint to spray the top of the table

Step 3 - I waited until the white was completely dry then carefully peeled off the vinyl

Step 4 - I used a spray polycrylic for the top of the table for some protection

Dining Room Table Makeover

This is one of those projects that should only take 3 days, but ends up taking 3 weeks. I had to completely re-do and start from scratch THREE times. I came close to tears a few times. But just grit my teeth and told myself "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." (Thomas Edison). If anything I learned a LOT about refinishing wood and I know how to use so many products now --- that my friends, is the silver lining. Sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

The pictures really don't do it justice. We have such terrible lighting in our basement suite. The chairs are actually and heirloom white color (look way more starch white in the pictures) 

Here are a few pieces of advice I had to learn the hard way....

1. Don't just read the instructions on the product. I had to completely strip my table after round #1 because I didn't apply the product correctly. I found some awesome youtube videos that SHOW you how to use products. Minwax has some awesome tutorials that explain how their water-based and oil-based products are different and which are appropriate for your product.

stripping and sanding the table AGAIN

2. TEST YOUR PRODUCT. I saw this one all over the web, on blogs, on tutorials, on youtube videos... And I thought BLAH BLAH BLAH. I picked out an extremely dark stain for my table but it didn't stain nearly as dark as I wanted. So instead of testing on a little piece of wood or part of the table I stained the entire table AND leaf before I realized it wasn't going to be dark enough.... On to round #3....

not dark enough!! Ugh!

stripped and sanded again.... my poor neighbourhood had to suffer through SO much sanding.

testing the stain this time.. I had to basically use a black stain to get the dark brown color I wanted

testing on the leaf first

3. WITH THE GRAIN PEOPLE. I finally got a beautiful dark rich color stain. It was perfect. I was laughing!! Only took 2 tries! Wrong. I applied the Minwax Wipe-on poly. A lot of tutorials mentioned the "hand rubbed" look. So I rubbed it in nice and good, let it dry. Well... I didn't wipe with the grain at the end. I left the poly to dry in the swirled pattern. After about 8 very thin coats some areas of the table were milky and the finish was uneven now. This was the closest I came to crying. Seriously?! I had to screw up the LAST step? UGH!!!!!!! So I sanded off some of the finish and wiped on a Minwax polyshade which is a 2 in 1 stain/polyurethane. Bada boom bada bing.

Good to know...

Pre-stain Wood Conditioner - It helps the stain absorb more evenly on softer woods. Use an extra coat or 2 of pre-stain wood conditioner on the edges of your table. The edges naturally will stain darker than the top of your table. I didn't end up doing this but I wish I would have! BEWARE, if you use a wood conditioner the color will end up lighter. I didn't end up using a wood conditioner on round #3 of my oak table, its not as soft as other woods and I wanted a dark color.

Stain - never shake your can of stain to mix it up. Use a paint stick and stir it so the particles that settle on the bottom of the can get mixed back into the stain. If your staining is taking a long time make sure to stir your stain every 5-10 minutes

Water-based vs Oil-based (http://www.homedepot.com/c/Stains)

Stain Base	Major Advantages
Oil-based(alkyd)	Better penetration Excellent durability Longer drying time allows more time to achieve an even finish Special deck stains deliver maximum durability for harsh conditions
Water-based(latex; acrylic)	Better color retention Less odor Breathable Nonflammable Soap and water cleanup Quicker drying

Polyurethane - apparently there are different sheens.Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin. If you want your table super shiney do a gloss finish. If you want more of a matte look use a satin. If you want something in between use the semi-gloss. Make sure you buy the right one!

Wipe-on poly - It isn't streaky like some lacquer or polyurethane. 2-3 thin coats = 1 coat of polyurethane. Just remember to wipe WITH the grain. It was awesome to use on the dining room chairs, its so thin that you can get in all those little nooks and crannies. I also liked the wipe-on poly because it didn't make my table look like it had a plastic finish on top, it still had the beautiful wood look.