----> Tips When Refinishing

I've had quite a few people ask how I got into refinishing all this junk and wanting some pointers.  I am by no means an expert at any of this - I've learned a lot everything along the way through Google searches, blog following, and mostly trial and error.  For my first project I was in the garage painting at 1 in the morning and when it wasn't turning out right I ran to Google what I possibly did to jack it up. 

Actually, that's happened more than once. 

Here are a few of my anything but professional tips and suggestions when refinishing something...in absolutely no order.

1.  Painting?  Prime if first. 

In the words of Wikipedia, a primer is a preparatory coating put on materials before painting. Priming ensures better adhesion of paint to the surface, increases paint durability, and provides additional protection for the material being painted. 

Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself.  Literally.

I had no idea what primer was when I started.  Should I be embarrassed to admit that?  Well, it's the truth.

And what was that?  Primer comes in a spray can?!  Everything and anything is fair game to be painted, my friends.  A huge bonus to primer is that you don't have to sand everything down to the wood grain before you paint (assuming that what you're painting is wood).  If I had to sand everything I painted, there's z.e.r.o. chance I'd be doing this. 

So far I've used the Rustoleum brand of spray primer.  It's got great coverage, you can get away with 2 coats and it's only $2.98/can at Home Depot.  How far does one can go when you have to do 2 coats?  Think two regular size end tables...so about $1.50/table.  Not bad!

2.  Try using spray paint.

...and prepare to be hooked. 

I was skeptical about using spray paint but you can literally spray paint just about anything.  It's quick, it's easy, it's cheap and it's awesome to see all your crap transform into something different that you're all-of-a-sudden in love with again!  You will, without a doubt, look at everything in your home (stores, parent's house, friend's house, stranger's house) and think "I bet I could spray paint that" after you've done your first spray paint project.

My skepticism on spray paint was put to rest after finding a Spray Paint FAQ blog post put together by Centsational Girl.  She went all out on answering the most commonly asked questions about spray paint - so visit THIS link to get the scoop. (She adds her 2 cents on the priming issue - but I say PRIME it all)

3. Distressing can be...distressing.

I had no idea there were tricks to distressing something.  I thought that if you painted it, let it dry, and then  rubbed sand paper over it you'd end up with a jaw dropping piece of beautifully antiqued furniture.

WRONG.

I first found this out when I redid the black end table.  All that hard work priming and painting and then here comes my clueless self ready to get aggressive with a piece of sand paper. I hadn't let the paint dry enough to cure so it was all gummy and rolled up leaving scratch marks all over the place.  It was horrible and I had to repaint over it. 

If you want to do things the smart way - follow Sausha's tips over HERE at Show & Tell.

She has some of the most amazing repainted pieces I've ever seen.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

4. Staining? 

Centsational Girl comes through yet again with a great step-by-step on how to stain a piece of furniture. 

Click HERE for all the info.

Her blog is busting with awesomeness so be sure and add her to your Google Reader. 

The only bad thing about staining is that you have to sand it first.  Like, haaaaave to sand it - so you probably won't be seeing many stained pieces on this blog because I'd rather go in for a root canal...twice. 

But hey, maybe you'll love sanding.

5. Reupholstering = Huge Job

Reupholstering is not for the faint of heart - it takes a lot of time, precision, and patience.  I've only reupholstered the chair cushions of these black chairs (and I thought those were tedious!), so I'm not really one to talk, but I once stumbled on a blog about a girl that was redoing an arm chair and just taking the old fabric off TOOK HER FIVE HOURS.  Not so sure I'd have that in me.

However, I found the coolest images showing how much fabric you'd need to reupholster just about any style of chair and sofa imaginable over at All Things Thrifty.  If you have a project needing reupholstering this will make your day.  I have it saved in my favorites list so I always know where it is.

(source)

Sweet, huh?!  There are a couple more images so be sure to click over there.

I can't count how many times I've referenced these links as I've gotten myself elbow deep in paint and frantically looking for an answer - so I'm sure they will help you out too.

I'd love to hear what you're working on, or wanting to work on so leave a comment and let me know!

----> Tall Coral Table

I don't even know what you'd call this table. 
It's high enough to sit bar stools at and almost too high to put anywhere unless you have vaulted ceilings.  Regardless, it's adorable - and when I spotted it at a yard sale a month ago I knew it was coming home with me. 

Are you shocked it's about to be painted coral?!  For some reason I just can't kick the CORAL CRAZE.

I started out priming it and then noticed that the cracks on the top where the wood meets were a lot more noticeable once I sprayed a lighter color on, so I used wood filler to fill the gaps.  Elmer's Wood Filler is awesome and is a must have if you're refinishing something because you never know what imperfections are going to show up after you start to spray something.

 BEFORE

AFTER

 

Here is a side-by-side of what a big difference the glaze makes.  It gives it a richer color after it's been glazed.  I didn't glaze the table that I have in my entryway because of the colors I was working with.  I wanted bright, fun energy so I left it alone.  The glaze gives it a more dramatic look, and I love it. 

My new mantra: When in doubt, GLAZE! 

 

Aaaaaaaand...here's a bonus:

I'm sharing the coral love and this table is for sale!

Contact me if you're interested.

Dimensions:  41" tall x 22" deep x 41" wide

PS- I've added two more colors and changed the font on the printables found HERE.

Go get 'em!

----> She Went Dot Com

Once Was Junk has its own home in cyberspace now (ah! so exciting!) so you might need to change the web address in your Google Reader to

www.oncewasjunk.com

so the posts will continue to show up.  I have it set to reroute the .blogspot address to the .com one but last night it wasn't working and started doing all sorts of crazy things.  So just to be safe, update that sucker!

Anyway, welcome to the new site!

I'm off to grab a Diet Coke and start painting!

----> Mihri Hatun Quote {Free Printable}

I saw this quote somewhere a long time ago and wrote it down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it.  The words took me back to the day I gave birth to my oldest son and the immense love I felt for this little human that I didn't even know yet. 

It's Baby Central right now and I know so many people who have had a baby or will soon have a baby (including my sister) so I wanted to make this into something they could put up in their nursery.

It's simple and sweet.



The colors (pink and blue) and chevron design are from Aimee over at Sprik Space.

She has free pattern designs/printables over there so be sure to check her out - she's amazing.

Click {HERE} to download your 8x10 print

I will be adding more colors/sizes so check back soon!


Linking to: My Romantic Home - Fingerprints on the Fridge - The Girl Creative - The Shabby Nest - I Heart Naptime - Someday Crafts

----> If you live 'round here...

I was watching a re-run (*tear) of Oprah the other night where she had the whole cast of The Sound of Music and the nostalgia of watching clips from that movie was overwhelming.  I grew up on that movie and watched it a million times because I had the hugest crush on Friedrich.  You probably did too...admit it! 

(source)

Anyway, I just heard that the Sundance Summer Theatre is featuring it as their summer musical and I can't wait to go.  It's such a fun atmosphere - outside in an amphitheatre, warm weather (until the sun goes down then it gets chilly!  We found that out last year), optional dinner before, close seating, totally awesome date night. If you're a local or visiting anytime between July 29-Aug 20 I give my double stamp of approval that this is will change your life.  OK, maybe not but it'll be a fun 3 hours!!

My husband and me last year at the production of Big River.

Elvis even made an appearance!

Go HERE for all the deets and to buy tickets.

----> The Office: Board and Batten and a Big Fat Makeover

The thought of redoing our office had been stirring in my mind for a looooong time before I had the courage to approach the husband about it.  Mostly because he's a busy man and I knew this would require a lot of his help.  He's been really awesome at supporting my refinishing madness that has taken over the garage/house and I didn't want to push my luck by asking for his help when he already has so much going on.

Somehow, the Memorial Day Behr paint rebate at Home Depot put this whole thing in motion.

honeyisn'titironicthatthepaintcoloriwantisabehrcolorandrightnowthey'rehavinga

rebatewhereyougetfivebucksoffagallonofpaintathomedepot. thiswouldbeaperfecttimetostarttheboardandbattenintheoffice,don'tyathink?

Eyes rolling:

 "why can't you just do one project at a time??"

Here is the office before.

Quite embarrassing, actually.

It doesn't always look this awesome.

I caught it on a good day.

I had no idea what board and batten was until my discovery of Pinterest and then I was seeing it all over the place.  Everyone does it a little bit differently and it's totally up to your taste so I searched pictures and found the one that I liked and then read just about every blog post on the ins-n-outs of putting it up yourself.  Learning from other people's experiences saves your life.

THIS is the one I liked the best and I loved that she included a list of board sizes she used.
 MDF?  No clue what that was either.  A quick trip to HD solves that though.

I chose:

5" x 10' primed MDF for the wide top board

2.5" x 10' primed MDF for the vertical "battens" (which is also the top shelf)

First, I started by measuring the distance from the ceiling to the floor to see how far up the wall I wanted my battens to go.  I knew I wanted it higher than the middle so I decided on 60inches.  This worked out great for my ten foot length boards because I could cut one in half and get two battens from it.   

Then I started painting.

The grey color on top is Creek Bend by Behr. 

The white is a mystery gallon from the garage.  There aren't any labels on the can and to be honest I think it's white trim paint - but it was perfect and the gallon was almost full...so I used it.

 Skis?  ;)

 We angled the bottom because it would have hung over quite a bit and replacing baseboards to match was not on my list of things to do.

Caulking every crack and spackling every nail hole was probably the worst part of the whole process.  By this point you're just excited that it's almost done and having to do the little stuff is a pain and time consuming!

*Before pictures of the decor*

Mirror: got off KSL for $25 and sprayed it with Krylon Coral Isle and glazed black

Curtain rod:  PVC pipe sprayed glossy white

Black curtains: got off KSL for $10; sewed the top down for the rod to go through instead of the loops

Metal trays: found at D.I. for $2/each - sprayed with Coral Isle

I found a black IKEA desk with matching white drawers on KSL and was so excited.  I was worried it'd take awhile to find one that matched but I found it before I even had time to get rid of the old one.

I posted the old desk online and it was gone within a day.

Hallelujah!

 The cords to the computer were distracting from the overall cuteness of the room so I took some black and white polka dot fabric and nailed it to the back of the board that helps hold the desk together to hide it all.

DRUMROLL!!!!!!

Hahaha, just kidding.  But here it is!

I had the matching black frames from before - now I just need to find the perfect prints for them.

The rug was the final touch and I just got that at Target the other day.

I'm trying not to feel tween-y right now, but I think it's perfect and goes great with the black/white/grey/coral color scheme.  I wanted a bold rug and I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any bolder than ZEBRA.

 Oops, I forgot the before picture of the calender holder.  It was gross brown.  Five bucks.

 I was surprised at the length on these curtains - they are perfect.



The. End.

Goodnight!

----> My House: Entryway Revamp

Looks like we're going to be getting a little personal here.

This is the entryway of my house: a small little wall adjacent to the stairs that generally looks something like this:

BORING.

I love holiday months because then I get to cram as much holiday decor goodness on my little table as I can, but every other month I was starting to get a little bored.

This is when I started rummaging through my stash.  I have a small room in our basement that we call "the craft room" but should more accurately be called

"the black hole where everything gets thrown that I don't want to deal with room".

Let's be real.  That's what it is.

Like when I told my husband right after we got married that I wanted a sewing machine...I think he was excited that I was getting domestic so he went and bought me one.

It ended up in the black hole for probably a year before I actually used it.

I have good intentions.

And then life happens.

Right?

I have stashes in that room of old decor - things I've gotten bored with and lots and lots of frames. 

Oh, the amount of frames...and many still with old pictures in them.

There was a frame with a picture of my little brother when he was probably 6 months old (he's NINE now) and when I took the back off there was another picture behind him.

It was Dan.  The hunk I wanted to marry during my college days who later dumped me while he was on his mission.  So awesome.

I'm glad my husband was home when I found this so I could formally introduce them.

Wow, tangent.

Here are a few of the things I rounded up:

Metal tray: $1.50 from DI

Oval frame: $.75 from DI

The rest of the stuff I had:  mirrors, frames, keys, ceramic birds, vase.

I laid everything out and started priming.  There's something so satisfying about spraying things completely white.  I don't know what it is - but I went to town.  I wanted to brighten up the entryway and make it colorful and fun.

 

If you are at all familiar with Pinterest you know that there is never a shortage of inspiration on that site. 

(if you aren't familiar with it come out of your cave and join the party!)

It's unbelievable the amount of things you can find that get your creativeness sparked.
Two things I'm loving right now are 1) CORAL and 2) gallery walls. 
The wall I'm working with isn't very big, but a gallery is what I want!

After priming, I sprayed everything with Krylon gloss white and instead of pictures, I added patterened scrapbook paper to the frames. 
I went to Hobby Lobby and found some that had the colors I wanted and I ended up with these:

Here is my new entryway:

flowers: Hobby Lobby

teal glass bottles: Hobby Lobby

smelly fragrance reeds that appear in the 1st three pictures and not the last one: Hobby Lobby

(they were needed more in the mudroom :)

{click HERE for the "i love us" print}
I thought the keys would stick to the glass of the frame with a hot glue gun but I was dead wrong.  They popped right off so I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy.
That stuff could make a bowling ball stick to glass.

This was such a fun project and got me in the mood to spray everything CORAL and WHITE!
For the table I used Krylon's Coral Isle - which they don't sell in stores around here...BUT, Mandi over Vintage Revivals (who I looooooooove and who introduced the blog world to this color) spilled the beans that if you have a Sherwin Williams store nearby they can special order any Krylon color for you.  So that's what I did and although it took like two weeks to get - it was worth the wait!