Flipping through the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog can
make you long for dumping hundreds of dollars on a gorgeous new coffee table
for your living room. Aside from being a death knell for your bank account,
it’s just not necessary to spend a ton of money to get a great looking piece of
furniture. And since we’re still in the midst of garage sale season, now is the
best time to find an old piece of furniture that you can affordably
transform into a showroom piece with a little bit of elbow grease. Here are
some ideas:
Image via diynetwork.com
Refinish Old Wood Furniture
Those old blonde stains from decades ago just make the wood
look yellow and aged, but the wood underneath is still actually quite beautiful.
Darker stains are always more desirable, in my opinion. Shellac and lacquer
finishes are very easy to remove compared to varnish, and the stain itself can
be removed with wash-away finish remover or sanding. Then, you can pick a nice,
rich-colored finish that gives you the look you like.
Spray-paint Some Old Wicker Furniture
Wicker is beautiful, but it can easily fade if it’s
neglected. Classic white is a reliable standby color, but let me urge you to
give more intriguing colors a try, especially pastels. Black is fine, but it
requires frequent repainting as even small wear quickly starts to show the
lighter colors beneath. If you have some minor damaged areas on a chair or
table, superglue is your best friend, and the paint should hide it nicely.
Darker colors, like brown or even black can help conceal some of that damage as
they decrease the contrast between light and shadow.
Image via cupcakesandcrinoline.com
Reupholster some old chairs.
New fabric will refresh any piece of furniture. Now, you
should only try a large upholstery job, such as an armchair or sofa, if you’re
stocked up on free-time and patience. But old kitchen chair seats don’t really
have any interesting structures, so you can simply stretch new fabric over the
top and staple them underneath. You have to be a bit careful how you fit the
fabric to prevent any wrinkles. This is an afternoon project that barely costs
a thing.
Faux Antiquing with Paint Layers
Sometimes, refinishing an old dresser or side-table just
isn’t an option. Either it’s been painted, or it’s really banged up, or the
wood underneath just doesn’t look good. This is your opportunity to refurbish
the old piece with a little shabby-chic magic. First, you prime and paint the
whole piece with a base color and let dry. Then, you can repaint with a new
top-color and wipe away that coat on corners and edges, revealing the base
color underneath. This creates some faux aging into the piece, and you can even
play with it by choosing vibrant, contrasting colors and beating up the piece
with a hammer or crowbar to distress the surface to make it look older.
Add a Mirror to a Tabletop
I always see old mirrors at thrift shops and garage sales.
They always inspire unique table
surface ideas for me. Sometimes they’re chipped or scratched, or the frame
is beat up. These are the perfect surfaces to place over a coffee table or side
table, and even the frame can be painted to match. And if it’s scratched, you
can add your own distressing and scratching to make the entire surface uniform.
If you’re really ambitious, you can break the glass into shards and cement them
into the surface of the table, just as if you were tiling it.
Author bio:
Jennifer Miller is a DIY and craft enthusiast. When she’s not painting,
refinishing or gluing something, you can find her blogging at WhatsBestfortheNest.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment