Looking to update an ugly piece of furniture?! Me too, well I
think we all have that one piece of furniture that is so embarrassing we just want to hide it. But don't worry; I'm here to help you!
Here is a detailed D.I.Y. post that you
can use to update your old furniture, plus this one is two toned! This post is
for more advanced DIY'ers, who may have experience in woodwork, cutting or
maybe has a man that is! The two toned look is really popular right now, and I
have had a bunch of my customers request a custom two toned look to their
furniture. I will be posting another blog similar to this but with ASCP Old White
& Dark Walnut stain two toned furniture (the most requested).
First I would like to tell you how I came
across this beauty; well it was more "beastly" to say the least. My friend, Liz,
has a boutique located in Weatherford called In Fine Feather and she has been
updating the store next to her to expand the boutique. Well after they stripped
the walls of all of the junk, wood, and other trash she called me :) Of course!
I'm the junk lady, so who better to call to come take all your junk away but
me! Well she had this shelf and another larger one that they were just going to
trash so I took it. I also grabbed a bunch of cedar wood she had torn off the
walls, which I used as a backing in my shelf.
Here is the final piece completely done
and staged for you...
Now check out the before! Wowzah! Okay it
wasn't that bad but still I wasn't into the splatter paint look along with the
years of dirt piled up on it…yuck.
My plan for this piece was to use it in
our own home for our office or spare room. So I wanted it to match our style in
that room and to also try something new, I don't particularly like trying
"crazy" new things on my customers furniture unless I'm completely
sure of how it will turn out or have seen it in person before. So I thought I
would give it a go on this ugly piece and make it into something beautiful to
show off!
I started by sanding the shelf...a
lot....like A LOT! There was so much splattered paint on it and I didn't want
that showing through when I distressed the shelf so I needed to sand it all
off. I then cleaned off the dirt and other gunk it had on it. Before I started
painting, I cleaned off the dust with a rag. You really don't have to do this
with ASCP but with all of the dirt that was on it, I wanted to.
The next step is always the best part,
painting! I used a small angled synthetic nylon brush to paint with and started
my first coat of "Graphite" by Annie Sloan. I painted everything,
even the back where the wood would be nailed to just in case any of the cedar
had holes or gaps in it. After letting it dry, I started on my second coat of
"Graphite"; the shelf only took two coats of paint. For more in depth details on my painting techniques visit our blog post Blue Jay.
When the second coat of paint is dried,
you can start distressing. I used a sander on this one, sometimes I had sand if
I'm looking for a minimal distressed piece but I wanted it pretty distressed so
I stuck with a sander. Quick and easy! I start by sanding the edges of the
furniture in random spots, and then I move along to areas that may be worn
after years of wear and tear. You really can't mess up distressing, just be
sure to have a fine grit sand paper. If you get too heavy of grit it will cause
circular scratches in your wood, which isn't pretty- I've learned that from
experience.
Now comes the longest part ever..just
kidding but really, it's tedious. I wanted a wood or cedar backing on the shelf
to give that two toned look. However I noticed that the support of the shelf
was mainly from the backing, it wasn't sturdy enough to handle the backing torn off. So I compromised and starting measuring the
height of the shelves so I could cut the cedar to fit inside.
A tape measure, pencil, chop saw, and safety glasses will be needed for this part.
Be sure and measure the width of your wood to see how many boards you will need to fill the width of the shelf. I believe it took me 4 1/4 cedar pieces to make the width of the shelf. Measure the height of each shelf as the number may vary, my top piece was a little over 9" however the height grew to 11" for the bottom shelf.
One by one I cut
and fit the wood to nail on to the back of the shelf, after I got all of the
pieces cut I started staining them.
I used my own homemade mixture for
staining the wood, this was the first time I had done something like that so I
was new to what it was going to turn out like. I filled an old jar full of
white vinegar and put a steel wool pad in it, I let it set for a day or two-
which was probably where I went wrong...it was only supposed to stay in the
vinegar for 24 hours and shaking it occasionally but of course I forgot and
left it there longer.
Which is why I think it turned the wood a lot darker than it was supposed to, but it actually worked out perfectly!! The color looked great against the Graphite distressed shelf.
Once all of the cedar planks were stained,
I let them dry and then sanded them heavily. I was going for the more rustic
worn look.
After sanding I applied a coat of Poly to them and let them dry.
When the pieces of wood were dried, I
broke out the nail gun. This was a fun part also!! I just love my nail gun,
it's so handy and makes me feel like the "who needs a man" type of
woman. haha!
I layered the cut wood on the shelf that
it would be backing and then I just
started stacking and nailing them! I used 1 1/2" nails when I did this,
just make sure that your backing and wood is thick enough to take the length of
the nail, you don't want your nails sticking out the back where they can
scratch up your walls or you!
After everything was nailed on I decided
to add some trim work to the top to give it even more character. This trim work
was given to me from Advanced Power Inc., they just remodeled their sales
office so of course I get the left overs :) yay me! I cut the pieces in a 45
degree angle to fit flush with each other; this is where some skill comes
in...but don't be intimidated! This was the first time I cut trim angled to fit
something and I just made sure I cut a little long in case I had to go back to
adjust anything.
Once they were cut I tacked them on with
the nail gun and busted out the "Graphite" Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I
put two coats on the trim work then distressed it again to match the rest of
the shelf. After the distressing I applied a coat of ASCP wax and called it
good!
This shelf was definitely a challenge but
I always love challenging myself with new things, that's the only way I will be
able to better myself for my customers. I can't wait to refinish the other
shelf I got with this one, just look at the transformation...
Just because something is ugly right now, doesn't mean it needs to be thrown away! All it took was some imagination and a few coats of paint to make it look better already; the cedar backing was the icing on the cake. :) The shelf, cedar backing, and trim work was all given to me so the only cost I have in it is the paint/wax, nails, poly, and my time. Can't beat that price with this kind of outcome!
This shelf had great "bones" and potential to be something really nice, if you have an ugly piece and you want it refinished then contact us! We would be happy to give you a quote, just send us a photo, dimensions and what you are wanting done to the furniture.
