2.25.2011

Old Beauty Given A New Life

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on here, but I think I might actually have something fun to share. Before the holidays, I spent many grueling hours laboring over this guy:

I picked this up at a local flea market and while it wasn't horrible, red just isn't my favorite color and the paint job was pretty crummy. Not only did he use canned spray paint, but he also failed to prep the piece before applying the paint. There was wood damage all over the top that looked horrible. Here is a sample:


Since the piece was a solid mahogany, I decided to strip it down and refinish the wood. Unfortunately, once I got down to the bare wood and could properly assess the damage, it became apparent that it might not be salvageable. The damage was pretty extensive and there were water stains all over it. I busted out my hand sander though and decided to give it a try anyways. No luck. I was going to have to paint it. At least now I had the opportunity to apply wood filler to the damaged areas and get a nice even surface.

I knew I wanted a deep moody blue...but do you know how many shades of blue there are?! Well, I finally decided on Gentleman's Gray by Benjamin Moore.


One coat oil-based primer out of the spray can + one coat water-based tinted primer + 2 coats paint in gentleman's gray + 3 coats polycrilic... now I have a gorgeous statement piece right in our living room.


As you can see, I also updated the hardware with a oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. I'm pretty proud of it and it definitely inspired me to complete some of the other pieces that currently rest in our basement furniture graveyard! I may or may not have a Goodwill addiction...

3 comments:

  1. Very cute! I have dreams of refinishing things, how did you know how to do all that stuff? Crafty:) And glad to see you back on here, it's been lacking a bit o Larissa:)

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  2. Hi Beth! I wasn't sure if anyone still reads this, but I am glad to see that my efforts (although minimal) are worth it! Oh and good ol' internet research will do the trick... as well as bugging the crap out of the guys at your local True Value. I've learned a ton so let me know if you ever have questions or need help! I love doing stuff like this.

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  3. Looks gorgeous! Nice job!!

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