Dining Room Makeover Part 2

How is everyone’s weekend going? It’s nice and overcast here making it a lovely day after this heat we’ve been having here.

Remember the dining table I painted recently? See that piece of furniture on the left? It looks like it’s got stickers on it.


Yep that was my latest project. I've had that hutch since about 1999.

Here's a better image of it without the sliding glass and my collection of vintage items handed down to me by my family.



… and this is what it looked like when I first bought it from a second hand shop in Bundaberg. Sorry but it's the best only image I have.


That's my son Cody at the age of 6 isn't he a little cutie.  He was supposed to be doing his homework but when he saw the camera he just had to pose. It’s a different story now. Damn shame they have to grow up LOL

OK back on topic guys.

When I bought it, it was rather bland. Varnish ply doors, white paint and no real character at all. To give it a new look, I added the molding on the doors and painted it this blue-green-ish colour from Taubmans, painted the inserts grey and added some 'Wallies'. Definitely late nineties country going on here and in need of a whole new look.

Oh and check out the outdated contact paper. Now that was a task and a half to remove.


Fast forward to 2012. Isn't it amazing what a little bit of paint and stain can do? I'm loving it. I used Taubmans "Ivory Tower" and Cabot's “Bazillion Roast”  custom stain for the timber and also as a glaze to darken the paint finish. Minwax satin wipe-on poly was used to protect the whole piece.




I haven’t lined the shelving or drawers yet because I’m still looking for a design that appeals to me. Maybe I’ll even have a go at printing my own using the many awesome tutorials online.

Here are the before and after pics of the hutch again.

  Here's how my dining room looks so far PLUS a sneak peak of my next project. Can you guess what it is?


 Till next time and stay safe.

Jenni (aka Smokeygem)

My Introduction to Painting Furniture

I bought 6 of these kitchen chairs back in 1999 for $20 each at a little second hand store at Bargara near Bundaberg QLD, and although they had a beautiful shape about them, the upholstery was so 1970’s. Ghastly brown and orange textured fabric that looked like, well, look at the before pic and I think you know what it looked like.

When I painted them, the crackle finish was so the in thing at the time. My first attempt, although I thought looked good, was quickly changed when my mum said it looked like “rotting timber”. OH NO!!!! It had to go, so when I found the gorgeous blue fabric I knew that it had to be blue and white.

Due to my lack of painting knowledge at the time, I used artists’ tube paint, and boy did I spend a fortune. I guess that’s why I took so long to paint them.

Lesson learned: Use house paint. It reacts the same way to crackle medium and is a lot cheaper. I’ve heard that a type of glue “Elmer’s Glue” works just as well as crackle medium so I’ll have to experiment one day with other brands

BEFORE

AFTER