Distressing Furniture

The hubs and I have been blessed with families that unloaded their old furniture onto us when we moved out.  Which is actually kind of awesome because we saved lots of money.  But it's less awesome when the furniture is outdated and non-matching.  Luckily for us, I'm a thrifty DIY kinda gal!

I did some serious research (ahem) on Pinterest, and consulted my copy of the very 90's DIY paint book Debbie Travis Painted House (thanks Mom!).  And came up with this!

I lightly sanded the wood finish and used a basic flat white primer to get a good base on the furniture.  I then applied a light blue paint that I picked up for about $3 from Squamish ReBuild, a local re-use it centre.  I also picked up the vintage brass knobs for $0.50 each.  Which was nice because my "Lady Dresser" takes 12 of those bad boys...

The top drawer on the "Man Dresser" had 2 simple knobs, which actually coordinated beautifully with the more feminine knobs on my dresser.  So they got to stay.  I've always disliked the original drawer pulls on N's dresser, so was pleased to find replacements at Lee Valley that matched the other knobs.

I asked my parents for 4 of them for Christmas.  Hey, it's kind of a lame present BUT we needed them AND it saved me a trip into Vancouver...  the stress, the mileage, the fuel.  Win!

Just in case you were wondering how to keep a toddler and a puppy away from an active painting project...  You will require a fence.

Here's a close up of the sanding on the base coat:

I kind of followed a mixture of things I found on Pinterest, and the Antiquing technique from the Debbie Travis book.  I'm not sure if my paint was just drying too quickly in order for the steel wool to be much effect, but I found that a heavy duty sandpaper was my best option to reveal the base coat and original wood finish.

After the light blue base coat had thoroughly dried, I applied the dark indigo top coat.  It's Behr from Home Depot.  I can't remember the name.  Probably Mystical Night or something stupid like that, ha!  Same thing as the base coat, lightly scuff the edges and along drawer fronts where wear-and-tear would naturally occur over time.

Once the dark blue paint had dried, I used a sponge brush and an old rag to buff the furniture with a dark walnut wood stain.  This definitely added a more antique look to the pieces, as well as providing protection for the exposed wood.

I'm so pleased with how the dressers turned out.  I can't wait to re-finish all of the old, outdated furniture in our house.  Summer can't come soon enough!

Happy Monday everyone,

xxx

Caramia