Here's my old, unfinished TV stand (or Armoire) that I purchased YEARS ago. I think this was my very first furniture purchase EVER... I bought it (on layaway) at Walmart, to house my big 31" TV (which was "big" to me, at the time) I never even thought of painting it. Staining it, maybe. But after seeing how easy it is to paint ~~ And it seems everyone is painting EVERYTHING these days! ~~ using the french painting technique that I found on the Life in Grace blog, I was immediately convinced that THIS is what I wanted to do!
I noticed that a lot of the blogs that I stumbled upon are *very* big on the turquoise colors to paint furniture... Which I absolutely LOVE, But, I didn't have a "deep turquoise" paint and so my Honey suggested that I use the blue paint that we already had. I bought a gallon of this bright, vibrant blue paint for the huge Texas flag that I painted on the outside of Jimmy's "man shed" last year. I really like the color AND, to be "different" (of course) I figured it would work out perfect! (Great idea, Babe!)
I pretty much followed the same steps as the blog above but with my own twist. In trying to save every penny, I try to use colors and stains that we already have available. I had bought a metallic gold and a turquoise color in spray paint cans recently, knowing that they would come in to play in the armoire make-over. The other lady used a dark brown paint to show the distressed look in her peice ~ However, I thought that the gold would look better! I used a candle to go over the edges where I wanted the gold to show through the blue, before I sprayed it (just as she did in the blog linked above)... Supposedly, there's different grits of sandpaper that are ideal for using in the various projects. I had one kind, though-- Don't know what grit it was -- but it was probably too heavy. OH, and (4-1-1!) I probably should have SANDED the entire cabinet BEFORE I painted!! The paint comes off too easily, sandpaper or not! (Mental note taken for the NEXT wood painting project!)
After I got the metallic gold everywhere I wanted, I instinctively began to spray the cabinet doors with the turquoise! It's almost as if I knew to do this... Maybe I've seen it somewhere before. Yea, that's probably it ~ I watch a lot of HGTV for inspiration! So while the two colors dried, I headed for my favorite little rustic country store, RND Rustics for some cool-looking door pulls! Yea, those boring round, wooden ones had to GO!
I wanted to find (and buy) new hinges, too, but they really didn't have anything that was appealing to me... Or rustic, I should say. So I settled for door pulls only. Oh, and the lady who owns (and runs) the store told me that these pulls are still made the "old fashioned" way! ~ Which makes 'em even COOLER, in my book! =)
As soon as I get back, I immediately began painting the entire cabinet in the vibrant blue. I used a cheap, dollar store paint brush (instead of a hand roller). I like the brush marks that were left behind and made sure to leave 'em like that, so the paint already had a distressed effect without even having touched it with sandpaper!
The cabinet originally had a top shelp for extra storage (electronics, nick-nacks, etc) but that was ruined when I had it in storage at one time. The shelf was made of cheap particle board and it wharped with the humid weather. SO, I gave my wonderful handyman the task of making a new shelf for the unit and put him to work! ("Chop, Chop"!) ;)
FYI ~ We "redneck-ify" a lot of things around here, simply to save money and cut costs. So, where someone else may have went to the local lumber store and bought a brand new piece of wood for the shelf, Jimmy went outside and found 4 pcs of used wood fence pickets, instead. He measured and cut two 2x4's to use as supports for the pickets... which were measured and cut to use as our new shelf! =)
FYI ~ We "redneck-ify" a lot of things around here, simply to save money and cut costs. So, where someone else may have went to the local lumber store and bought a brand new piece of wood for the shelf, Jimmy went outside and found 4 pcs of used wood fence pickets, instead. He measured and cut two 2x4's to use as supports for the pickets... which were measured and cut to use as our new shelf! =)
Installing this new "shelf" wasn't an easy process... In fact, somehow things got a bit shifted and resulted in a lop-sided shelf! (which you'll see when I post the picture of the finished cabinet, doors wide open...)
I waited until the next day to sand. The lady who I got the candle idea from, suggested that you'd only need to wipe the areas where you want the brown (or gold) to show through. I just went to sanding... I sanded-off too much in some areas. But from a distance (like in this picture, for example) you really can't tell. But since I neglected to SAND the entire cabinet BEFORE I began painting, I'm thinking I'll probably need to put some sort of sealant or top coat over the paint, so as to prevent any further paint from coming off. And it comes off WAY TOO EASY... Durn. Any suggestions on what I can use to do this???
Aaaaaaand, here's the cock-eyed, redneck-ified shelf that my Dear Jimmy made! OH, and incase you didn't notice yet ~ the door pulls on both the top AND bottom are lop-sided as well! He says it gives it character, I say that I'm going to forever notice that everything is "off" and it's going to bug the crap outta me for the rest of time! (LOL)... Seriously, that kinda stuff annoys me. But, I love my Honey for giving it his all and doing those tedious little tasks that I (otherwise) would not have done... 'Gotta love him!!!
Well, I love how it turned-out. 'Reminds me of faded old blue jeans! (Which I love, too!) Jimmy and Tatum like it... Everyone seems to be happy with the livingroom make-over thus far... And there's more to come! Just wait and see... Or, as my mom would say, "Hide and WATCH!" =D
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