Farm Fresh Chic - Part One- Prep Time

We all have that one piece of furniture we tried upcycling, but it might not have turned out the way we envisioned - erm yeah.

Yeah well that goes without a say for my dinner/shoe store thingamajig?

To be dead honest I have no clue what this piece of furniture is or how I came to possess it- but I love it.

It's been many things over the years - A magazine holder (which I think it is), a shoe holder, a bedside drawer, and finally it has become a dining room drawer.

But my previous paint job was a little bit of a fail. Not the colour choice parse- but we’ll have a look for yourself ....

So, in true Plaastered fashion I thought I'd show you how to take something that was maybe not so great and how to fix it up.

Check our Shopping List at the bottom of this post! I've popped in the quick video here but the full details below!!

A note - This takes A LOT of grind work. Stripping paint is not for sissies. I saved this for after Christmas (way to burn off some extra calories, seriously my Fitbit loved me)

So, this post is a three partner - This first part is the physical stripping part of it, the second and third part I have split up into the two effects I used. The one is the ombre effect (part two) on the drawers, and the other is the white was effect (part three) I used on the top of the cabinet and the edges.

Let’s get prepping!

So, before any project, always prep! PREP PREP. With this we reverse prepping and then prepping (lol). What I mean by that is we are prepping by first taking off what was there originally to start a fresh, and then prepping.

Prepping is sanding your project and taking a damp cloth and wiping the dust off and leaving it to dry. So, if your furniture just needs a little sanding (not too many tough edges) I would use a light sanding (80-100 grit paper) and you should be ready.

Also make sure you remove any hinges, knobs etc. and take out the drawers etc. It'll work out easier handling your project overall. But you're also adding a better-quality finish.

I have a bit of a pet peeve when I see painted knobs and hinges. ANNNNYYYWWWAAAYYYY

If you have wood stain, paint on your furniture you can't simply sand it off. You're going to need to strip it off.

*FOREWARNING*

BEFORE YOU USE ANY PAINT STRIPPER PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE EQUIPPED WITH A MASK, AND CHEMICAL RAPPELLING GLOVES.

The reason I say chemical rappelling gloves is I had just normal gloves and got some on my skin, and it burnt so bad I started bleeding.

Do not be like me. Be smart! This stuff is strong!

Also do this in an open area where there is plenty of ventilation. So, I did this outside.

Taking your paint brush, mix your stripper and paint a fair amount on your surface. Then leave for 10-15 minutes. You'll see the paint begin to bubble.

Now some spots are easy to scrap off and others are not. This is a massive process.

Taking some sugar soap and switching between a wire brush and scraper you're going to begin scraping off the paint. Just a tip but I found it became much easier if I dipped the wire brush in the sugar soap and then scrubbed.

Now it took off quite a lot of the paint. But not all of it. I then washed the entire piece down to make sure the chemical was completely off. I then left it to dry.

The second part is sanding.

Using my Ryobi Mouse Sander and a 180-grit paper I started sanding down. The cabinet and drawers. This also helped getting the last little bits of paint off.

I then wiped the piece down again with a damp cloth and we were ready to go with the fun bit- PAINT!

Shopping List

1. Ryobi Mouse Sander

2. Smith & Co Paint Stripper

3. Paint Brushes

4. Sugar Water Soap

5. Scraper

6. Wire Brush

7. Chemical Rappelling Gloves

Check out Part two to find out how we achieved our white wash effect, and ombre shelves .

#DIY #Furniture #Upcycle