Rocking Chair Hack

Welcome back to another version of the Crazy Hacker! Yes, I have been known to hack apart communion tables for parts and now I have used my hacking skills to turn parts of an old rocking chair into two useful home decor projects. I started to take the chair apart to reupholster but when I got it down to its bones, it was really not worth repairing. 

So I did what any good repurposer does and looked for what could be saved!  I saw potential in the back and a brace as seen below:

I primed with grey primer since the wood is red and I wasn't sure what color I would be using so in case I decided to go light, I did not want red bleed through to the final product.  I found an awesome fabric remnant and decided to go blue!

I covered a piece of Luan with the fabric to create a pin board and then added a leftover wood piece from a mantel to make a shelf. Because the back angled out from the wall we added pegs to the back to make the shelf sit level. This got snapped up pretty quickly!

The brace got turned into a cute little towel rack just by adding a dowel. 

So before throwing out a broken chair, check under its hood for parts! You just might be surprised at how you can save something that might have sentimental value to you and you'll do us all a favor and keep it out of the dump.

He has a purpose for our brokenness as well. It is for His glory to be shown when we come through trials and suffering and even better….it is for our renewal and to create our dependence on Him. You can stand up to anything if you bow your will to Him.

Isaiah 14:24

"The LORD Almighty has sworn, Surely as I have planned so it will be and as I have purposed, so it will stand" 

Always being renewed,

Using knobs/hardware as inspiration for painted details

Hello guys and gals…

I am presenting this little black and cream dresser for your viewing pleasure today.

When I found this little beauty is was pretty much a wreck. It looks good at first glance and then…

you see veneer issues….

 and some ungodly wax that had been spilled all down the front of the drawers.

So because I knew I wanted to paint the surround black I knew I had to fill in the veneer really well and super smooth. 

Black shows every imperfection!

For that I use Bondo, an automotive dent repair epoxy. It sets up super fast so you can sand in 5 minutes! and I like the finish for veneer issues better than wood filler. 

The wax was another story. I had to scrape, then sand and then scrape again to make sure it was all removed. Then it was all about the painting.

I did not originally have that little medallion painted anything but cream and it was bothering me. It looked like an afterthought. But I needed new knobs for it so I headed to Hobby Lobby to scout out some inspiration hardware.

This is what I came up with.  You can layer your hardware! This set up is actually a backplate and a single knob. I knew the single knob wouldn't be visually hefty enough for the dresser. But I wanted that teal! So I kept looking and that's when I came upon the backplate and knew that was the answer.

 Once I got home I then realized how much of a genius I really was once I saw that I could use the motif from the knob to make a stencil for the medallion. Genius sometimes comes in fits and starts.

Luckily I even had a little teal architectural sculpture to add to the staging!

So if your painted piece is lacking something and you are not sure what, look to hardware as inspiration. Try layering hardware or just taking cues from the design. You never know when lightening might strike!

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!
       

 

     

Island Dream Dresser

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So in the midst of getting the shop up and running, yeah still not done…. I got an email from a local girl who wanted her dresser painted. Since I now have rent to pay I of course said of course!

She had grabbed it from the neighbor's trash and it had been "makeover" before with some really thick white paint, a bad brush, and some even worse hardware. But I am glad that Sarah could see the potential because is still had its original casters and the dresser was very sturdy. She picked a beautiful turquoisy teal color called Island Dream from Behr.

I had to take all of these photos with my smart phone since I haven't been smart enough to get my real camera down to the shop so I apologize but I think you get the idea. Here are the befores:

I had to use Bondo, an automotive epoxy to fill in the missing paint since they had really piled it on thick. You could see all of the brush strokes and wood filler does not do a good job in these kinds of situations where there is an actual ledge where the paint meets the wood. Because I had such large patches to fill in a used a little less accelerator than I normally do so I had a bit more working time. I needed to get the Bondo all on and then have time to smooth it out using my wide scraper. It sands so nice and filled in some other deep dings as well. 

Once I gave the whole thing a really good sanding, then it was time to get to work on the drawers. 

 Because Sarah had chosen single pulls for the drawers, I filled in all the holes with wood filler and once dry,  gave the holes a layer of the Bondo since there were heavy gouges around the holes where the previous hardware had been. Then these too got a good sanding and we are ready to paint!

Want to see what Island Dream looks like??

I'd say it looks pretty dreamy! Love the mercury glass knobs from Hobby Lobby.

When I first painted the dresser and drawers, I liked the color but it looked a little flat. The left is the original and the right is with stain. Even with the distressing, I wasn't thrilled. So I used Dark Walnut stain from Minwax on one of the drawers and texted Sarah a photo to see if she liked it. I figured if she didn't, one drawer wasn't too bad to paint all over again. She loved it and so the rest of it got stained as well. Stain just changes the color subtly but gives your paint color more depth.

I have absolutely no props down at the shop yet except so I had to use my tree stump for "ambiance".

I think it is kind of dreamy.

If you want to stay more updated on the progress of the shop, follow my Instagram feed since I am way more on top of that than the blog right now!

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/2013/04/01/that-diy-party-10/#xgMAcRCgRocl5vmh.99       

 

 

http://www.remodelaholic.com