Sunday, October 7, 2012

Adventures in Furniture Painting (long)

I love all the painted furniture ideas I see on Pinterest. As my friend Lindsey said "I have decided that everything, EVERYTHING looks better painted". I have decided that, too! I have a big project to tackle for Alexa's room redo (with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!), but I thought I would start a little smaller. I did research on all my Pins about painting laminate furniture and painting without sanding and came up with a plan!

This post is long, so for those of you who don't want to read on, here is my project:

Not too bad, huh?
Here's what I did-

My Products:

I got them all at Ace Hardware. Wood filler to fill in the old hardware holes, primer, "Aura" paint by Ben Moore {color-black bean soup} and the top coat. I deviated from most of the tutorials on the primer and top coat and chose products that are water washable {and less fumy/toxic}. We will have to see how they hold up. I also purchased the new drawer pulls at Ace, 75% off for $1.75 each. They match our bathroom fixtures which are all oil rubbed bronze as well.

Tools:

My research said that the Purdy paintbrush is a must, and after using it, I totally agree. It applies the primer and paint so smoothly! The tack cloth is for removing dust from sanding, and I used the foam roller on all the larger surfaces.

It was a long process, mostly due to long wait times, but here goes.

First, I removed the old hardware and cleaned it really well. Once it was clean, I filled in the holes with wood filler:
 I left the whole thing alone for a day. Then came the only, minimal sanding. We sanded the puttied areas and a few other areas that were not level {water damage, peeling veneer} and wiped it down with the tack cloth. Then I applied the first coat of primer:
You can see some lack of coverage with the first coat. I waited 12 hours to paint the second coat, then another 12 for the third:

 {after 3 coats of primer}

I let the primer dry for a few days before moving on to painting. 
 Love the Purdy brush!
First one coat:

 12 hours later, coat two:
 12 more hours, coat 3:
 Then we wait a few days again for the paint to cure and it's on to the topcoat.

You can't really see it, but it goes on thin and milky, and dries clear and is a satin finish. I did 2 coats of Polycrylic with, you guessed it, 12 hours between! 
Finished! Whew!
After that I left it alone for almost a week before I put on the hardware and moved it to its new home in my bathroom:



 Tony got me the really cute contact paper for the drawers.

I love it and I can't wait to get all the clutter put away in it!

Monday, October 1, 2012

First High School Dance

Celeste just attended her very first high school dance and I can not believe how fast time goes (I know I sound like a broken record, but seriously???). She was asked to go by a friend/classmate of hers, Sterling. He asked her by bringing her this bouquet at school:
 Beautiful, Right? She was so excited about her plans, a group date with 6 couples to Monti's La Casa Vieja in downtown Tempe, and then the dance. Since they are all Freshman (and don't yet drive or date) the kiddos and parents all met at the Hayden Flour Mill for pictures, had dinner at Monti's (separately from the kids of course) and then drove them to the dance. Celeste and I went downtown early to do some photos for her "school" pictures. {in case you don't remember how I feel about school picture view here and here.}
So, here are a few of my favorite "school" photos:





 I know I'm not impartial, but dang is she beautiful!
Then it was on to the flour mill to meet up with her date:

 They exchanged the corsage and boutonniere.
 Celeste and Sterling.  
{He happened to match her dress perfectly, which was purple with blue iridescence, but all the photos picked up more blue! Go figure!)
The GORGEOUS girls:
 Angela, Taylor, Katherine, Celeste, Abbie, Kira
What a beautiful group of young ladies!
Kira, Angela, Katherine, Abbie, Celeste, Taylor

And the couples:
 Angela and Eric, Celeste and Sterling, Kira and John, Abbie and Nick, Katherine and Conner, Taylor and Shae.

Conner, Katherine, Eric, Angela, Taylor, Shae, Celeste, Sterling, Kira, John, Abbie, Nick  
Then they were off to dinner at Monti's, Senator's room:
 Celeste said she had a lot of fun at her first dance, and actually even danced! Yay!