DIY: Furniture Painting

by - Wednesday, May 21, 2014

A few weekends ago I got the hankering to do a DIY project. I jumped at the opportunity because it's not every weekend that I can (or want to) do the little projects around the house! I had been on the hunt for a vintage roll up desk for quite some time. I'm talking scouring thrift stores, consignment stores and Craiglist for months (and months and months). Either they were too expensive, were too beat up to fix, or further away than I wanted to travel. I lucked up and found this one for free (!!!!) It had been well loved, but it still had great bones. It just needed a little TLC. I decided I wanted to put it in our guest room as a place to store extra desk items and in lieu of a night stand. This was probably one of my favorite DIY projects to date. The fact that it turned out so well was just an added bonus!
What you will need:
-cloth or wet paper towel to remove any excess dust,etc.
-Primer (I use Valspar primer)
-Spray Paint (I use Rust-oleum Satin)
- gloves (spray paint seems to explode on my hands every time)
-a sheet/newspaper/cardboard to cover your work area
-screwdriver (if removing hardware)
After having a few DIY projects result in really bad brush strokes from primer, I have sworn myself to using spray paint primer. Personally, I find it easier to cover the surface and it's easier to conceal those not-so-perfect parts. I really like that Valspar goes on so easily and dries fairly quickly (within an hour if not less). That is also a huge advantage.
After my primer is fully dry, I move on to the actual spray paint. There were a few areas on this piece that showed some drip marks from the primer, so I sanded those and then got to work. I fully painted one coat of paint on the desk, then let it dry for a few hours. I pulled out all of the drawers and painted them separately. I then put a second coat on the desk. I always suggest a second coat even if it looks evenly covered with the first coat.
Once every part of the desk was dry, I added the hardware. I ended up keeping the original hardware on the drawers, but added classic, clear knobs on the roll up part of the desk. The combination of these turned out so well for a classic roll up desk look.
I couldn't have been more thrilled with the way this DIY project turned out! It gives me motivation to do more DIY projects around the house. I often find that if I get an idea (via Pinterest of course) and am patient, the result is always worth it.... especially for a girl on a budget!!

Have you had any successful DIY projects? If so, link them in the comments below- I would love to check them out!

Written by Emily from Life with Emily
Tags :

You May Also Like

2 comments

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Created with by ThemeXpose