Redo Redone Part 1: Planning

Last post I shared how I wanted to revamp a vintage nightstand that I had refinished a few years ago. I want to incorporate a nailhead trim type of a look to tie in the trim of our new living room chair. I love how this project proves it's not always necessary to go out and buy a new piece of furniture. Redo a vintage piece or if you're like me, redo it and then redo it again a few years later when you want to change things up or your tastes have changed a bit. That's what is so great about mid century pieces, they are timeless. The possibilities can be endless. :-) Here, I'll lay out more of a step by step plan of how I plan to get this Redo Redone!

So here is the rough draft of a game plan to tackle this Redo Redone (any football fans out there? :-)

1. First, I'll use a deglosser like this one and a bit of sanding to create a new, gritty surface for the fresh coat of paint. For the new color, I'll be using the Glidden paint "Island Shores." 

Ooooh ahhhh...
 

2.) Once the nightstand has been painted and has been able to cure for a few days, the plan is to apply the stud trim with a super strong glue. I picked one up at Hobby Lobby that is supposed to work well on wood. So we'll see how that goes! I'm also planning on lots of measuring, making sure lines are straight, etc for this step as I attach the studded trim. Like I've said before, lots of trail and error, as well as error and error! All of that jib-jab will be covered in the final post. 

Now for a look at the design I'm most considering using. I drew up some designs in Illustrator to get an idea of the look I'm going for...


I love the boldness of the Greek Key in the photo above. Go big or go home. :-) Originally, I drew the Greek Key part much smaller. But I think it looks a bit wimpy. I'm definitely drawn to the larger design above than these smaller ones...



The smaller ones while more subtle just don't do as much for me. I won't truly know until I start playing with the studs (ahhh yeah.) 

3.) I most definitely will need to repaint the knobs and gold at the feet of the nightstand to make sure everything goes well together. Both stud colors don't really go well with the gold knobs and feet. Note: I spray painted the knobs gold and the gold on the feet is original. 




4.) As for those fabric lined drawers, they were so fun to install (I'll be posting about that!) but I've never had to remove them before. This should be interesting. :-) I used Mod Podge to adhere the fabric and it has really stayed in place. No issues with edges peeling or anything. So I need to research some ways to remove the fabric so I can update it with a new one. Here's another look at the before and after of the drawers...

Before...
 
After...


So that's the plan so far. Of course there will end up being some bumps along the way but this should be interesting! Stay tuned for updates, I will share the results good or bad. :-) Until next time!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's high time for a new project around these parts! After adding a new armchair to our living room this summer, I felt that a few other things could be updated to accommodate the new style and textures of our chair. Enter that vintage nightstand that I refinished a couple of years ago. We've been using it as a side table in our living room right next to said chair. Although I still like the way the nightstand/table turned out, its time for something new. Something a bit more fun and edgy! Hence the studded trim above! 

Our new chair has a really awesome nailhead trim that I love. So I became inspired to incorporate more of the nailhead trim into other pieces. Here is a quick look at our current setup, new chair on the left...



If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed that I'm a total sucker for a Greek key pattern. Literally anything with that pattern on it has me swooning. As I started Pinteresting, I become really into the idea of using the Greek key pattern as a nailhead design. Here are a few inspirational images Greek key and otherwise from my Pinterest...

How amazing is that last one?! So up my alley! Not quite right for this project, but definitely filing it away under future-awesome-projects-to-do. Everyone has one of those files I assume. :-)

So first, here is a look at the vintage nightstand before the initial redo a few years ago...

Ouch... 

And a look at it now...

 

I love fabric lined drawers...

So back to those awesome studs...when I went looking in search of nailhead supplies locally (i.e. not online) I didn't find much that I could use for this project. Most of the supplies I found were larger nailheads for upholstery. With such a long nail attached, those would be much longer than the thickness of the wood they'll be going into. Not to mention hammering in each one. Luckily, these studs totally caught my eye. Not only are they awesome looking but they don't have to be nailed in because they are completely flat on the back but held together as a trim with thin string.

 

I think I have a thing for studs...

Oooh la la..... 

So I ended up buying a couple yards of studdage. (New word?) I picked up two different color options. One is a straight silver stud and the other is more of a charcoal grey color. After I get the nightstand painted, I'll just see which stud color goes best with the new paint color. Next time I'll share more about the step by step of the process and show some drawings of the pattern I plan to use!

Currently.

*Eddie says "Hi!"*

Currently I am...

Revamping: This cool wire lantern we use on our patio table. It started out a really bright lime green. As you can see it's super dirty and the sun has really faded its bright hue. This bad boy just needs a good cleaning, a bit of sanding and a new paint job to be good as new! Glad I'm finally tackling this little project. Quite often, a small little update like this can make a big difference in a space. It will be a nice for this last stretch of summer and nice weather. Final transformation to come.



Washing: Sophie! Sophie loves her a good bath. :-)



Sharing: A banana with Eddie. I've always shared my bananas with Eddie. He just loves them. You literally can't eat one in our house without him drooling at the mere sight. See what I mean?





Excited: To paint over my Chevron Canvas. I did this as a DIY a while back. I had it on the mantle forever until I tucked it away when I changed things up at the start of summer. But now I'm really inspired to paint something new on it. My friend Tiffany gave me a small blank canvas and palette knife as part of my birthday gift. First of all, best gift! I hadn't painted in forever and so enjoyed painting a fun abstract on it. Now I'm totally inspired to tackle one on a larger scale. Really excited to start this!



Admiring: Bits and details of our mantle and one of our most coveted art pieces. A stretched canvas print with the amazing artwork of Michelle Armas. We found this at our local Urban Outfitters. It was actually a display piece but luckily they agreed to sell it to us. And even discounted it because one corner has a little scuff. Sooo good. One day, I would love to buy an original Michelle Armas painting. She is absolutely amazing, check her out!


Pits and bobs...



And thanks to Danielle of Sometimes Sweet for inspiring me to do a "Currently" post. :-)

Happy Tuesday friends!

DIY Vintage Chair Redo

It is no secret that I love and have a soft spot for mid-century furniture. To me, there's nothing better than finding an unloved mid century piece that is in desperate need of repair and then giving it a second life. My friend Tiffany and I had a vintage booth for a while where we would sell our vintage wares. Not only was it a blast for us but we learned so much about refinishing vintage furniture. Mainly trial and error, error and error, etc. :-) Here is a little look at what our booth looked like...



I'm starting the blog off right with my very first furniture redo (ever)...

The chair below, which is actually a pair of two identical chairs, was such a great find. I found these chairs at Goodwill for $12. $12 for the pair. I was in love. I love the detail on the back of the chairs and cool angles of the legs and sides. The wood was in pretty good shape, just had a lot of scratches and some parts that needed some good ole' wood glue to keep the chair sturdy. But the fabric was the worst part. A dark brown, rough, itchy, commercial-carpety (I think you get the feeling) kind of fabric. I could not wait to start this redo! 



I considered sanding these babies down and doing more of a clear coat or light stain to show the grain of the wood. But as I sanded, the wood didn't look so hot to go with this option. So my love of turquoise and all around brightness won over. I chose an awesome turquoise paint swatch, some cool Houndstooth fabric from Hob Lob and went to town. So if you find yourself staring at a beaut of a chair that needs some work, it really is an EASY undertaking. Easier than a big dresser with lots of nooks and crannies. A great place to start if it is your first redo for sure. The most time consuming part is sanding. Just follow these easy steps:

+ First, just make sure to dust/rub down your chair to get excess dirt off. It helps you see what you're working with, but you don't need it to be crazy clean because you will be sanding next. Go ahead and remove the seat by just unscrewing it. Be sure to put all of your hardware in a plastic bag for safe keeping.



+ I sanded them heavily with sanding blocks like these. I find it best to use a coarse grit to start and then end with a more fine grit. The sanding blocks are great because they are easy to hold and you can even rinse and reuse them. You can also use a power sander if you have one. I didn't use mine on these because I felt I had more control with the sanding blocks.

I did a deep sanding job because I wanted to smooth out a lot of the scratches and nicks. You do have some options here though. You can lightly sand if your piece is in good shape and use a good quality bonding primer like Glidden Gripper. This will help your paint really adhere to the surface. (Note: for the Glidden primer, use the white primer for light colored paints and the grey one for more vivid colors.)



+ So you've either sanded or lightly sanded. Now the fun part! The COLOR or final paint of your choice! For mine, I sanded and used the Behr Paint and Primer in One. I highly recommend this paint! We have used this to paint every room in our home. It saves so much time and the color range is great. You will need at least two coats but three if it helps your color become more vibrant. I did two coats and after the first coat is dry, I really took a look at my chair under good lighting. I missed a lot of little areas and was able to cover them with the second coat just fine.



+ Once you've got a nice even coated chair with gorgeous looking color, you have some options as far as sealing. I did not seal mine, but for a piece that you will use heavily its not a bad idea. There are two options for sealing, a clear polyurethane topcoat or some people like to use wax. With waxing, you wax on wax off Daniel Son style and buff it out. With the poly coat, you just paint it on. I have used this Minwax finish on our stair project and found it very easy to use.

***And now for the final product....***

Oh la la...

Sorry, Eddie photobomb...he's just so passionate about vintage furniture :-)

As far as reupholstering the seat, don't be intimidated. This was my first time recovering anything. All you need is a pair of scissors to cut your fabric and a staple gun to secure your fabric in place.

+ First, lay down your existing grossly covered seat on top of your new, awesome fabric. With the print or pretty side of your new fabric facing down. Leave roughly an 1 1/2 to 2 inches extra on all sides. Now, cut your piece of fabric out.

+ Next, I would highly recommend checking out how the original fabric was folded over and stapled. This will just give you a good, general idea of how you'll staple things down. But you don't need to follow exactly how it was done. I like to start with the sides and save the front and back for last. Start with one side and starting in the middle of the seat, staple all the way down the side leaving about a half inch in between each staple. Now, when you do your other side, be sure to start again in the middle and pull your fabric extremely snug and tight! 

+ Once, you've got your sides done, your main issue will be how to fold your corners. It's not that bad. The basic step with folding your corners is you want to create a pleat. I know, pleats are bad when it comes to pants but in this case they're okay! :-) To pleat your corners, pull your pointy corner back towards the center of the seat and staple. Now pull each side back toward the center again and staple each side down. Here is a look at the front of my seat...

+ Now once you get your corners pleated and stapled down, just screw your seat back in and you are good to go! If you have excess fabric above where you've stapled, you can just trim that stuff off. And there you go, you've got yourself one fancy chair! Taking a piece that was less than desirable and making it awesome again is a great feeling. Sit back, relax and stare at the amazing thing you just made (better)!

Now, one last gratuitous before and after shot....

E-mail me if you have any before and after shots you'd like to share. Or if you found this tutorial helpful! I love seeing how other people reinterpret their vintage finds, everyone has their own style and it really comes through when you're redoing furniture like this. Hope you've enjoyed this vintage furniture redo!