Tuesday, October 1, 2013

DIY Guest Bedroom Furniture Revamp

In the spirit of keeping my guest bedroom update affordable I decided to revamp some furniture that I already had instead of buying new pieces. I started with a very old, very damaged dresser that was left in the garage by a previous homeowner and a Target bedside table that we've had for years (and was damaged by some nail polish remover -oops!) and

Here are some before photos:












<-- This is a stock photo off of Target's website. I forgot to take a " before" photo. Just imagine a huge blotch of finish missing off the top from a massive nail polish remover spill.








Supplies

Old Furniture
Sander/Sand Paper
Paint
Paint Brushes 
New hardware (if desired)

Directions

1.) If your furniture is really old or dusty you may need to clean it first, like I did. I just wiped everything down with a damp cloth. 

2.) Sand the bejesus out of the furniture. I used a square hand sander that I picked up from Home Depot for $21. Make sure you completely remove any glossy finishes. Once you've finished sanding, wipe down once more with a damp cloth.

3.) Paint with the color of your choice. I used a flat paint because I didn't want any gloss, although I found out later that this is probably not the ideal choice for furniture that will be used quite often. Flat paint shows more flaws and will scratch easier. I didn't go back and re-paint because the furniture looked really great in the flat and it won't be used very often in the guest room.

4.)  Swap out the hardware if you need to. I bought cute floral knobs from Etsy. This shop has a lot of really cool designs for reasonable prices. Most likely, the most expensive part of this project is going to be new hardware - it's crazy!

At this point you may be finished! I removed the legs from the dresser so that it would be at a more appropriate height for the room. I'm using this as a dual piece - it's functioning as a dresser/end table. The guest room is just too small to load it down with too much furniture and I really wanted a place for guests to place clothing, etc if they needed to. 

Check out the dresser, it looks completely different! Modern and sophisticated, even! I dressed it up with my DIY Beer Growler Lamp, a cute little succulent and an alarm clock. 



The greyish blue tone I chose for paint goes great with the bedding and other decor in the room. I love the little pops of pink in the knob - I wound up bringing in a few more pops of that pink as I went further into redecorating the room.



For the end table I decided to take things a step further by making the inside portion of the table a fun print. I researched a lot of differents options - wallpaper, decals, etc. and wound up sort of making up my own method using wrapping paper and mod podge. 

Additional Supplies

Measuring Tape 
Box Cutter
Wrapping Paper/Scrapbook paper, etc
Mod Podge 
Foam Brush
Clear Gloss Spray Paint

Additional Directions

5.) Measure the areas you wish to cover in your chosen decorative paper and cut your paper to the appropriate size. I got my paper from the online store Spoonflower. I was originally led there because I knew they had really cool wallpaper. Al the patterns that I was interested in were sold out in the wallpaper department so I opted for the "Sea Cream Ikat" gift wrap (matte) instead. 

6.) Use your foam brush and liberally brush Mod Podge onto back of paper. Carefully set paper onto furniture. Use foam brush again to brush Mod Podge over top of the paper. IT WILL APPEAR WRINKLY! DO NOT PANIC - this is ok! You can smooth out any big wrinkles, but most of my wrinkles smoothed out on their own once it dried. Do this with all pieces and allow to dry.

7.) Once dry, apply a clear coat glaze and allow to dry. 

I decorated the top of this table with an old lamp that I re-did, a birdy tea-light holder and some old books!




If you're interested in some of the other decor seen in these photos check out some of my other cool projects from my guest bedroom makeover :

DIY Starburst Mirror
DIY Beer Growler Lamp
DIY "No Tools" Headboard








2 comments :

  1. Hi Amanda! I LOVE your updated dresser idea!! It looks amazing!! The knobs you added are really cute and thanks so much for including a link to my shop on Etsy too! Your furniture is absolutely beautiful :)

    ~Nicole

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