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Tag: how to paint furniture

Furniture Makeover: Cabinet Gone Green

New content on the blog has been a bit sparse as of late, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been hard at work conjuring up more awesomeness & greatness.

Along with family life that always keeps me busy, I’ve had a flurry of new + exciting client projects (near & far), and I was away for a few days in Boston at a design conference hosted by Wayfair (check out pictures from my trip on my Instagram feed).   Being surrounded by SO MUCH TALENT & hearing others speak so passionately about their businesses, really gave me the spark and motivation needed to be open to the exploration of new & different paths as my future unfolds.  I know I am just at the beginning of this long journey of exploration…

As each day continues to unfold with wonder, I am excited about TODAY and that’s because I have a new furniture makeover project to share with you.

Check out this green beauty…

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

I love giving new life to old furniture.  A piece that is made well + has ‘good bones’, can truly live on for years.  Giving a favorite heirloom or thrift-store-find a pick me up with a dose of TLC + a fresh coat of paint, will just add to it’s life long story; its journey.

This cabinet that I have just given life #17, is older than me (so just over 21, hehe – NOT).  For decades it sat beautifully in my moms home, but for the last 9 years, it’s been a treasure in my humble abode.

It started out stained, I gave it a makeover a few years back with paint + a glaze overlay, and now it got another refresh with a major splash of color.

Hello to my ‘new’ gorgeous green beauty…

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Before I share more on the process of painting it, let me take you back to what it used to look like…

FIRST 35 YEARS.

Cabinet Before

LAST 9 YEARS.

Cabinet Before

NOW.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

She truly needed a revamp AND she got it!  She looks better now than she did at 20.  I hope they say the same about me some day…

THE PROCESS.

The last time I tackled a BIG furniture makeover >>> the china cabinet makeover, I broke all the steps into individual blog posts.  Since this is a smaller scale project, I’m going to include all the details in this one post, but if you want more specific detail on the various steps, here are the links t o check out.

> how-to prep + sand wood furniture

> why + how-to prime wood furniture

> tips + tricks to paint wood furniture

> adding details + styling

> china cabinet ‘reveal’

To start this makeover, I brought the cabinet outdoors on a pretty, sunny day a few weekends back.  When the weather is good, I love to work outdoors!  I set myself up on the driveway and got workin’.

Cabinet Before

I sanded the all the surfaces using my orbital sander + hand sanded the nooks & crannies that couldn’t be reached.

Before & After CABINET MAKEOVER: The process of sanding, priming, and painting a cabinet to give it a fresh, new look. Tutorial on www.jennaburger.com

Before & After CABINET MAKEOVER: The process of sanding, priming, and painting a cabinet to give it a fresh, new look. Tutorial on www.jennaburger.com

Then I gave the entire cabinet a good wiping off with a lightly damp cloth.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Typically I would prime the surface next (as I did with the china cabinet), but since I primed this cabinet when I painted last using a stain blocking primer, it wasn’t needed. So I went right to painting with the new hue.

The color of choice for this project was an interesting one… there’s always a story.

I envisioned a true kelly green color for this cabinet and upon working with Glidden Paint last year on the china cabinet, I had to turn to them again for this makeover!  They pointed me in the right direction for choosing the best color using their Simplified Color Palette.

Call me crazy, but I finally chose a paint color featured in the Team Colors collection. My color of choice was Boston Green, the perfect green hue from the Boston Celtics. I had it mixed at The Home Depot in Glidden DUO Paint + Primer

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Glidden Duo Paint + Primer is A+ because it truly is more than paint!  Because of the Paint + Primer formula, I save time & money.  The paint applied beautifully and the coverage was exceptional.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

I opened the can of paint and was a little taken back by the color.  It was bright.  Thankfully when it was applied to the cabinet and dried, the intensity quieted.

Using a new angled brush, I applied the first coat of paint in a semi-gloss finish.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

first coat complete.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

3 coats later it was complete.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

I paired the fiery, robust cabinet against a quiet, neutral wall and styled it with elements that were complimentary.

A few favorite books + accessories that aren’t as intense and loud sit atop the cabinet to balance out it’s boldness.

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

Go big or Go Home!  That is the motto for this cabinet makeover.

One last peek at the before & after…

Furniture Makeover: TUTORIAL ON HOW-TO PAINT FURNITURE; before & after cabinet transformation by www.jennaburger.com

What a change!

Thanks for checking out my latest and greatest DIY project.  I’ve got plenty more up my sleeve, so stay tuned.

GLIDDEN is giving away a $50 gift card to Home Depot.  Whether you have a painting project to tackle or a DIY idea that you want complete before the holidays, this is the time to ENTER, WIN, and CHECK it off your to-do list!

TO ENTER, fill out the rafflecopter box below and you’re done.  GOOD LUCK…

a Rafflecopter giveaway
DISCLOSURE: THIS IS A SPONSORED POST WITH GLIDDEN.  ALL WORDS + OPINIONS ARE 100% MY OWN – I TRULY LOVE THIS PRODUCT.  AFFILIATE LINKS ARE ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS POST.

How-To Paint Laminate Furniture

I recently shared my newly styled bookshelves, but before I added all the colorful books and stylish accessories, I gave the bookcases a much needed makeover.

Since painting the space deep blue, the once faux-wood bookcases got lost in the dark hue of the walls, and they were ready for a transformation. A crisp, fresh coat of white was the perfect solution to make a statement.

I purchased these two bookcases from Walmart about 2 years ago.  Each were around $100 and were not the best of quality (duh, look at the pricetag).  Anyway, they fit the bill at the moment, but recently the shelves started to bow.  Aside from the decision to paint the bookcases, I also needed to make a few updates so they would last a few more years – I’ll get to more on that later in the post.

Before starting the process of painting the laminate, I did a little research on the process and the first article I saw was Lindsay’s post when she transformed her TV cabinet.  It was just what I needed to get me started.

Here’s the bookcase before…

To begin, I gave each bookcase a good sanding with my orbital sander (hands down, my favorite power tool). These bookcases are made of a particle board-like  composite with a faux-wood laminate exterior. It was important NOT to sand too much because otherwise the surface would get ruined (since it’s essentially paper), but at the same time it was important to get them ‘roughed-up’ so the paint would absorb into the surface.

Then the next key step was to prime all the surfaces.  Like usual, I used Kilz Primer which blocks, seals, and preps the surface for the paint to adhere to the surface.  Primer is important, but especially when painting over laminate (as I described above).  Unlike wood, laminate is a smooth, non-porous material, so it really needs something to ‘grab’ on to – primer will do the trick!  It’s suggested that primer takes 7 days to completely dry – you can take that advice if you’d like, but I didn’t (shame, shame on me, I know).  BUT, I did wait about 4 days before painting to really make sure the surface was good-to-go!

My good blogging friend, Diane, recently wrote a post on Gripper Paint.  She uses the Glidden brand (Kilz brand has a similar product), and even though I haven’t tried it, this is another great product to use as a primer.  The name says it all.

Sidetrack Steps…

At this point of the project, I made the decision to make a few much-needed updates to the structure and look of the bookcase.  Instead of moving on to directly painting the bookcase, I decided to replace the shelves and the backing material.

As I mentioned before, the shelves were really bowing – alot – so I took a trip to my hardware store and had a long piece of 2×12 cut into lengths needed for new shelves.

And check out the back of the bookcase…  UGLY!  It was basically paper and when I started to paint the surface, it started warping even more.  Once the decision was made to upgrade the back, I crumbled the paper-backing with one hand…

To fix the backing, I had a thin piece of plywood cut to size.  Then the Mister and I flipped the bookcase onto it’s front and nailed the plywood to the perimeter of the bookcase back. (This step might seem difficult, but please be assured it wasn’t – this was probably one of the easiest steps throughout this project).

Now back on track…

After sanding, priming,and making a few updates, it was time to PAINT!

I used a brush for the corners and a roller for the flat surfaces.  In certain areas, I used a brush first, then went over the same surface with the roller to achieve a smooth, stroke-less surface. Here’s the bookcase with the first coat of paint…

Here’s a tip.  If the surface isn’t sanded or not sanded enough, then the paint will bubble (because it’s not adhering to the surface).  Check this out…

This is a No-No!

I’ll be honest, these bookcases took about 3-4 coats until I felt they were fully covered. And even after they were dry to the surface, I didn’t put anything on the shelves for at least a week.  Paint takes about 30 days to fully cure and with the heavy books and accessories sitting on them, the last thing I would want would be to have them ruined or peel!

And this is the result…

So refreshing!  Then it was time to add the books and accessories.

And here’s a peak at how the bookcases look fully styled with books and accessories.  You can check out more by viewing this post.

Painting laminate wasn’t difficult, but I did find it more time consuming than painting wood.  To sum it up, the most important steps are to sand and prime all the surfaces before painting.  If you were to skip the 2 steps, your paint would have nothing to adhere to and would most likely peel right off.  Going into this project, I wasn’t sure of the result and if the paint would even stay since the surface was so smooth, but with the right preparation, I was thrilled with the outcome.