Nightstand Makeover

One of my favorite hobbies has become furniture restoration. I love taking pieces that seem broken, ugly, and unwanted to most people and turning them into their full potential. A few years ago, I bought a coffee table for $5 at a yard sale and refinished it. Since then, I have refinished almost every piece of furniture that is now in my house.

Today I am going to share a piece that I recently did for a friend of my mom's. This was a nightstand that she wanted to use in her daughter's room, and she wanted it painted yellow and distressed. I tried to take as many photos along the way as possible, but they were taken with my phone, so sorry for the poor quality! In my next post, I will go into specifics on distressing furniture...for now, I will give a brief step-by-step on the whole process. (These tips are for solid wood furniture only)

Here's what I started with:

Step 1: Sand down to original wood.

Step 2: Do your first coat of paint on the entire piece. (I did not take a picture of this step. Sorry!)

Step 3: Distressing. Using either a power sander (I used a power sander with a 150 fine sanding disc) or a sanding block, sand down the edges and corners of the piece. I like to think about where the piece would naturally be distressed from use over time, which is typically the edges and corners. If you'd like to add more distressing to the tops and sides, you can! This part is totally up to you.

Step 4: Using a wood stain pen, stain the areas of the original wood that show through after sanding. This will bring out the richness of the wood and will help the distressed portions to stand out.

Step 5: Add a layer of oil-based polyurethane (I used MiniWax Oil-Based Polyurethane) to the piece to avoid nicking or scraping of the paint. This will help protect it from unwanted wear and tear. For a piece like this nightstand, I only coated the top with polyurethane because it is the main area of use.

To add a more updated look, I replaced the older knobs with cup pulls for the bottom drawer and a simple black knob for the top. I bought all of the hardware at Lowes.

And here are before and after photos:

And there you have it! The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is no right or wrong way to do it-let your creativity flow and go with what you think will look best!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

8 Month Hiatus and A New DIY Headboard!

Well, since it's been about 8 months since I've posted, I figured it was time for an update. In all the time since I've updated this blog, I have graduated college, worked as a nanny, been busy on LOTS of summer DIY projects, and started my first year of teaching 2nd grade! Whew. Needless to say, I haven't had much extra time on my hands.

The project I am sharing today is a headboard that I made this summer. In the past, I have used an antique mantle as a headboard for my twin bed. However, I was ready to switch to a Queen bed, so I needed a new headboard. I searched for a good deal on a larger antique mantle, but they were all way over my price range for now. So, I decided to make my own when I scored this find at a yard sale one weekend:

It may not look very pretty to you, but I fell in love with the shape. Not to mention, it was only $2!! I decided to make a nail head trim headboard and I wanted a natural look-think linen/burlap, without the side effects of burlap (sniffy nose, sneezing, etc). Here are the materials I used:
-An old twin egg crate
-Batting
-Fabric (2 yds)
-Nailhead trim
-Staple gun

I found a fabric that gave the linen look without the price tag. I found this fabric for $8/yard at Joanns, and I also had a coupon so I ended up getting 2 yards of fabric for only $8! I used an old egg crate because foam was too expensive. The batting was $7 at Walmart, and the nailhead trim was $20 on eBay.

Before I started, I tore the ugly wooden attachment off the top of the headboard. 

Step One: Cut foam/egg crate to desired shape. Leave about 1" border to allow for nailhead trim.

Step Two: Cover entire headboard in batting and staple tightly.

Step Three: Cover entire headboard in fabric and staple tightly along the back. (This step can be a little tricky-I recommend extra hands. Thank goodness for my Mom and Dad! I covered mine in a cheap white fabric that I already had as a trial run, which is what this picture is of. I didn't take one of the actual fabric stapling step because my hands were tied the whole time.)

Step Four: Hammer in nailhead trim. (I bought the kind that comes connected-it is a roll of faux nail heads, and every fifth nail head is a real one that you hammer in. Otherwise, you just simply bend the nail heads to fit the outer curve of your head board).

And here is the finished product!

Altogether, this project took me about 8 hours and $37! Until I find my dream antique mantle, I think this will do. :)

An Easy DIY Project

I absolutely love weekends because it gives me the chance to do fun crafts, paint, and catch up on TV shows I missed throughout the week. In honor of the wonderful relaxing weekend I am about to have, I am going to share a very simple DIY project that is cheap, easy, and turns out looking great!

I am a huge fan of the rugged look, and I also love the ocean and anything to do with it. So it's not surprising that I really love the look of using rope in a room because it fits right in with the rugged/nautical look. Here are a few examples of rope decor that I love:

napkin ring

doorstop

place mats and coasters

Ok, I think you get the idea. The last picture is where my inspiration came from. I realized that those coasters would be pretty simple to make, so I decided to give it a shot. Think you're up for it? Here is what you'll need:

Cork (I used a roll from Michaels, but you can use any kind)
Rope (I bought 1/4" Manila rope from Home Depot)
Hot glue gun

-Trace a circle in the desired size (I traced a coaster to get the circle and size right) onto the cork.
-Cut out however many you would like to have in your set (I did 4).
-Start the rope in the center of the circle and glue it down with hot glue.
-Coil the rope nice and tightly while hot gluing.
-To finish it off, put a little extra glue on the end of the rope to seal it. Burning the ends of this type of rope will not work.

Voila! Here is a finished picture:

I gave these to my best friend as a housewarming gift for her awesome new apartment in Greenville, and I was so excited to see how well they fit in! She lives in the LOFTS, which is an old mill building that has been renovated into apartments. Those apartments are full of character and HUGE windows, so needless to say I love them. And as for the coasters, I will be making many more sets!!
Have a great weekend!