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    Furniture in Distress Part II – It’s DONE!!!

    February 9, 2010 |

    Wow! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the comments you sent me! I’m so touched that you took the time to let me know how you liked it!

    We finally finished our hutch and corner cabinet on Saturday, and I loooove it!

    See the start of the project here.

    IMG_0659

    Let me just say, distressing is harder than I would have imagined, especially if you don’t have a sander handy. I thought it would have been really easy, just sand at some furniture and DONE! What I didn’t factor into the equation was that for your first time trying your hand at it, distressing is kinda hard to wrap your mind around. If you’ve never tried it, let me explain.

    Take an piece of furniture in need of some lovin. Prime, let dry, paint one coat, let dry, now paint two coats, let dry. Stand back and look at how AMAZING your furniture turned out! Wow, what an improvement! Now, take a razor or 5-in-one 14-in-one tool and beat that beauty up! WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!? I know. That’s what I was struggling with.

    Once you accept the fact that a.) damaging paint and your furniture can be a good thing, b.) sandpaper won’t do ish if you don’t have a sander (use the above mentioned tools or get creative), c.) you can’t “do it wrong,” d.) it doesn’t have to be perfect, then you’re golden! I struggled with all of these and after about 15-30 minutes of scraping away, I got it and the process seemed to go much better and it really started to looked better. Just. Let. Go. And you’ll do great. 🙂

     

    Some before and afters of my new favorite pieces of furniture:

     

    the “before before” and the “one coat of paint before”:

    IMG_0275IMG_0594 

    after!

    IMG_0705

    corner cabinet before:

    IMG_0276

    and after!

    IMG_0706 

    Do you see me? I see me!  To re-cap, we primed using Kilz 2 primer (leftover from priming almost our whole house), painted 2 coats of Valspar’s Quail Egg ($22, used half), painted existing hinges and brass knobs from freecycle ($2, for half a can of Oil Rubbed Bronze), and distressed using a 14-in-one tool and razor blade for the small corners (had it). Although we haven’t applied glaze just yet, we bought Valspar’s Mocha Transulcent Glaze ($14 something), buuuuut found a brand new bottle of the SAME glaze at our local ReStore ($2, we’ll use maybe .25 worth). Scooore! I’m so returning the other glaze when I go to pick up more ORB!

    Total cost: $13.25! 

    We got the corner cabinet for $15 and the hutch from my Aunt Liat! The canisters were $15 for all from a garage sale and I was excited to see the word “IKEA” on the bottom. Sadly, they’ve been discontinued (sniff, sniff), so if you see something similar in a store or that you have, LET ME KNOW!! 

    The pictures really don’t do it justice and I’ve had a hard time getting the lighting right in all of the pictures (sorry!).  Here’s a comparison of the wood, painted and distressed:

    IMG_0648

    some close-ups:

    IMG_0659IMG_0668

    IMG_0673   IMG_0678IMG_0679  

    The two pieces REALLY brighten up the room, it just transforms the space. Hopefully, I’ll be painting the table and chairs to unify them all, but we’ll see.

    What do you think?

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    Comments

    1. FirstComesLove.Then

      May 20, 2010 at 1:21 pm

      Wow! I love what a major transformation these projects became!!! They don't even look like the same pieces! We are getting ready to do the same to some our of furniture. I am wondering though, did you have to sand the pieces at all before priming? I was hoping we didn't have to but everywhere I read, it says you should to make the paint stick???Thanks! Love your blog:)Nikki

    2. Annie @ The House That Jade Built

      March 25, 2010 at 8:45 pm

      Fabulous redo! I love when my sandpaper hits something - the distressing is my favorite part anymore - other than admiring the work when I'm done 🙂

    3. Kaysi

      February 15, 2010 at 7:51 pm

      These look great. I love the distress look!

    4. The Prudent Homemaker

      February 14, 2010 at 4:46 am

      I think it matches your new kitchen nicely! I love how you're painting everything white; it really pulls it all together and makes it beautiful!

    5. Bonnie @ House of Grace

      February 10, 2010 at 3:04 pm

      Great job Ann Marie!!!!I love it. Great find on the glaze. You guys did awesome!!! I also love the angled shots, it looks so professional!!!!!! What's next super mammma?!?!?!

    6. Thelittlebrownhouse.us

      February 10, 2010 at 2:00 am

      I absolutely love them!!! I really can't imagine them even in black, like you said you thought about doing. The white is just stunning. They look so very good!! I can't believe what a difference paint makes!Great job- and even while pregnant too!

    7. [email protected]

      February 09, 2010 at 8:47 pm

      Gorgeous!I think I have the EXACT same hutch sitting in my garage. It was from my bedroom set when I was a little girl. I need to dig it out and paint it up!!!Love what you did.~Amy

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    Hi, I'm Ann Marie. I want to help you find peace in your home through simplifying your life, taking on small projects, and learning to find your style. Learn more about this site and why I started it...

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    Hi, I'm Ann Marie. I want to help you find peace in your home through simplifying your life, taking on small projects, and learning to find your style. Learn more about this site and why I started it...

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