Sprucing up the old

[Starkizzer]

im2smrt4u and I were given a bunch of hand-me-down pre-used furniture when we moved into our apartment. One of the items was a awful looking dinning room table set that I quickly painted midnight black and reupholstered the seats with some awesome funky fabric I found at Ikea. I sadly do not have before pictures of this. I have also painted a dresser/bookshelf combo for our room with this same color. Both pieces came out really nice.

With an impending move to our own place coming up, smrt seemed somewhat down about taking our "old" furniture to a new "swanky" apartment (we live in So Cal, lots of new apartment complexes). We, of course can't afford to buy new furniture to replace some of our uglier pieces. This got me thinking about what other pieces needed some updating.

One is an end table that looked like it had been mistreated. Lots of water marks, chunks of the finish missing, scratched everywhere, and even the glass top is scratched. And quite honestly, I think the previous stain on it is not my favorite. I covered it in a few coats of this midnight black paint and two coats of a clear protective coat.
Before:


Two coats of black paint:

The finished product:


I am pretty pleased with how this came out, as well as the other pieces I have done previously. I'll try to take some pictures of them later.

In these hard economic times, when people can not afford to buy new furniture or spend big buck on renovation, I think sprucing up small pieces can go a long way in making ones living environment fell better.

What are some ideas that others have had or done to make things nicer with out spending a ton of money? I know people like snowy have done some renovations lately, what about everyone else? Does any one have pictures or stories? Does this inspire you to fix or do some "sprucing" of your own?

[KirStang]

Nice work.

[amonkie]

Wow that really turned out awesome. I have a piece that is almost the same color stain with a little of that wicker front on it that I got the same way you did. Where did you find your paint and what exactly did you use?

[Craven Morehead]

You should be pretty pleased. That looks great!

[Starkizzer]

Originally Posted by amonkie

Wow that really turned out awesome. I have a piece that is almost the same color stain with a little of that wicker front on it that I got the same way you did. Where did you find your paint and what exactly did you use?

I went to Lowe's and picked out a color I liked and they mixed it up for me. They mixed it in an interior latex eggshell.

The clear coat is MIWAX Water-Based Polycrylic Protective Finish, Clear Satin.

Neither were very potent in their smells, so while I completed this project on our patio, I would think that they could be used inside as well.

Used sponge brushed for the black paint and an old makeup "powder" brush for the clear coat. On previous pieces I used the sponges for the clear coat as well and noticed it created bubbles. The makeup brush worked much better.

[ellie]

I actually 'olded up my new.'

A few years ago, my neighborhood had a community yard sale where everyone sets out their stuff they want to sell which causes ridiculous traffic, etc. I hopped in the car and went browsing. Came across a great, chunky, square shaped large coffee table. I've been dying for one like this instead of my rectangle one that I already had. It has dark green legs and a block wood top. FIVE FREAKIN DOLLARS. I snagged up that puppy and loaded it in my car.

Mom's suggestion - put it outside, where I get full sun, for a couple weeks or longer. Distress the top. They're charging high dollars for this distressed look on furniture these days. So I did. It sat out there in the rain and sun for maybe 3 weeks. Now I adore it. You'd think it was a $200 piece if you saw it and it only cost me $5!

I love yard sales.

[Starkizzer]

Nice ellie!

I'm not really a fan of the "distressed" look, but I know a lot of people are. Good find and awesome way to bring something "new" into your place.

[bagatelle]

Looks great!

I have some pieces of furniture, that would need finishing. My brother and her then-gf did some work on them. They renewed an old chest our grandfather had made decades ago, it serves as coffee table now.

We have a dressing table, I remember, used to be in the small house of my great grandma, it's close to hundred years old. I have some old chairs as well, but they are a bit too low to sit at our current table, which is new, so I don't know what to do with them.

[Starkizzer]

Know anyone who is good with wood working? You could always see if the legs can be replaced for longer ones.

[bagatelle]

That would be too much work, the back legs go up as part of the rest.

I don't know, if they would look dumb with some sort of booster seat (?). I could take a photo later to show the difference.