So many times in my life I would find myself looking at my home and thinking “this just isn’t working anymore”. I need to trash it all and start all over. Then off I would go to find new things, new furniture and redo it all. This past weekend Greg and I had this same conversation about all the money we could have saved if we would have just reused, reloved and recycled what we already had. We remembered a time when our daughter turned 13 we wanted to redo her bed room. We shopped at the big box furniture stores and spent well over $3000 to refurbish her bedroom. That furniture was cheap and is long gone out of our lives now. Today I would have spent next to nothing and recycled that furniture to have new color, new life and new purpose in my home. Any furniture can be redone and I mean any piece of furniture can be redone. As long as you can make it sturdy.
People tell me all the time “my furniture isn’t real wood or its so beat up you can’t save it”. In past redo projects for the blog I have proved time and time again anything is worth saving. I’ve shown you how to take what you can from a piece that doesn’t have much life and add it to something that extends it’s life. Past projects have shown how to restore stability and repair so that the piece can be readied for a chalk paint makeover. The finished project is furniture that is up and running again for years to come. Right now I’m working on a table that belong to one of my friends grandmother. The grandmother didn’t have room for the table so she sat it outside in all kinds of weather. When I got it WOW it needed to be rescued and loved. I can save it with a little TLC, wood glue, supporting hardware and chalk paint. I can’t wait to show you that one.
A couple of weeks ago Amy bought one of my pieces a small vanity at Doc Holliday’s Emporium. She contacted me and ask could I redo her TV cabinet. She sent me photo’s and we agreed on a price and the process of the make over began. Amy was concerned because the piece wasn’t real wood. After I got my hands on it I discovered it was wood but not solid wood. It still can be redone and have new life in her home. Amy liked that some of my pieces I leave the top done in wood stain and the body in color so we did with her piece. I gave it 2 coats of Polished Turquoise from Chalk Country Paint and sanded back the edges. Amy wanted to calm down the brightness of the turquoise so I gave it a light coat with dark wax from Chalk Country. After that dried I used a very fine sand paper to even out the wax color. I finished it off with Defend clear coat and added the hardware back on. It is stunning and this dark not so cheerful piece of furniture is now a beautiful addition to Amy’s home.
You don’t have to spend ton’s of money to redo your home. This took a quart of chalk country paint, a pint of dark wax and a pint of Defend clear finish to recycle it back into her home. Amy could have gone and bought something new but why not just redo what you have and love it all over again.
