So Distressed...A Furniture Redo

This is a story that starts out well, turns ugly, and then turns into something beautiful.  The other day, as I was getting ready in the morning, I was admiring my stenciled vanity and wishing I had another furniture project to attempt.  I started thinking about the various pieces of furniture around the house and had an A-HA! moment.  Hubby's night stand. 

There was nothing "wrong" with it {well, except for a dusty bottom shelf...ahem}, but it didn't particularly match anything in our room.  Plus, I keep trying to add more color in there...the walls are brown, the comforter is white, and our furniture is all wood.  A while ago, I decided to add some turquoise, so I made a pillow, and I also made some fun valances and a monogram canvas that helped bring some color in.  I thought this would be the perfect project; I could paint and stencil it and give it a whole new look!  Here's the e-conversation hubby and I had on Thursday morning.

Me: "What would you think about me painting/stenciling your night table? {No is okay}."

Him: "Sure.  Go for it, I trust you."

Did I mention I love that man?!

So, off I went to Michaels and got me some spray paint and acrylic paint.  Two days and a whole lot of issues later, I ended up with this:

Here's how I did it...and all my fails along the way!

NIGHT TABLE REDO

Materials: white spray paint, white and turqouise acrylic paint, sponge brushes, sealer, sandpaper, drawer knob, Cutting Edge craft stencil

STEP 1: First, I painted the entire table and drawer white. 

FAIL #1: I'm a terrible spray painter.

I started on the drawer and ended up giving it up because I'm just that bad at it.  I think I'm either too close or too far away or too impatient.  I keep getting funny bubbles and uneven coating and at this point I thought I was going to have to sand it all off and start over.  Fortunately, only the front is really visible when the table is together...

Meanwhile, if you're a DIY blogger, please don't ever write in a post, "Oh, then I just spray painted it..." like it's nothing.  You make the rest of us feel inferior.  :)

Solution #1: I decided to use acrylic paint and a brush instead.

FAIL #2: I ran out of paint.

Since I was planning on spray painting it, all I had was a small, not-full bottle of white paint.  It quickly ran out, especially since my table required about 82 coats of paint to fully cover some spots.

Solution #2: Mom to the rescue. 

She went to Walmart for me and picked up two huge bottles while I put Little Crafter down for his nap.  Then, when she got back, she helped me apply the 82 coats of white paint.  Isn't she a saint?

Whew.  Once that part was FINALLY finished, I moved on.

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STEP 2: Paint shelf turqouise.

FAIL #3: My turqouise paint was too dark.

I took a piece of fabric with me to the store so I could match the shade of the curtains I made, but the only one I could find was much darker than what I wanted.

SOLUTION #3: Mix it with white.

I squeezed the whole darn bottle into an old empty vegetable can and mixed it with white until I got the color I wanted. 

FAIL #4: My stencil wouldn't fit.

Originally, I wanted to stencil the shelf as well as the top of the table, but the stencil didn't want to go in there and no way was I cutting it.  It would have been doable, I guess, if I fought with it enough, but I wasn't in a fighting mood anymore. 

SOLUTION #4: I gave up and painted it solid turquoise.

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STEP 3: Stencil the top of the table.

This part actually went fine, thank goodness.  Hooray for Cutting Edge Stencils!

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STEP 4: Apply Sealer.

FAIL #5: The sealer made ugly drips and turned my white table brownish in some spots.  {can you see it in the pic?}

SOLUTION #5: Touch up ugly spots with white paint, then use a different spray sealer instead.

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STEP 5: Distress.

Can I just say this totally freaked me out?

I've never distressed a piece of furniture before, nor did I intend to distress this one.  BUT...

FAIL #6: My paint STILL wasn't fully covering in a few spots.

SOLUTION #6: Distress it and make it look like you meant to do that.

It's genius, really.  So, I pulled out the sandpaper with no idea what I was doing.  Fortunately, the table did the work for me.  Seriously.  I just started going along edges and the carvings, and poof.  Like it was meant to be.





And so, here it is!  The project I wasn't sure would be a success turned out to be something I really love.

What a difference, eh?  You'll notice one tiny adjustment...hubby turned the knob horizontally and we both decided we like that better, although I think it works either way.

Now it's brightening things up in its new home.  Although, I confess, not five seconds after I saw it all together, I said, "hmmm...now we need a new lamp."  Hubby just looked at me.

Then he said, "This is a nice lamp."  Boys.

Happy Crafting!