Sunday, August 7, 2011

Out with the Old and in with the ....Old

So I finally finished our "New" TV credenza (Get the back story here). This was one of my first wood finishing projects. Usually when dealing with wood furniture I just paint the piece, but this project involved stripping and sanding. It was tough but the final product was worth it!


Here's the before piece; a dresser I bought off Craigslist about 2 years ago that we had used in Con-Man's room. It came with a mirror and everything!



And here it is now! All freshly painted and stained serving as our "new" TV credenza:



Like I said, it was a long process to get it to this point but well worth it. I started off by stripping the old paint off the drawers using a paint stripper.



I followed the directions on the can- you just brush the stripping solution on, wait about 10 minutes for the chemical to work, then scrape it off. I used a scraper with a metal edge. I tried using one I bought from Walmart that was cheap and had a plastic edge, but it didn't work well at all.


Most of the paint came off pretty easily, but some of it did not. 



My original hope was to strip off the paint and use the original wood stain underneath. But the paint came off unevenly and some of the veneer came off as well.


So I ended up having to sand everything off completely on all 8 drawer fronts. Hooray... Once that was done though the wood looked pretty nice. I was about to stain it when I noticed something- when I was using a damp rag to wipe off the dust from the sand the wood had a nice color to it. I liked it and decided to forgo staining and just put a clear coat of poly.




I skipped the water based poly because it was more expensive, but I wish I had shelled out the extra bucks because this stuff smelled! I put 3 coats of Semi-Gloss poly on each drawer. I tried using a brush meant for staining on the first coat but it left brush marks. So for the 2nd and 3rd coats I used a foam brush to ensure a smooth finish. 

Once the drawers were finally done I moved on to the credenza. I gave it a light sanding to even out the finish then rolled on a white primer/paint combo.


I rolled on 2 coats of the white paint letting it dry completely between coats.

My original plan was to buy new hardware. The hardware that came with the credenza was a brassy color that I had spray painted silver when I first bought it. But the only places in our town that sell hardware are Walmart and Ace- neither place had anything that caught my eye. (The things that did were too expensive). So for the time being I reused some spray paint I had from another project and repainted the knobs to go with the new finish.


To make the piece functional for it's new use I removed drawers that were behind the center doors and drilled holes in the back of the credenza to accommodate wiring.



All the drawers are perfect for storing DVDs and other things that seem to accumulate in our living room.


I love the newly finished wood and the way it contrasts with the fresh white paint.





Now that our credenza is looks all good and snazzy I need to get started on reupholstering those orange chairs! 

Linking here

37 comments:

Mary said...

You did such an awesome job on this! It's really beautiful!

orchidlanedecor.com said...

I liked it in the before photo but the after is, like, WOW. What a labour of love. Well worth it too, looks great.

Suzy xxx

Tammy@InStitches said...

It looks great, love the colors !

Allison@FabRehab said...

Beautiful!! Well worth the sweat equity!

Andrea . Charcoal and Crayons said...

Looks gorgeous! I am in the process of painting our side table white and was planning on leaving the drawers a stained wood. I was beginning to doubt myself, but now that I've seen how amazing your credenza turned out, I can go ahead with confidence. Thanks!

Catherine said...

I'm looking forward to your orange chair redo. I have a chair that is sad and could use a face lift.

Do you know if there are places that sell the foam that goes inside cushions? My couch is looking very smashed.

Sandy said...

Love this color combo, you did a great job!

the cape on the corner said...

oh my gosh, oh my GOSH! i love that, it's gorgeous! that two tone, those knobss! i so am trying to talk the boyfriend into doing this with a piece i bought. think it'd be much better than what we have now. inspiration! fantastic!

Unknown said...

I've been putting off a similar project because it seems like SO much work. Your dresser turned out great! It looks as if it was worth all the labor that went into it.

Kate said...

Very cool! It turned out great. I love that you stripped the drawers.

Amy @ TheMombot.com said...

i love it! great call on stripping the wood instead of just painting it - it looks beautiful!

Suzy www.savedbysuzy.blogspot.com said...

I love the combo of stain and paint. You did a beautiful job! I would love to have you join my linky party on Thursdays.

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

LOVE this! Beautiful piece. Thanks for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

Tricia said...

This piece is stunning, and your patience and follow-through are admirable. I have a lazy streak a mile long. When I got to the "partially stripped" stage, I may have given up. lol! Wish I was kidding. ;)

Cassie Bustamante said...

hello gorgeous! i LOVE it!!!!

chris said...

What dazzling results for all your hard work! It definitely was a hidden gem. Well done!

Laura Lofgreen said...

Love, love it!

Holly Gruszka said...

I've been looking for a piece like this for so long. It's so great - you did an excellent job! Enjoy it! Found you on Suzy's blog.

InMyOwnStyle said...

Hi Rachelle-

Wow - it came out great. What a lot of work you put into it - stripping is hard and smelly. I like the way you created the two tone effect. It now looks like a high end Mid-Century Modern piece.

My best- Diane

Andrea said...

This is beautiful. I love the two tones. Great job!

Lindz said...

I love this, this definitely inspires me!

Brooke @ Inside-Out Design said...

That was so worth the pain of stripping off all that paint, cause it looks so cool now with the drawers in the wood tone outlined with the white. Awesome job!

Erin said...

What a great piece! Drawers are definitely a must for all that TV storage.

Isn't stripping paint the worst? I think I have nerve damage in my forearm from it.

Anonymous said...

That's some beautiful wood under there! great job :)
I'm a follower now!

MissPrissyville said...

WOW! I'm so used to everything being painted over that I forget sometimes that strippers are wonderful! That was some beautiful wood hiding under there! You made a great decision to show that off!

Shabby Marilyn said...

All that hard work paid off, beautiful! New follower, hope to have you stop by!

barnowl said...

Lovely! It's so nice to see someone stripping furniture to reveal the original wood, rather than painting everything.

Candy said...

Love the white against the wood! I would love to have this in my bedroom!

www.moderncameo.blogspot.com

Cass @ That Old House said...

Looks great! Your paint stripping brought me back to the late 70s when i got married and my husband and I stripped LOADS of furniture of many layers of paint. Nowadays I am more likely to Paint a piece than strip it, but I love how yours turned out.

And those brasses are perfect for the piece -- don't change them!

Cass

Unknown said...

What a wonderful makeover! The colors are great together. And I love the vertical grain on the 2 middle doors. Thanks for sharing!

Lisa said...

Wow! That looks great! The wood came out beautiful!

The Charm of Home said...

That looks wonderful! I love how you brought out the wood and the texture by this design. Great job. Thanks for linking it up to Home Sweet Home!
Sherry

Mally said...

This looks awesome. Excellent job. Stripping is really hard work. Looks fabulous.

6th Grade said...

fantastic!! wow! unbelievable!!

amy

Courtney said...

Love this Rachelle!!
It's a fresh and modern look, right up my alley!
I'm now a follower!!!

Unknown said...

Love it!!

Unknown said...

This piece turned out great! Your designer eye is showing. ;) Looks wonderful in the room too.