Most of the furniture in our home is solid wood. I like natural wood finishes but in a small space, it becomes too dull to just see shades of brown everywhere. So, they're all getting painted!
The study table was the first actual paint project. (The wicker seats don't count because, well, a 2 year old can use a can of spray paint.) I don't have a 'before' picture as Husband got excited and started sanding the thing before I could take one. Here's an image I got from the net - it kinda looks like what we had, but with drawers.
It took us about 2 hours to sand the whole thing with a medium grit (120) sandpaper just enough so that the varnish was scraped. Then came the wood primer mixed with a bit of turpentine so that it is easier to spread. We used paint brushes to get some texture on the wood - I didn't want it too smooth since I was going for the distressed look, which was why we didn't sand the table very evenly. We gave it about 8 hours to dry before the 2nd coat. We barely used half a litre of primer with 200ml of turpentine.
Then the painting started after another 8 hours. We used light teal. It's a beautiful and bright color that would've looked even better with a better wall colour. But for now, the dirty cream is what we're stuck with. Husband was insisting we use a putty to smoothen out the roughness, but like I said, I wanted some texture, and that's what we stuck to. It took us two coats of paint, with each coat drying for about 8 hours. (The paint was also diluted in turpentine. We had to get 1 litre of paint as that is the minimum size being sold, so we have with a lot leftover.)
The drawers were painted bright yellow. This paint was the 'signboard yellow' easily available in small amounts and I didn't have to mix any thinner. I just made sure I mixed it well in the can as the bulk of the pigment settles at the bottom of the container. I used scotch tape around the edges to catch the paint and had to do 3 coats. Husband got some new hardware as well, to go with the new look.
The study table was the first actual paint project. (The wicker seats don't count because, well, a 2 year old can use a can of spray paint.) I don't have a 'before' picture as Husband got excited and started sanding the thing before I could take one. Here's an image I got from the net - it kinda looks like what we had, but with drawers.
Then the painting started after another 8 hours. We used light teal. It's a beautiful and bright color that would've looked even better with a better wall colour. But for now, the dirty cream is what we're stuck with. Husband was insisting we use a putty to smoothen out the roughness, but like I said, I wanted some texture, and that's what we stuck to. It took us two coats of paint, with each coat drying for about 8 hours. (The paint was also diluted in turpentine. We had to get 1 litre of paint as that is the minimum size being sold, so we have with a lot leftover.)
The drawers were painted bright yellow. This paint was the 'signboard yellow' easily available in small amounts and I didn't have to mix any thinner. I just made sure I mixed it well in the can as the bulk of the pigment settles at the bottom of the container. I used scotch tape around the edges to catch the paint and had to do 3 coats. Husband got some new hardware as well, to go with the new look.
Finally, using the same sandpaper, I roughed up the edges a little. It gives the table some character I think. I had a can of PU finish which I sprayed on top for some protection. I don't think it was absolutely necessary, but since I had it I thought 'Eh! Why not?'.
Now, with the leftover paint we shall start the next piece of furniture - a laminated cabinet in the same room.
