In-stain in the membrane

Forever ago, I posted a video of me sandblasting the paint off an old headboard.  

Sandblasting worked pretty well on some of the tough to reach places.  I definitely have not perfected the process but I would try it again in the future if the need arises.  

I then repainted the bench with an outdoors fleck stone spray paint.  After the repaint I attached the lion crest and I added dark wax to age up the fleck stone spray.  

Using pocket screws and 1x4's I made a seat for the bench.  I then tried to wood fill some of the gaps in between to make a butcher block type of solid surface. 

I used my Ryobi orbital sander on heavy grit paper to get the uneven spots out and worked it smoother with 220 after to achieve a nicer texture. 

I then applied several layers of Minwax Polyshades.  This product is a stain and a finish polyurethane combo and I wanted to try it out.  It's supposed to work on already finished wood as well with just a light sanding first.  I am going to try that technique very soon.  I have an old table in my garage that I need to unbury and I would love to not have to strip it before staining. 

Here is the seat after more coats.  It is a rich and nice dark red.  Before the final coat, I lightly sanded with 220 grit paper again and then the finish coat looks much smoother. 

This is the old headboard turned bench today.  I like the contrast between the wood and the faux stone, it gives it a earthy and ancient feel. 

Here are a few more photos so you can see the wood grain and the knots in the wood.  It will make a fun entryway bench here until it finds a home. 

Have a great day!  I will be outside enjoying this beautiful spring day, I hope you will be enjoying it as well. 

Love, Lori

Little girl glam.

So my friend brought me over this desk and chair to repaint for her little girl.  

Her daughter is in that pre-teen stage and wanted a bit of a style update.  

I like to start out each piece by filling the drawer handle holes on ones we may not use again. When doing an older piece, I have found that most modern knobs have different spacing. It's easier fill the holes and then find knobs you love than to try to patch and repair later.

I mixed up a chalky primer and coated it.  I then I came back and sprayed all sides with light spray coats for a nice finish. 

After it was dry (I recommend at least overnight) I put the new hardware on.  

Here she is.  The knobs are way more glitzy in person.  The texture is a smooth nice finish and it's all ready to be in a girl's room. 

Just in case touch ups become necessary, I am sending her home with a little jar of matching paint.  I have little girls myself and I know with use, it may get scratched or dented. 

This is a close up of the sparkly gold knob.  It certainly adds the touch of glamour to the pink.

Thanks for checking out my blog today.  If you are in Utah and would like a quote on sprucing up a piece of furniture, please message me. 

Thanks, Lori

Waiting out the rain.

It's been raining here all day.  My workshop is full and I need to clean it up before I can work inside again.  Until then I will show you what I am thinking up.  

I am going to do a dresser that looks like one of these VW buses.  I am kind of a hippie at heart.  My first car was a VW Jetta that I purchased myself and I loved it so much.  I am driving a mom SUV right now and it's a great car but when gas gets too expensive again or the 13 year old beast kicks the bucket, it may be time to get back to my VW roots. 

I mentally have the dresser all mentally planned out, even working headlights!!!  It's going to be cool. I am considering opening an Etsy store someday and starting to sell and ship items.  Right now I just paint for my hobby and for local friends and family.  We will see, I want to keep it fun.  When my hobby fills the house I take my furniture to "Vintage on Main" in Layton, Utah. (a local consignment shop) That way I can have my space back to keep playing. 

I got an inexpensive air brush from Amazon the other day and the paints arrived this afternoon. They are pearl toned and neat.  The blue is amazing, I have to find something to use that color on! 

I would love to get my skills up to do a multicolor project like this bus.  How bright and happy is this bad boy?

It's hippy rainbow friend is cool too.  It makes me want to grab some good friends and take a road trip! 

Look at the cute Pixar pal,  wouldn't he be a fun dresser for a little boy's room? I could totally do that! 

On a smaller scale, I might be able to try out these airbrush colors on a mailbox.  I just like the idea of trying something new.  

If you look on Pinterest or just google VW dresser, there are some cute ones out there. 

I am excited to try and put my own spin on a fun design and to try and make it better. 

Have a great day!  

Love, Lori

Paint spraying 101

I have been fortunate enough to be around a few excellent paint teachers.  My husband and my Father in Law are both professional contractors who specialize in painting and coatings.  They mostly do industrial painting (water treatment plants, utilities, sewer treatments, airports.... Big jobs) I am pretty sure I talked about that before. 

Here is my hubby's truck, they are Orion Painting and Coatings.  Every day at home and every family holiday party I hear a little "shop talk." My husband has been painting over 15 years and my FIL over 20 with general construction before that.  They have painted homes, schools, businesses and everything in between.  I have always listened to the shop talk but only recently I have become fascinated by it. 

I just finished painting this desk and chair for my friends daughter.  It's still wet in the photo. 

I will post better photos later and show the before and after with all the steps.  This post I wanted to share a few paint tips I have learned about using an air compressor and a spray gun. 

For this one I used plaster of Paris and water to make a chalky base.  3tbs of dry mix and about 3tbs of water (mix well in cold water) then mixed into 8oz of paint makes a good chalk paint.  *not chalkboard paint*  I brushed it on and it made an excellent primer.  

You can see it's streaky on the chair which a first coat or primer will be.  I kinda wish I would have used regular primer (or tinted the primer) because I could have sprayed it on and not had the brush lines.  

The good thing about using the chalky primer is that it's super sandable,  so you can sand off the lines or paint drops before putting on a regular latex top coat.  I did have a few places to sand smooth before using the non-chalky finish coat. 

Chalk paint does not spray well, it's very thick and it clogs the sprayer easily.  I recommend straining all paint before putting it in the sprayer.  Disposable plastic cups are a great way to strain and keep paint in small workable quantities.  When you need a break, Glad Press and Seal Wrap makes a good lid. 

See the big paint chunks? These would clog the sprayer and slow progress way down.  All paint in sprayers needs to be watered down.  I like adding about a tablespoon of water at a time to the strainer to thin the paint.  The free at Home Depot paint can openers, make an excellent small stir stick. When the paint dries, it peels right off the metal and you can use it again. 

If you do get a clog,  the paint won't come out where it's supposed to. In this photo you can see it coming out the top valve.  I had to stop and clean out the sprayer and all its parts.  I have had several sprayers and this one is my favorite, it's a gravity fed cup gun.  I have used the kind that the paint is below and it pumps it to the top,  they work but this is easier and the cleanup is quicker.  If you can't afford an air compressor plus a cup gun,  you can get the electric spray gun for not very much. 

I think I got this one for under $20 at Harbor Freight with a coupon.  Now that I have the experience with both types, I definitely recommend the air sprayer.  When you get the right consistency of paint (when it is runny like milk) it sprays on nicely.  Several thin coats are the way to go.  Don't try to do it too thick or it will run, drip and cause more misery later.  On a warm day a thin coat will be dry to the touch in about 10-15 minutes.

When cleaning the sprayer I recommend using brushes to get in the little paint holes.  I picked these brushes up free at Harbor Freight with a coupon.  I love the freebies there.  I didn't show it in the photos but the tip also comes off & needs to be cleaned.  

When it's all cleaned out its good to fill up the cup gun with water and use the air just like you are painting to make sure it's completely clear for the next time. 

When closing up a paint can, place a drop cloth, rag, or paper towels on top of the can. This will keep the paint that gets trapped around the rim from flying everywhere.  

Then you can tap the hammer around the edge and save your floor or walls from unwanted splatter.  These might be simple tricks and tips that you may already know.  Some of you have never painted before.  If you have any good tips for me, please send them in!  I am so excited that I just got an airbrush set, I can't wait to try it out and tell you all about how that goes.

Have a good day and don't be afraid to try something new! 

Love Lori

 

Table from start to finish

Here is the table back at home and better than ever.  It didn't always look like this.  Here it is when it came to my house. 

These oak tables are a staple in most houses around here.  The yellow finish was worn and tired,  it definitely needed to be spruced up. 

We started with sanding.  Lots and lots of sanding!  I even purchased a new sander to help with the job. 

This is the circular sander from Ryobi that we purchased.  The circular sander works great to sand the top without cutting groves in the wood like a palm sander can. 

I used this detail sander to get the edge by the line. 

It was just enough to cut through the old polyurethane.  Since the stain was going darker we didn't need to completely remove all of the old stain. 

We then took the table outside and sprayed the base and the chairs. My awesome husband is the spray master,  he gets all the credit for the paint on these because his expertise is spraying.  

After I stained the top.  The color is a custom tinted color from Sherwin Williams.  My husband then sprayed all of the top, base and chairs with poly acrylic by Minwax. 

I like using this because it dries beautifully and quickly.  The top did not get a thick enough coating from just spraying so we did do sanding between by hand with 400 grit sand paper and applied coats with a wide foam brush.  

There was a couple of touch ups that we needed to do so we used this touch up pen and added another coat of poly.  It looked great! 

Here it is out on my lawn,  all chairs and base matching and looking brand new! A big difference from how it looked in the beginning.  

Thanks for reading,  I appreciate all of the comments and likes you have been giving me. 

Have a great day! 

Love, Lori