How To: Hexagon Top Dresser

Hey everyone! Hey it's Friday, finally - this has been a long week! I'm so happy to share this tutorial today, Ralph and I bought a TV recently for our bedroom and started dreaming up what kind of dresser we wanted in there. It's not a huge room, so I imagined finding a long, low, old school dresser that we could do something fun to.  The very next day I was browsing craigslist and actually found it. FOR $25! After making sure I read that right, I rushed over & snagged it, and we got to work right away.   Check out this before & after:

This project took ONE day. Start to finish, with a lot of breaks and a lot of Radiolab.  We combined a few different techniques that I've talked about on the blog, and I love how it came out! We really wanted something in a bright color (red!) but still sort of subtle. We both love patterns so that was a pretty easy choice for the top, and ever since we did the Triangle Tabletop we've both been digging the wood grain showing through the paint look.

So, you want to make something similar? I show you how! Read on.......

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How To: Cyan Chalk Paint Nightstand

As part of the ongoing efforts in redoing our new guest room, we decided to tackle a project that was long overdue.  We've had this nightstand for a long time, and it was always the plan to paint it a super fun color, naturally. It's shuffled rooms, so the color in mind had changed, but it finally landed a permanent home in the guest room, and we decided to go with one of Ralph's favorite colors: Cyan.

Isn't she a beauty?  We did this in two evenings while dinner was in the oven. Honest.  I love the color.  It was really hard to find too, I went in knowing that Ralph wanted Cyan. Plain Cyan. But the paint chips are all named crazy things, like "Lagoon Wonderland" and "Teal's Last Stand.." (jk...fake names! no lawsuits please & thanks) that there was no hint there. So I finally just asked the guy at the counter for plain Cyan. He hadn't heard of it, looked it up, and found one with the name "Cyan"- so we mixed it up. Perfect.  I took pictures through the process so I could share a lil how-to with you guys...  read on!

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How To: DIY Triangle Pattern Kitchen Tabletop

During the Great Hutch Makeover post I mentioned that we polished up the final details on our kitchen table, and now it's ready for reveal! I'm not only revealing it though, I took pics along the way so I could whip up this tutorial. Meet the new love of my life:

Yar, (enter pirate accent) a satisfying before & after she be... (end creepy pirate voice)
I love it when things work out as planned! Remember when I talked about the Kitchen Table Makeover ideas? Well, I stuck to it.  This idea has been floating around in my brain for a month or so now, but it was intimidating! Fear not, after this test run - I feel confident I could repeat this anytime.  Set aside a weekend or so though,

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School of Restoration: Color Block Stool Tutorial

Welcome to another session in the School of Restoration!  So, after all the fun we had with spray paint for the Ombre Chair tutorial, I really wanted to do it again - but differently. Enter, the color block! You see this a lot in fashion right now, pairing up contrasting colors in "blocks".  What do you think of my stool up here? It was sturdy, but boring, and I wanted to give it some new life, and I chose some regal colors too... navy blue, white, and solid gold feet! Ok, not solid gold, but they look it.  I used to say no to gold, but lately I've been really diggin' it. Ok, on with the show, this is a fairly easy tutorial - but I have a few tips ahead to help give you that coveted clean line.  I had no leaks on this one folks, scouts honor here - absolutely. no. leaks. Finally!

Materials:

• A sturdy stool, or other interesting furniture
• Electric Sander
• Medium & Fine Sanding pads
• Sanding Sponge
• Tape
• Masking paper (newspaper works too, but these rolls are handy dandy)
• Spray paints:  Primer, 3 colors, Clear Seal (I'm using high gloss baby!)
• Dropcloth (old sheets work too, and they are almost free at the goodwill)
• Cute stuff to put on top of it after.

Let's begin!

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School of Restoration: DIY Chalk Paint

Hello and welcome to another class in the School of Restoration! Yesterday my next tutorial was posted up on The Divine Minimalist. In case this is your first class, my name is Jesse and I post monthly tutorials that teach different techniques you can use on your furniture.  Today, I am so excited to be sharing the long awaited DIY Chalk Paint tutorial.  You've probably heard a lot about chalk paint lately, and if you haven't then you're about to.  It took me a long time to finally try this stuff, for no other reason than sheer laziness. If you have the same problem I had, then I'm here to motivate you to get to it.  This paint was easy, fun & is soo soft!  It sticks to almost everything which is why I knew it would be perfect for this roll top desk a friend gave to me.  Enough talking, let's get to it!

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School of Restoration: Color Wash

Wow, is it July already?  These months keep sneaking up on me. Welcome to another session in the School of Restoration, that I did for The Divine Minimalist.  Today I want to touch base on one of my favorite techniques, the color wash.  This is perfect when you want to update something with color, but still want to show the underlying wood grain.  I chose to do this outdoors since it's pretty messy, plus it's been beautiful out lately.  Before we start, check out my before and after:

Materials:

• Furniture
• Sanding sponge
• Fine & Medium Sandpaper
• Water based paint 
• Empty containers for mixing
• Paint Brushes
• Minwax Polycrylic - Satin
• Old shirts or clean rags
• Gloves
• Mask
• All purpose cleaner

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Sneak Peak: Color Wash

(Psst.....see the full tutorial here.)

I was lucky enough to have the day off yesterday, but lady luck decided to throw a wrench in my spokes. As I went out to the car to get the grocery shopping done bright & early, I noticed it was strange that my car didn't unlock when I hit the button.  Either I left it unlocked last night, or this is a very bad sign... sure enough, the door was open, and when I went to start the little guy, silence.  Dead battery!  Adding insult to injury was when I found out AAA's computer systems fouled up for the day, and there was no getting through.  Luckily the towing company was able to bill them, and they came right out (Thanks guys!). I didn't let this get to me, just rearranged my day a bit, which also meant the stores would be packed.  Plus I didn't' expect to go battery shopping yesterday, those things are pricy!  What's done is done, my baby has some new juice, and I was still home in time to keep working on the Armoire.

If you didn't know, I publish these tutorials called "School of Restoration" over at The Divine Minimalist once a month.  I have been meaning to tackle this armoire for a while:

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School of Restoration: Dining Chair Re-Upholstery

Just finished up another tutorial in the School of Restoration on The Divine Minimalist.  Head over and check it out, or browse a copy right here. Enjoy!

For today's tutorial, I decided to cover the revival and reupholster of old, old chairs.  Chairs are a dime-a-dozen in the thrift store & garage sale world, but 99.9% of them are severely out of date.  After all, Spring is here & we need some fresh chairs for all the guests we're about to have over, right? Right! Now as a heads up, this tutorial will be a little longer than our usual because of the steps involved.  So refill that coffee cup, put the phone on silent, and get ready to give these nasty old chairs a complete 180°!  Take a motivational sneak peak:

Materials:

• Sturdy cushioned chairs with a wooden seat under the pad. 
• Orbital sander or sand paper
• Medium to Fine sanding pads or paper
• Steel wool - Fine
• Drill or Screwdriver
• Pliers
• Staple gun & plenty of staples
• Fabric Scissors
• Box Cutter
• Mask
• Gloves
• Primer
• Spray Paint in your color choice
• Upholstery foam & batting (if replacing)
• Upholstery fabric in your pattern choice (I used 2.5 yards for 4 seats)
• Optional: Air compressor, paint gun, air blaster, paint pyramids, clear coat

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School of Restoration: Ombre Accent Chair

Hi everyone! I posted another tutorial on The Divine Minimalist, click here to hop over there and read it, or read ahead:

Welcome to the next class in the School of Restoration! Today we are going to work on painting a chair in a color fade, or "Ombre" as you've probably seen it.  I looked it up, because I'll be first to admit that I had no idea what this word meant.  Ombre; "Shaded or graduated in tone".  Yep! That about sums it up, and I adore it.   I've been seeing this new style all over the place, and I'm really happy about it.  When thinking of an idea for today's class, this post came through on Design Sponge featuring Anthropologie's gorgeous ombre bench.  If you click over to their site, hang onto your seat - yes - that is a $1500 price tag!  Now call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure we can do this for less than $1500.  I couldn't wait to try it, and I added a third color too.  Here's a look at what we're aiming for:

Isn't that fun? I think so, and it really was fun to make.  So grab any chair lying around and let's get to work!

Materials:

• A sweet chair
• Steel Wool (paint removal grade) or sandpaper
• Drop cloth 
• Gloves
• Mask & Goggles
• Spray paint primer
• 3 colors of spray paint - I chose Gloss White, Blue, and Navy Blue.
• Spray clear coat - gloss
• Optional: Sawhorse, Electric Sander & Pads, Spray Paint Trigger

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School of Restoration: Striped Round Table

Hello again! Hopefully everyone had a great weekend.  We were down in Indio, California, and it was around 92 degrees midday, it was fantastic.  Today, my next tutorial in the "School of Restoration" series on The Divine Minimalist was posted.  Head over to their blog to check it out, or read ahead here. Enjoy!

Today's tutorial will involve mixing paint with wood stain on a tabletop, which is a favorite look of mine.  I love that juxtaposition! We'll be sanding, taping, painting and staining - so get you're gloves on!  For my table, I chose a round table that everyone has or has had in their house at one time, you'll see what I mean in the "before" shot. Take a look at our finished product though:

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School of Restoration: Teal & Persimmon side table

Good morning class and welcome to the School of Restoration! As many of you know, I guest blog over at The Divine Minimalist in a tutorial section they call School of Restoration.  Head on over to their blog and take a look around! So first up in what's to be a long line of tutorials, is the Teal & Persimmon Side Table.

Well hello there my sweet lil side table! Or sweet now... because before this simple yet satisfying make-over, this table would have quickly been put in the back of the basement.  Distressing is a popular and fun way to give furniture a fresh look, while giving the impression that your grandma made it this way decades ago  (and how thoughtful of her, it happens to match your home decor!). Today we'll walk through the steps for this two color distressed effect, and some of the tricks that I've picked up along the way.

Materials:

• Electric Sander with medium to fine sanding pads.  (or sandpaper and a sanding block if you don't have a sander)
• Medium Steel Wool
• Sanding Sponge - fine to medium (optional)
• White Candle (a dead tealight is perfect)
• 2 colors of paint - one for the undercoat, one for the topcoat.
• paintbrush
• plastic sandwich bags
• Watco Satin Wax (or your preferred seal)
• Plastic gloves (I know, I don't like them either, but just do it!) 

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