Ugly to Awesome: Furniture Makeover


I've been spending the last few weeks (months...) working on the boys Playroom.
I almost have a whole wall done!!!!! Yay! 

Recently we replaced our old TV and DVD system our parents gave us for a wall mounted flat screen.
My husband takes a lot of safety courses at his job and he had seen one where a kid climbed up a dresser to get to a tv and... yea... It was a safety hazard.


Super Hubby to the rescue! Along with his faithful side kick they kicked our old TV to the curb and installed our new beauty on the wall. They are so adorable. Love.



When my amazing husband got the TV on the wall it was Amazing!
It was Awesome! 
It had two huge ugly cords running down my white wall.... 

Immediately I jumped online to figure out how to fix the problem. I could easily run the cords in the wall behind the TV but you'd need an exit hole and I had dreams of nothing under the TV... just open play space.

Yea, so much for that dream... so I needed to find a piece of furniture with cabinet doors and not drawers (like the one I already had).

I spent a few weeks looking at Craigslist and that turned up nada...

Then on one of my Thrift Store trips I found it...




and it was $6.99.

$6.99!!!!!

See, the Lord cares about the stupid things in the world... like finding a piece of furniture to hide a hole that I want to cut in my wall.

I've only had a tiny bit of furniture painting experience from painting a headboard and two nightstands to this old dresser:


It was going outside anyway to house all my tools and spray paint so it didn't need to be perfect.
Just colorful.

With this bad boy, I was going to put in a little bit more effort since it was going to be inside.

It came in pretty bad shape. It didn't have any knobs, the top had some water damage but for $7 even if I failed and this thing looked worse then when I started... it wouldn't be a huge loss.


First I tried to get out the water spots on top. I sanded it down  to try and get the top even again.
This boy was worth about as much as I paid for it... sanding into it revealed the cardboard underneath.



So, I primed it to hopefully seal the cardboard back so paint would be able to stick to it.

Fail. Then I got creative... I pulled out the Mod Podge I bought to use on the shelf section and painted it onto the cardboard spots that weren't soaking in the primer.

Rough cardboard does not soak in paint. If I would have spray painted it, the surface would have bubbled and looked terrible...

But the Mod podge worked! I am steadily learning the awesomeness of Mod Podge and all the things it can do for you. It sealed it so when I went to spray paint... it went on perfectly smooth.

Score.


Now I could tell you that I perfectly spray painted it and TA DA! All done... but I'm not that kind of person. I always screw something up and while I was applying a coat of clear sealer to the top the corner's paint crackled up. Bummer. 

I had to re-sand and prime it so I could spray paint it again.



But after that tiny hiccup it was all blue except the inside of the shelf!

I wanted a blue and white fabric yet... never really found what I was "in love" with.

I did find these orange polkadots and seriously, who doesn't love polkadots?

I wanted a pop of color to contrast with the blue and the white and orange polkadot fabric would be perfect. This is the tedious part of the process. I measured each space that I needed to cover with fabric.
Since I had taken the back off the cabinet to paint it, it was easy for me to get "in there" to cover the sides and bottom of the shelf.



I measured each side and the floor of the shelf leaving at least an inch and half extra to fold over and make a seam with my iron.


Mark and cut, mark and cut... then Iron, Iron, Iron.

But then you get to GLUE GLUE GLUE! 


I started at the edge that will show then slowly worked my way back from behind. I would put on two or three inches of mod podge than smooth the fabric with my hand making sure there were no bubbles.

I was covered in Mod Podge towards the end but that stuff is super easy to get off with just water so no big loss. Plus when I touched things they stuck to me so that was entertaining for like ten minutes. 


It came out great! It needed to dry still a bit at this point and my iphone isn't giving the best pictures but I was pleased with it and my husband was impressed so that's all that really matters in the process. 

I put the doors back on with their spiffy new handles I'd found at a flea market and this thing was ready for it's new home! 







So, the cords are still there but they won't be for long.
All in all I think it turned out great and I didn't accidentally paint a family heirloom...
so that is always a win.
It's definitely worth at least $15 now!


God bless and Much Love,
 Jessica



7 comments :

  1. This is wonderful job.... can turn the ugly furniture becoming a fresh brand new looks like... as long as you have a passion you can create something new... I like your idea..... give some polish...new paiting... new motif.....then "cling".... become something new.....

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  2. Cute transformation Jessica!! That blue is perfect for a kids space too! Thanks so much for sharing it at Work it Wednesday this week!! Hope to see you back tomorrow:)
    ~Krista from the happy housie

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    1. Thanks Krista! I have another Tutorial I have coming up and I thought of you while making it. You're going to like it. :) I'll try and get it up today for your party tomorrow!

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  3. I love this color, and the inside is so fun!
    I would love for you to come link up at my Furniture and Paint Party going on now!! Hope to see you soon
    Brooke
    startathome.blogspot.com

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  4. Hey Jessica, really liked your blog post and more your writing skills. The way you write shows how happy you are and you love writing. Tutorial is good and I believe anyone can do it easily. It is sometimes hard to throw or break a good furniture, makeover is a better option and one should do it properly. I'm surly gonna try this for my furniture and will share with you. Thanks for sharing the post.

    Reference : NorthCroftFabrics

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    1. You deserve a huge hug. :) Thanks for making my day.

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  5. Great job Jessica! That blue one is looking perfect!

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