Refinishing Furniture..just the mirror for now

Remember the fabulous mirror! I love the shape and curves of this mirror, but it did take some time and a little imagination to make it spectacular. I found this mirror at a warehouse sale in a not so good part of town, but where there is a chance of good treasures I will venture out into the not so best areas. I also got the great purple vases there and love the pink tissue paper flowers that I whipped up to balance the jewelry stand on the opposite end of the dresser. Yes my daughter has her Poppy crossbody hanging on her curtain rod....this is because we have a lab mix and you never know what the lab tail will take out!

 

 

So now onto the good stuff and the tears through the refinishing of the mirror. Let's start with the before picture. I admit this was difficult to take since I am on a city lot and it was extremely bright outside, but you get a glimpse of my mom mobile at the same time.

You can see that the mirror was an outdated bluish green and brown color and had a weird rub/burn spot that went all the way to the wood. You can see a part of our beloved lab mix in the reflection, yes he is more mix than lab but we love our shelter dog.

Despite the color and the spot I was drawn to this mirror for the details and the sheer size of it at 50" long I knew it would be a statement piece that could easily transition from my daughter's room to a guest room when I actually get a guest room.

The detail at the top of the mirror is one that I cannot get out of my head and I am always on the look out for items with a similar curve as this is so elegant that I would love to have a headboard or dresser with this same detail.

The very first thing I had to do was remove all the grunge on the mirror. There was a large buildup of grease and oil on the mirror, so I was extremely concerned about not sanding this completely to the wood. So I set out with a sanding block but quickly wanted something that would get me out of the sun (Yes I have been delinquent posting this as I completed this transformation over the summer inthe Texas Heat!) so I turned to my dremel and the sanding disks. After going through what seemed to be a THOUSAND disks I finally had the numerous layers of paint each one a little more hideous than the last one off. Once I had all the paint off I very carefully removed all the paint chips and pieces of sanding disks from the mirror. I actually blew the majority of the dust off with my air compressor and then used a lint free rag to remove the remainder.

I already knew that the color would be one of my favorite white colors of all time. I actually turn to this white first for any material boards that I have to make for my day job. The color is BM OC-17 White Dove; this isn't the sterile white that brings back the bad memories of doctor's offices or every house that I grew up in....at least until my mother's horrid taste took over and everything turned brown or some shade of chocolate brown, but a softer warmer white that pops against any color that I put it against.

After the ugly yellow dresser I set about reading every diy article I could find on refinishing furniture with latex paint, as I had some latex paint and wanted this to be as glossy as I could get it. One of the articles and I wish I had a link for you...I have to admit that I may have possibly read the article on my phone while I sat in traffic and I sit at 0mph in traffic a lot....said that years ago they were told the secret to minimize brush strokes was to mix latex paint with floetrol. Because I hadn't ever heard of this I had to google it to find out where in blue blazes I could buy it.

So I found out I could purchase it easily at the big box home improvement store right in town. So I set out to acquire this and other supplies necessary to paint the mirror. You would think that I would gather supplies prior to jumping into a project, but I never ever do things in the right order. An idea pops into my head and I jump on it without any further thought.  So that you don't have to spend hours wandering the store becasue asking for help is evil, this is found near the paint sprayers...actually right below the paint sprayer display and I did wander past it several times and had to ask for help...ugh the guy was like you butchered the name...hello if there is any way I can mispronounce something I inevitably will!

The recommended mixture is 8oz per gallon, but I did the math as I knew a gallon wouldn't be required for my mirror. I used a clear plastic cup that I have marked 1 oz and 8 oz lines on to measure the first time and then just add the floetrol until I feel its thin enough to keep sanding to a minimum. When you add this you will need to use many thin coats that only require minimal sanding in between. Minimal as only where I laid my arm while trying to get into the detail at the top of the mirror. I also did this out in the sun on a hot day so it dried super quickly. After I felt there was enough coverage...4 coats...I added a 5th coat for good measure and let it dry. I then proceeded to use polycrylic that was recommended to seal it and give it the glossy finish as my latex paint was semi gloss.

 

Since the dresser almost immediately yellowed I was concerned the mirror would do the same, but I apparently used the incorrect poly on the dresser as the mirror has been up since July and is just as bright and beautiful today as it was then. 

 

Since refinishing this mirror I have been playing around with clear wax over latex paint without distressing the paint prior to waxing to get the glossy finish so I can refinish my bathroom vanity without removing the vanity.

 

 

Adventures in painting.....furniture

I love all the chalk paint pieces that I see floating around, but nothing is more exciting for me than running my fingers across perfectly smooth glossy paint. So awhile back I set about refinishing an ugly brown dresser that was left in the barn when my parents bought their house....I wish I had a picture of its ugliness. I picked out the prettiest pale pink I could find for the finish as I had intended the dresser for my Princess' room. I sanded and sanded then carefully painted the entire dresser, then I put polyurethane on the dresser. Ugh within 2 days there was this horrible yellow film all over the dresser.....apparently the kind I bought didn't work well over latex paint. The glossy yellow speckled ugliness has been in use and I pretend it doesn't exist!

Ignore the mirror and look at the dresser.... yellow....Yuck! Does this sound like something you have done...if not please learn from me as sanding, repairing, and painting is a huge time waster if your final piece looks worse than the before picture. Even after mishaps I continue and hopefully learn along the way.

 

I did not learn my lesson give up and did refinish the mirror above the dresser and I adore it!

The story of the mirror will be next up so stay tuned.

Five Years and 2 days!

I am still celebrating the five years living in my house alone with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a cat! I never thought I could possibly live alone but the last five years have seen so many changes both in my life and in my house. When I moved in there was a terrible echo in the house...good chance this was because we had very little furniture, now we have tons of great pieces and I continue to drag more and more home, I just can't resist myself. Also the reason that I have a spare dining set residing in my living room at this very moment!

In celebration I scoured my old harddrives in search of some photos of my house and was able to find the ones from the realtor..after looking at these I can't believe that anyone would say that these show a house in the best light!

I had to paint the white immediately becasue every stinkin wall was white and I had a 5 and 8 year old when I moved in. I do like all the stuff on the counter it shows oh so well!

The dining room....ugly cabinets were also removed prior to move in and are now my workbench in the garage.

The entryway is still much like this except the ugly light has been changed out...I don't remember when exactly I did this but I remember the light I put up was only $13.00 on clearance so I put the same one in the hallway!

The backyard....apparently these people were living off the land on a city lot! I took out the blocks and have let the yard just be for 5 years and need to do something with it other than just let it be, but for now I am going to let it be.







I hope you have enjoyed the look back and will watch as the remodel comes together.

A long time gone but not lost or without projects

As I struggled to remember my password my dishwasher is running and I still haven't gotten the install pictures online to inspire y'all with my diy geniusness. I did have to add a new electrical box and some inventive plumbing work while I attempted to make out the many different pieces that make up a sink drain. Yes I did use y'all in type.....that is a lot for this previous northener to admit to! The past year has been busy but I have been honing my crafty talents with lots of hits and misses and sometimes pure luck made greatness.

It's taken 3 months since I started this post but I am finally getting this live on here...and am struggling finding the happy medium to blogging and crafting without my entire life getting overrun. I need to find the pictures I took of when I first bought my house but these will have to do for now. For 4 years I lived without a dishwasher and dishwashing was and still is my least favorite thing to do.

There it is the sink side of my walk in back out kitchen. And shows a little bit of my chalkboard door....I urge you to take the leap and go a little crazy and make one for yourself...you will love it! This is a great place for spelling word practice and chore lists. The problem with chalk is that is does leave dust on the floor so be certain you are ok with this and remember not to put the white rug anywhere near the chalkboard. I had to learn this the hard way!

The missing drawer front was attached at one time, but a little sibling rivalry and drawer slamming caused it to fly off. I did try to repair this but within a few hours the drawer front was once again off and being used as a sword to whack the side of the house. Little boys are so much fun and inventive, and at times destructive especially when sisters and kitchen drawers are involved!


So after purchasing a very snazzy stainless steel dishwasher I had a problem...I had to remove a cabinet to install the dishwasher. So the cabinet that seemed logical would be the sad missing drawer front cabinet...I figured that this would be easy. Not the case as it was loaded down with all the items that your not certain why you actually save.

Things like plastic plates and barware that people think you need but you never actually use. I love my mother but she has a way of filling my house with useless stuff. She has gottne better in recent years but I still have the stuff to prove that she was terrible at one time, and maybe I will still use these items.





And my sweet helper is dilligently unloading the cabinet and placing all things on the kitchen floor after which he disappeared. leaving the mess and an empty cabinet that the cat definately liked to lay in, but I was not so fond of his newfound place to sleep. 

 

Once the cabinet was empty it was time to remove the cabinet from under the countertop and my helpers were suppose to be the photogs and they failed miserably. So I will have to explain in as much detail as I can. First remove the trim pieces from the base of the cabinets...in my case they were on the front and sides and I removed the entire section and have yet to put them back on. Next you are going to have to determine the depth of your flooring because you are going to have to pull the cabinet up over this to get it out. So unscrew the cabinet from the wall and side cabinet, in my case only 1 side had a cabinet and there was a screw at the top and bottom on the inside....I suggest a drill here as the screws are terribly long...but at the time I didn't have a drill so I used a screwdriver and it took forever. I also had to yank the countertop up in order to break it free from the wall so I could lift the cabinet up over the wood...uh plastic wood....floors. Once the cabinet was out I took notes of what I needed as there was no outlet much like I suspected and took a quick trip to the large home improvement store that I frequent and got the electrical and plumbing stuff that I thought I needed. I found that a photo of the undersink plumbing helped as I was collecting pieces being certain to match the diameter of the pipes.

 

Be certain to shut off the breaker that you are going to add the new junction box and wiring to, in my case it's the kitchen gfci outlet. I also chose to update my gfci outlet as the one that was there didn't always work well when I tested it. I confess I do not test the gfci outlets in my home monthly as suggested but on occassion I do push the test button just for fun and to mess with the kids. Once the breaker was off I cut the new hole and added the box behind where the dishwasher is going, fed the wire from the existing box into the new box...in retrospect feed wire down from the existing box and put it through the hole in the new j box prior to installing the box as your life will be much easier. Match up the wire colors and add wire nuts (I also tape them with electrical tape becasue I am paranoid) and screw the outlets into place. It is very important to test the outlet prior to placing the dishwasher in the opening, I use my hairdryer, but anything will work. Once I was certain the electric was sufficiently working I pushed the dishwasher almost into place and set about doing the plumbing.

 

Plumbing was basically putting the pieces together for the addition of the dishwasher drain and the scary part piercing the supply line for the water service for the dishwasher. Then it was all about pushing everything in and finishing up the install. Then pushing the button to turn it on for the first time....this is when my heart stops and time almost stands still!