Saturday, May 3, 2014

Project: Refurbished Lamp Table

I have been reading and researching and dreaming and preparing for my first refurbishing project. I am excited to finally show off the results. B's parents gave him a side table to sit next to his "lofa" when he was still living the bachelor life. When we moved into our new house, it came out of "storage" and I thought it would be a great piece for the living room, but it needed to be updated.

Before:

I decided to take off the doors and make it an open storage table. Next, I sanded the whole thing. (Note: A bit naive, I bought some sand paper. After talking to some wise and experienced people, I was encouraged to buy an automatic hand sander. I found one at Walmart for $39. Best decision I made.) After sanding, I filled in the holes from the door screws with wood putty, sanded that down after it dried, lined the inside with painters tape, and then started painting. I ended up doing about 3 coats.

After:
(I forgot to take an after picture before putting everything back.)

I think it turned out pretty well for a first project. When I took off the painters tape, I wasn't as careful as I should've been and some little bits of paint came off the inside. Luckily, I've decided to keep our board games in there for now and they cover it up nicely. :)


Benefits of refurbishing old/used furniture:
1. You can make it how you want
2. If kids ding it up, it's okay because it didn't cost you $300!
3. Power tools are kind of therapeutic. I'm not joking- the minute I turned my sander on, I was in the ZONE. 
4. I love the idea of taking something old, ugly, and/or outdated and making it beautiful! 

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this. My next project is the kitchen table my sweet parents donated to our cause. That is going to include painting AND staining, so we'll see how it goes. Starting small on something not as significant is a good idea to get a better understanding of what you need, the process, and gaining confidence in your abilities! I can't tell you how nervous I was to start, but once I got going it was easier than I anticipated and a lot more fun! 

Happy DIY-ing!

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