I like brown. Basically everything in our home is brown. Our floors are a beautiful brown. Our couches are a lovely brown. A good chunk of our furniture is the exact same brown. Yep, I like brown. But let's face it...the Henrys aren't really a monochromatic family. We all have pretty colorful personalities and our home should reflect that.
Plus, I've been itching for a good DIY project.
The decision was made to add a pop of color in our living room by painting one of the pieces of furniture. The target became a large end table that we scored off of Craigslist a few years ago. It was a rather dull but solid wood piece that was just begging for a make over. I recently read an article about a painting technique using Vaseline. It claimed to ease the job of scuffing so I was immediately intrigued.
I'm a big fan of short cuts. Hence my desire to also use spray paint for this project. I know what you are thinking...and yes, I agree. Spray paint is awfully tacky, lazy, and toxic. But here is the deal...if it turned out ugly, I can always start over and do it properly. Currently, I'm all about maximizing my personal time and spray paint promised to assist with that goal. So...
the fun began.
I wanted a muted green but struggled to find the right paint. Then I spotted it...a matte Camouflage. Not really the appropriate paint for furniture...but the color was pretty perfect. This just raised my doubts that this project wouldn't turn out properly and, at this point, I was confident that I would definitely need to be redo everything. But the lazy, crazy train had already left the station...what was there to lose...so...purchased!
Step one...scuff. I truly hate prepping furniture...but...it is a necessary evil. After removing the doors and all the hardware, I went to town. Thankfully, there wasn't a ton I needed to scuff off...so it was a quick process!
Once I felt it was properly scuffed, I moved on to step two...Vaseline. In retrospect, I put too much. So learn from my mistake and put just a touch on your finger and rub on only the edges you want scuffed the most. In addition to the edges, I also placed little globs in random places throughout...I probably wouldn't do that again. You're welcome.
Next, I flipped the piece upside down and continued with
step three...spray paint. I did two coats to ensure proper coverage each way
(upside down and right side up). When painting with spray paint, remember it's all about keeping a proper distance and spraying in motion. If you are too close or too still, you'll chance dripping
and no one wants that.
Once it dried thoroughly,
over several days, I busted out the sandpaper again and embraced
step four...scuffing again. The Vaseline really did ease the pain of scuffing the edges. It helped make those spots more dramatic and I'm ultimately glad I did it. Even though I put too much, it worked for this project because I wanted a nice bit of the original brown to shine through.
Once I felt it was scuffed enough and perfectly imperfect, I replaced the hardware and doors.
If I'm being honest, I must admit that I actually put the doors on wrong...twice. Chris had to come to my rescue because I was really close to tossing the whole piece over the fence. Thanks Chen...doesn't he look thrilled!
When the doors were on properly, I wiped the piece down with a damp cloth and followed up with a vacuum just to make sure all the dust was gone before bringing inside.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the finished product. It's a muted, matte green but still brings a nice pop of color into the room. It was ridiculously easy and a nice little project that got my creative juices flowing...now, on to the next one! ;)
