DIY Subway Art Coffee Table Set

This table set turned out just as I'd imagined!

OK...I'd like to recommend you try this at home, but I've got to say....only try it at home if you have a) loads of free time or b) a Cricut or Silhouette or similar type machine.  I'm not blessed with one of those fancy machines so I do everything by hand.  I use lots of Contact/Mac Tac paper (the kind you can get at the Dollar Store for lining shelves or covering books) and teeny tiny nail scissors (or sewing scissors - even better!)  And I have a really steady hand.  If I'd had higher aspirations, I guess I should have been a surgeon.  In my next life.  You can read about how to create your own stencils when I used them on burlap pillows or my reproduction coffee sack chair. 

I've had a crush on subway art dressers and plaques for a while and wanted to use the style on another piece of furniture, so this little set fit the bill. 

I live in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and decided to make a word map based on our city.  I love it!  At first I wasn't sure if it was worth the effort, but when I sanded and distressed the lettering I knew it would work out as I imagined (trust me, sometimes it doesn't!).

I'd love to sell these tables as a set, but I already have someone interested in the coffee table (seriously, minutes after I posted it for sale!), so I'm happy to sell the separately. 

The two end tables are $65 each, or $120 for both.  Get 'em while you can! 

I'm linking up here:
 

French Shabby Chic Tables - Hot Stuff!

Here's a quick before and after to share with you - this table is already sold.  In fact, it sold the day I posted it for sale.  These coffee tables are always extremely popular - I can't make them fast enough!  Perfect!

They all start out the same....solid, curvy, and dated.

But they all end up a little differently...

I especially like the "Queen Bee" graphic in the centre (as always, graphics from 'The Graphics Fairy!'  Google her - she is a goddess!)

Short and sweet - just like this ol' coffee table!  I'll bid her 'au revoir' tomorrow afternoon.  *sob* 

 

I'm sharing this table makeover at The Graphics Fairy.  You should bibbity-bobbity-boo yourself over there and check out the hundred (thousands?) of vintage graphics she has to download!

Retro Ombre Cabinet

I wanted to get up some pictures of the tables I completed recently, but discovered that a certain special someone happened to take the camera with him to work (out of town) for the week.  SO...here's a project I finished last year instead. 

I LOVED this update - and sold it to a friend before I had a chance to list it. 

I bought this dated (let's just say it: *ugly*) old cabinet at an estate auction for either $7.50 or $12.50..at this point I can no longer remember. 

The inside was nothing to write home about.  So I didn't.  Poor family is still waiting for a letter...

Now for the 'AFTER!' 



Ta da!  I didn't want to give this cabinet just any old makeover (because frankly, it needed more than that!).  All the 'ombre' furniture makeovers I had been seeing inspired me (and since that fad was a few years old, it was about time for me to jump on the bandwagon) so I thought the cabinet was a perfect makeover.  I had a blue-grey paint I used as my base colour and simply added black or white paint to get the colour gradation. 

I loved how it ended up looking like stained-glass!



 The inside deserved a little attention, so I gave it a fresh coat of white paint.  I also removed the hardware and spray painted them from retro-gold to modern-brushed silver.  Perfect! 

Here are a couple of things I learned waaay back then:

Semi-gloss 'Painter's Touch' black paint doesn't mix well into 'homemade chalk paint.'  I don't know why.  It just doesn't.  I used a coat of white high adherence primer: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3.  After the primer dried, I painted it with about 3 coats of the black semi-gloss. 

To get a nice, smooth finish on top of your paint you can try thinning the paint down with water (this will dilute the pigmentation of your paint - ie: make your paint a bit 'lighter') or with a special 'paint extender' which doesn't dilute the colour but extends the time paint stays 'wet' and also helps it to 'settle' with fewer brush strokes when you're finished.  I use this brand from Benjamin Moore. 

Tiny Two-Tiered Table

Too cute! 

OK, you know those dated, your grandma-had-one tables that you often see at thrift stores or auctions?  You know the ones....

Sometimes it's hard to find these little tables in solid wood.  I was lucky enough to come across one for a steal at one of our local thrifts - along with this tray (with awful ivy stencil. Yikes!).  A makeover couldn't come fast enough!

I've been waiting to do this to one of these tiny, two-tiered tables: 

That's right!  Remove that awkward 1/3 of the table addition.  It's super easy - just a little 'unscrewing' on the underside of the table. 

At this point I also took the opportunity to get rid of some of the wobbly-ness of the table by tightening the legs.  So many people pass up great items at thrift stores because of a little wobbling.  This can always be fixed, people!  Do not be deterred by the wobble!! 

I wanted to coordinate the tray and the table to have them work together as a set.  I see them out in a sunroom or on the porch or balcony this summer!  You can prep cool drinks and snacks in the kitchen, carry them outside on the tray, and serve them on the table.  Yes, I think SO! 

After I finished both graphics, I felt that the 'At Home' graphic (c/o The Graphics Fairy as always!) needed to be 'bolder' to blend more seamlessly with the frame graphic on the table. 

These graphics are added using the regular technique - I use a projector and permanent marker.  There are all kinds of techniques you can use to transfer graphics.  I prefer my way because it gives me the most control over my image and I can play around with placement a lot before committing to a design. 

The final step was to dry brush on a layer of off-white paint over the top of the table and inside the tray.  This gave the whole thing an aged feel and served to tone down the darkness of the graphic.  I also distressed the table legs, top, and tray. 

 

 

 

Can't wait for summer!! 

Union Jack Retro Dresser

As per usual, it's taken me a little while to catch up with the hot *new* "Union Jack" trend.  Better late than never? 

Here's my contribution!

The waterfall dresser needed some work before the flag could be laid... I had to fix past water damage to the dresser resulting in peeling and missing veneer along with bubbling and ill-fitting drawers.

 

The veneer issues were fixed with a healthy dose of paintable wallpaper (awesome for creating some visual appeal and saving a lot of time patching and sanding) and some extra nails in the right places. Here's an example of a nail in the WRONG place. No wonder the drawers had a hard time closing and sliding! Who would do that??
 









The drawers were whipped (and hit...and pressured) into shape. A little wood glue and elbow grease solves a multitude of problems!

 

After all the fix ups, she was ready for her first treatment. I like to use plain old white glue when applying wallpaper or other decoupage pieces to furniture. I'll also use Mod Podge...but only on soemthing that needs extra attention. Rolling on the glue with a roller brush helps to give an thin even coat and prevent air bubbles.

Applying any kind of paper is best done carefully and slowly, rubbing out bubbles and wrinkles as you go. I like to keep my paper rolled up (it keeps it easier to handle) and only unroll the portion I need as I go.

I also measure the width of my surface to find the midpoint and make sure that I centre the pattern of my wallpaper in the middle - nothing worse than off-centre patters!
 

After the wallpaper was applied, it was time for the first coat of homemade chalk paint. As an aside on homemade chalk paint (I make mine with Plaster of Paris): some folks worry about the 'lumps' or 'bits' in their paint. I often strain these out of my newly mixed batch using the leg and foot of an old nylon stocking. The nylon catches the larger lumps and gives the paint a much smoother consistency. The grit of the paint sands away after it's dry.
 

 

I use a projector for images as much as I can.  Here, I taped off the white stripes ONLY using the help of my projector.  You could do this using *shudder* GEOMETRY *shudder* but that causes me to have bad flashbacks of high school math class, so I try to avoid it at all costs. 

 

 

Once I'd taped off the white stripes, I painted them using three coats of chalk paint in an off-white colour.  I didn't wait for them to completely dry before removing the tape.  Most of the lines were clean and I only had to do minor touch ups.  Then it was like a puzzle...I only had to paint in the blue and red triangles and voila!  A Union Jack flag without ANY math!  I have a pretty steady hand so painting in the triangles of colour wasn't too challenging for me - if you feel more comfortable (and have much more patience than me), you can tape off each individual triangle - but you have to wait for the paint to completely dry on the other parts of the design before taping.  Boooooring. 

 

After painting, I distressed the drawers and sides of the dresser. I wanted to give it a 'war worn' appeal. I may have just seen Les Mis and may have been inspired; now the French probably don't like me very much. Quelle dommage.

I splurgged and bought a tin of Varathane floor varnish. This stuff is AMAZING. It's ubber durable and doesn't yellow. I love it. Buy some.

 

 

There is a small flag detail on the top drawer of the dresser.  It is a colour print-out of a Union Jack flag that I Mod Podged on and then painted to look distressed like the lower drawers. 

 

 

The hardware is reused from another project and painted with black Rustoleum spray paint.  I often do 'batches' of hardware at a time so it's ready when I need it. 

 

There she is - ready to "Keep Calm and Party On!"

 

 

Tiny Table - It Spins!

I bought a couple of occasional tables off of Kijiji a while back for some ridiculously low price, but I didn't like the tops of the tables.  I had a graphic in mind to make the table into a birthday gift for a friend, but I couldn't put an image on the table-top.  They were 'faux' leather and octagonal...not the right surface and not my favourite.  I couldn't figure out what to replace them with - and then a stroke of genious hit me while strolling the isles at our local St. V de P...

A wooden cheese tray!  Better yet - a LAZY SUSAN-style cwooden heese tray! 

So get this, now the table top is round (just the way I like it) and it spins! 

I love it!

The graphic is from The Graphics Fairy (as always!) and I created my own 'transfer' by printing out the graphic, rubbing the back of it with a grahpite stick, positioning and taping it to the table-top and then tracing over the graphic.  The final step is to go over the tracing with either paint or a permanent marker - I always use a permanent marker.  Who can tell and it's 100x faster!

I used the good ol' homemade chalk paint on the body and sanded down to the original finish for an antiqued look.  Everything gets a once over with MinWax Finishing Paste for good measure.  Now the question is: how do I wrap it? 

 

I'm sharing this post on My Repurposed Life - definitely check out the other cool projects! 

 

Click below!

Antique Kitchen Island - Part 3 - The Big Reveal!

Here it is in all it's glory!  I'm really happy with how this piece turned out in the end, although it had its struggles.  

I especially like the sanded and oiled top.  It's perfect for the kitchen!  I had to strip the old lacquer and finish which is always extra stubborn the older the piece.  After stripping, I sanded, sanded, sanded with my handheld power sander.  I stared with 60 grit and worked my way up to 280, I wiped it down and then wiped two coats of mineral oil on the top.  Mineral oil is great for the kitchen as it's food-safe (how do I know?  You can take it orally to...move things along... and it's available in the drug store isle of your local supermarket or other large box store!)  It's also...cheap!  Ha!

A close-up of the front detailing.  After sanding and staining the decorative veneer, I painted the back.  After that I wasn't too sure of my choice as I wasn't convinced that the 'art deco' style veneer actually coordinated with the other delicate and more 'antique' embellishments.  I think the finish on the other drawers were what was going to make or break the continuity of this piece.

I was also happy with how the veneer 'patches' turned out and they blend fairly well.  Not bad for a first attempt.  Definitely good enough for our kitchen, I say!

I had a hard time deciding on what to do for the finish on the other drawers.  Originally, I had thought I would do some sort of brown decoupage print: flowers, scrolls, newsprint...I wasn't sure.  But because I'd used an ebony or black stain for the veneer, I needed something darker than I originally thought.  Out went the brown paper and in came more of the ebony stain.  I think it was the right choice.  I decided to keep it simple.  I did need to cover up the drawer fronts as the veneer wasn't in great shape, so I used an easy 'leather look' technique.

To achieve the look, simply use brown craft paper (or an old brown paper bag - you know those ones you get when you purchase 'adult beverages??') cut an inch or so bigger on all side than the drawer.  Crumple up the paper - really crumple and rub it until it starts to soften and has a nice worn look to it.  Then I painted on some plain white glue (you could also use ModPodge or Decoupage Medium...but I'm cheap.  So I use white glue), and simply pressed down the paper on top.  I made sure to flatten it out well, keeping the majority of wrinkles, but evening out major bunch-ups.

Then I applied the ebony stain to a baby wipe (you can use a sponge, brush or paper towel) and rubbed it gently over the top of the paper until I had the depth of colour I wanted.  I sealed over the stain with a coat of white glue.  I set the drawers out in the sun, and once they had dried, trimmed off the excess paper from the edges using a utility knive (Exacto knife).  When the drawers were totally dry, I sealed them with a coat of clear spray sealant - you could also use polyurethane.

Surprise!  Red inside!

The last special detail I added were these hand-antiqued knobs.  I was totally frustrated when I went to my pulls and knobs stash and discovered I only had 6 of almost all the knobs I own!  I tried to find coordinating knobs, but they were the wrong colours.  After boiling all the knobs in a pot of water and dish soap to remove their 'coatings,' I scrubbed them and dried them.  Then I used some of the ebony stain and some enamel spray paint to give them a similar aged look, sprayed them with a couple of coats of clear sealant and they were good to go!

The two knobs on the middle drawer are a bit smaller than the others, but they coordinate and don't detract overall.  Good enough!

And there you have it!  A $60 vanity transformed into a kitchen island and an extra prep space for our smaller kitchen.

I'm linking up and sharing this makeover at Funky Junk Interiors - click below to check out the other creative projects.  Lots of inspiration ahead!