Home Decor

How to Make a DIY Burlap Banner for Any Occasion

March 8, 2017 by Eileen 70 Comments

Scanning the shelves in Michaels with a 55% coupon in hand, I looked around for something I could make an easy, do-it-yourself banner with.

My eyes landed on a pad of burlap card stock.

There were 24 individual sheets of burlap, backed with cardboard.

Being the worst at cutting straight lines, I figured that individual sheets would save a lot of frustration.

And, I had been looking for an opportunity to work with burlap.

People love burlap – and it’s everywhere. I’ve seen mason jars wrapped in burlap, curtains made from burlap, flowers wrapped in burlap, and entire weddings crafted from burlap.

I even worked with a teacher who covered all of her bulletin boards in burlap.

I had never crafted with this material before – but I do agree that burlap brings a natural warmth and texture – so I was excited to check it out.

So, I got started on my project – which was to teach myself how to make a burlap banner for St. Patrick’s Day from homemade stencils and burlap.

Materials for the Burlap Banner:

Foam brush
Acrylic paint – I used the two pictured below, mixed together.
Burlap – I loved using the cardboard backed sheets from Michaels. Here’s a similar one.
Scissors – A good pair makes a big difference!
Stencil of your choice – You can make these. I made a shamrock. You can use letters or hearts – or anything you’d like! (See below for shamrock template)
Tape – scotch or painter tape (more about this below)
Ribbon – for stringing the letters together
Hot Glue Gun

How to Make a Burlap Banner

The instructions for making this banner are quite simple: preparing the burlap material, making the stencil, painting the burlap, and connecting the burlap pieces.

Preparing the Burlap

First, I simply made a triangular cut on the bottom of each sheet.

The burlap was easy to cut into with the cardboard backing.

Making the Stencil

Then, I traced a shamrock onto card stock – and carefully cut out just the middle. This made the shamrock into a stencil.

I then taped it onto the burlap, making the cardstock as flat as possible.

Painting the Burlap Banner

Next, I used the foam brush (probably should have used a 1/2 inch foam brush – but I like to use what I have) to dab on the green paint.

Be careful to keep your brush straight, so it doesn’t slip under the stencil.

As a side note, I tried this using a regular paint brush also. While it worked, it took a lot longer and didn’t give a consistent coat. You can definitely use a regular paint brush, but the foam brush did a nicer job.

For the stripes, I used strips of scotch tape to create the lines. Then, I just dabbed on the green paint onto the burlap.

Immediately after, I removed the tape and moved on to the next sheet.

I also recommend doing a test with the colors/stencils you will be using. I tried a few different shades of green to see what would work best – and a few different shapes to see how they would look.

Pictured below is the edge of my desk, with my stencil and scotch tape strips. Rather than use a ridiculous amount of tape, I used the same four strips over and over, and I hung them here while not in use.

I also went back and forth with painting a shamrock, then stripes – this gave the stencils/tape a little dry time before more use.

Here are two of the burlap pennants, in the process of drying.

Both the card stock stencil and the tape worked really well. The paint looked very neat, and I had a nice, clean outline on every pennant.

Connecting the Pennants

After the individual pennants were dry (only took a few minutes), I used burlap ribbon and hot glue to connect them into a banner.

I found the burlap ribbon at Michaels during a 70% off sale prior to the holidays. I bought loads of ribbon then, without a use for any of it.

Ecstatic to find the burlap ribbon during this project, I knew I had the perfect use for it. And, I love that I got it when it was a great price. That’s why I love stocking up on craft supplies 🙂

So, I lined up my stripes and shamrocks in the order I liked and flipped them over for gluing.

Then, I used my handy glue gun to do two drops of glue on either side of every pennant.

Before you glue, make sure you have your banner in the right order. I once glued an entire banner in backward order – and let me tell you, I wasn’t happy when my “Happy 40th” banner said “40th-Y-P-P-A-H.”

Also, remember to leave extra ribbon on both sides for hanging.

I LOVED the way the sign turned out – it was so festive and added much more to our mantel than some of the store-bought St. Patrick’s Day decorations.

I don’t know which shocked me more – the fact that I made the banner for less than $5 or that I made it in less than an hour.

It was a total naptime creation, with time to spare 🙂

I shouldn’t have waited so long to start working with burlap. It was easier than I expected, took a small amount of time and effort, and yielded great results!

How to Get Magical Results with Chalk Paint – 4 Easy Steps

November 27, 2016 by Eileen 52 Comments

This post shares how to use chalk paint to flip furniture, in just four easy steps!

As I tightened the knob on the refinished nightstand, my husband looks over, checking out my work.

He nodded his head, “Looks nice.”

From this lackluster response, I knew he didn’t remember what the nightstand looked like before.

Quick with my phone, I pulled up a picture, and smiled widely as I got my well-deserved “whoa!”

The same response everyone gives when they see just how incredible this furniture flip was.

I had realized the potential of chalk paint, and I’m about to share exactly how I got these results.

Using a decades old nightstand with many stains and uneven surfaces, the chalk paint exceeded my expectations, totally transforming the desolate nightstand into a modern piece, without any sanding or priming.

Before I give you the step-by-step instructions on using chalk paint, here are a few pictures of the piece before the chalk paint. You can see the uneven surfaces and scratches, especially on the lower part of the shelf.

And this is a close-up of the top of the nightstand before using chalk paint. It wasn’t in good shape at all – but the chalk paint covered it all perfectly without any sanding.

Choosing a Chalk Paint

The first step in the chalk paint process was deciding what brand chalk paint to use. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I went back and forth deciding whether to use Annie Sloan or another brand. Since I was split down the middle, I ultimately decided to use Annie Sloan because of the chemical warning I saw written on the wax container of the other brand of chalk paint – in comparison to the natural ingredients used in the Annie Sloan wax (like beeswax).

That, coupled with the fact that it was my first chalk paint project, sold me on the Annie Sloan brand.

For the top of the nightstand, I used primarily French Linen chalk paint from Annie Sloan (keep reading for how I made it look like distressed wood).

For the rest of the piece, I used Pure White chalk paint from Annie Sloan on the rest of the piece. Just as a side note about, the Pure White chalk paint – it is very white.

Chalk Paint Materials

You can go a little overboard on chalk paint materials, so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

French Linen (Annie Sloan) Chalk Paint – for the top of the nightstand
Pure White (Annie Sloan) Chalk Paint – for the majority of the piece, and a little for blending the top
Annie Sloan Clear Wax – to cover the whole piece as a protective coating
Annie Sloan Dark Wax – to help create the look of distressed wood on the top
Brushes – I liked using a round brush like this one and I used a 1-inch and 2-inch angular one too
White lint-free rags – to rub the wax on
Gloves, mask (if desired), newspaper/brown paper for floor, and baby wipes to wipe down piece prior to painting.

Now, it seems like a lot of materials for chalk painting, but there is a lot of leftover paint, and the paintbrushes can be reused on any painting project.

The other thing you might be worried about is using wax. I read about a lot of others having trouble with waxing after the chalk paint. However, do not worry – the wax was the simplest part of the chalk paint process!!

Wax is way better to use than polyurethane, and it went by way quicker than the painting.

How to Refinish Furniture with Chalk Paint

With these simple four steps, you will be able to beautifully chalk paint a piece of old furniture.

Here I am ready to give this old nightstand a fresh new look with the following chalk paint steps.

Step 1 – Clean Your Piece

When getting started with the chalk paint process, first clean your piece really good so the chalk paint will stick. I like using baby wipes to clean off furniture.
Then remove any hardware – like drawer knobs – unless you plan to paint these.

Step 2 – Work on the Top

First, tape the edges of the piece. Then you can you can uninhibitedly chalk paint the top.
Then, start brushing on the French Linen chalk paint. Chalk paint goes on just like any other paint, so I gave it a good, thick coat of paint going with the grain. You can go against or in any direction, if you want your whole piece to have an uneven, distressed look. As for brushes, I used the round brush – but any of the brushes would have been fine.
As you are chalk painting, watch for edges and any dripping. The paint is thick, so it doesn’t drip too much; however, because the chalk paint dries fast, you’ll want to catch any potential mistakes quickly.
Let the first coat of chalk paint dry. It took about 30-45 minutes for me. Chalk paint dries super fast!
If you want the top to have a uniform color, then apply another coat.

Technically, the top will now be done, and you can move on to Step 3. Yet, if you want to give it a distressed wood look, follow the below steps for distressed chalk paint:

Distressing the Wood (optional)

Paint a second coat of French Linen, adding a little water in. This coat is different because you are going to add a little water into the gray. Because chalk paint is thick and fast-drying, it’s hard to brush other colors into it. Adding a small amount of water will make the paint a little easier to work with – keeping the paint wet longer, which allows you to brush in the white chalk paint. As for an amount, you can just lightly dip your brush into a cup of water or you could use a plastic cup to put some chalk paint and water into. Again, just a little dip into the water will go a long way with the chalk paint.
After you give the top a second coat of watered down French Linen, while it’s still wet, it’s time to put some white streaks onto the gray chalk paint. Use the Pure White chalk paint and dab your brush in – just a small dab. You can run the brush along a piece of paper to get rid of any excess. The goal is to create streaky white brush strokes on your gray. The round brush is perfect for this. You can make subtle white streaks like I did – or you can make them more frequent and apparent. If you have too much white, then use the gray again – keep layering it until you are happy with how it looks. Remember it’s not supposed to look uniform. The strokes of white are creating character and dimension.

Let the chalk paint dry again – 30 min to 45 should be good.
Last, use the dark wax on your chalk paint. Similarly to how you just used the white, you are going to lightly (very lightly) dip your round brush into the dark wax. Only the very ends of your brush should have wax. Just as you brushed on the white paint, brush on the wax here and there, giving the piece more dimension. If you put on too much of the dark wax, then layer again with the gray chalk paint until you are happy with the results. I used a very small amount of the dark wax because I wanted more of an even look.

As far as creating this look, I found this part of the chalk paint process so much fun, and I am not even an artist.

Rather than just painting brush stroke after brush stroke to cover area, it was something different – and was quite fun and relaxing to create this dimensional look with chalk paint. It was definitely one of my favorite steps of the chalk paint process.

Also, as mentioned before, if you make mistakes or aren’t happy with the way it looks, it is easy to fix by touching up the chalk paint.

Step 3 – Paint, Paint, Paint

Now it is time to chalk paint the rest of your piece, leaving the top that you just painted as is. I used the Pure White chalk paint and used the angular brushes to put it on. Don’t forget to also do your drawers.
The first coat of chalk paint will look streaky (pictured below), but a good, thick coat helps.

After the first coat of chalk paint dries, give the piece a second coat of chalk paint. My piece was still pretty streaky after two coats of paint (pictured below).

I did one more coat of chalk paint, which made for a total of 3. For the chalk paint to go on smoother, you can water it down a little. I did this for my third coat because I felt I didn’t need a full thick coat again.

When working with chalk paint, or any kind of paint, I suggest working in the brightest light possible. If you can, bring more light into your work space so your space is as bright as possible. This will accentuate any dripping or streaking which will help if your piece will be in a room with lots of light.

Step 4 – Waxing In Circles

Waxing is actually a piece of cake. If you are good at cleaning, then you’ll be great at wiping on this wax.

Use two rags – you can split your old t-shirt into pieces, and put one rag in each hand. With one rag you are going to wipe the wax on, and with the other, you are going to polish.
Start with a small amount of wax (half of the size of a dime) – less is more. Start rubbing it on in circles, like the way you rub lotion into your skin. Work your way across the furniture rubbing in circles.
Immediately after, using the second rag, work your way across the piece also rubbing in circles. As you buff, you will start to notice the surface becoming very shiny. This is the look you want! You want to polish in circular motions until it is nice and shiny. Once it’s shiny, move to the next area.

Quick Tip: I would use different rags for the top than the rest of the piece in case there is any bleeding from the paint onto the rags.

Also, you could wax the gray chalk painted top after the top dries in Step 2, instead of waiting until the piece is done. I did this, so I got used to the whole chalk paint process from start to finish, before doing the whole piece.

Chalk Paint Finishing Touches

Last, I replaced the knob on the chalk painted nightstand. Home Depot, Lowes, and Hobby Lobby are all good choices for knobs. This knob I had on my telephone table, but I didn’t love it there – but it looks great on this chalk painted nightstand!

I finished this nightstand within 24 hours I believe – as I kept moving as soon as each coat dried.

It was definitely my best turnaround time on refinishing furniture. When you take away the sanding, priming, and all that dry time, it really speeds up a project.

I loved working with chalk paint, and the results are just amazing. It simply doesn’t look like the same piece. And, the chalk paint process is really easy.

Even my dad’s jaw dropped when I showed him the before and after! He usually only gets impressed with Ash’s projects 🙂

Also, I have a ton of leftover paint. I went through about 1/8 of the quart of white and barely touched the gray chalk paint.

Our old piano is going to be my next chalk paint project – I can’t wait to see how it will look.

Stayed tuned (ha ha pun intended!).

How to Build Floor-To-Ceiling Bookshelves (With a Window Seat)

November 22, 2016 by Ash 85 Comments

Learn how to make built-in bookshelves with a window seat and cabinets. The tutorial is simple-to-follow, and the bookshelves turn out beautiful.

Ever since building my first bookshelf in our first home, I’ve had a hankering ever since to do another one but on a much more grand scale.

My wish came true when Eileen came to me one day with some ideas for her office in our new home. An exciting project was brewing!

Since we didn’t have any large bookshelves in our present home, most of the books we packed up during our move were still in boxes. I’m talking cartons and cartons of books.

They were taking up a lot of valuable space in various locations around the house. So bookshelves were sorely needed.

Initially, we were leaning towards a large L-shaped bookshelf in the office. Then Eileen had a great idea of placing the bookshelf against the window wall and incorporating a window seat.

The office window wall was very bland and not very exciting to look at. It was almost begging for a renovation.

Although it would provide a little less shelf storage than our initial L-shaped shelf idea, it would still be more than enough for all our books.

Also, the window seat would provide a little extra underneath cabinet storage, which is a pretty cool feature.

This room is a little sitting room off of our bedroom.

We originally felt like we would have no need for this room, but after staying empty for a few months, Eileen moved her office/craft room in here.

Update: We actually did something pretty cool with the L-shaped space that we didn’t used for this built-in bookshelf project. We made a craft corner using pegboard, wall-mounted cubby shelves, and simple shelves.

Later on, we added swing-out shelves, which is perfect paint storage.

Planning the Built-In Bookshelves with a Window Seat

The project was essentially going to be two separate built-in bookshelves (on each side of the window) with a seat connecting the two in the middle. The seat would be sitting atop some wide kitchen cabinets for extra storage.

Above the window was just enough space for a single small shelf to store decorative items or horizontal books.

Even though it would be a small shelf, Eileen felt that it would add a lot aesthetically, and there are always creative ways to decorate.

Finally, some baseboard would run along the bottom, and some crown molding at the top.

Some designs I saw online used a standard shelf depth (around 12”) with the seat extending out further.

Eileen didn’t want a protruding edge, and she has the eye for design.

So to prevent this, the depth of the seat had to be the same as the bookshelves.

Due to a closet opening on a perpendicular wall, I was restricted to a maximum depth of 15.”

I was a little worried that this would not be enough depth to sit comfortably on, but a few trial sittings on 15” planks of wood proved to be acceptable.

This also meant deeper than normal shelves, but I wasn’t too concerned. I’m sure any extra space behind some books could be put to good use.

As with most of my projects, I started off in TinkerCad to sketch out a 3D design of what was floating around in my head. I came up with the following:

Determining Materials

With the design for built-in bookshelves flushed out, I was ready to begin.

I strongly considered using melamine covered particle board for the shelves, but instead opted for some good quality birch plywood.

Although the birch was a little more expensive, I wasn’t comfortable embarking on a project this size using melamine – a material I have never really worked with before.

Also I wanted to use a stronger material than melamine covered particleboard.

Next, I used a drawing program on my computer (Photoshop) to calculate the minimum number of 4 x 8 sheets of plywood needed to cut out all the required bookshelf pieces.

I then placed a Home Depot delivery order for all the bookshelf lumber (including some 2 x 4s and 2 x 6s for various segments in the design, baseboard, and crown molding for the trim and some miscellaneous hardware).

Ordering from the home improvement stores is so convenient, but you do have to be careful because you aren’t the one picking out your wood. Still, I do like to order this way for convenience.

Here is the diagram I made in Photoshop to calculate the number of 4 x 8 plywood sheets needed:

Constructing the Built-In Bookshelves

After I got the built-in bookshelf wood, I quickly cut the plywood sheets into 15” wide strips using my circular saw and stored them for use shortly. This helps me to prepare for the project.

With all the materials on hand, I embarked on building these bookcases with a window seat.

Removing Carpeting

The first step was to remove the carpeting where the bookshelf would rest.

For a flat platform to build on, it needed to sit directly on the floor plywood sheathing. I accomplished this with the help of my utility knife and a metal ruler to help guide the cuts.

Then I removed some existing baseboard trim so the bookshelf could sit flush against the wall.

The use of my oscillating multi tool helped out here to remove just enough baseboard, leaving the rest intact, so that the bookshelf would seamlessly blend in.

Here’s a picture showing me making progress on prepping the floor.

I had to be extra careful removing the carpet tacking strips at the edges, as they were riddled with rusty looking nails:

Building the Foundation

Once all the bare plywood flooring was exposed and baseboard removed, I started work on the foundation for the two end bookshelf segments.

They would rest directly on the bare floor. I assembled the frames from 2 x 6 wood.

Here’s a picture of the completed frames:

While constructing the frames in the garage, the corners needed to be very square.

I didn’t have a 90 degree clamp at the time to assist, so using a scrap piece of 2 x 4 and two handy bar clamps, I got creative.

As seen in the picture below, I was able to lock in place two perpendicular pieces of wood allowing me to fasten them accurately with screws:

Here’s a picture of one of the frames in position resting on the bare floor (notice how I carved some grooves underneath to allow a coaxial cable to run through):

Relocating the Air Vent

I left the middle foundation frame (that the seat would rest on) for last as it would be a little trickier than the others.

There was a central air vent on the floor where this middle frame was going to sit, and so I had to redirect the airflow.

After brainstorming various ideas on accomplishing this task,

I settled on a very simple yet effective method. I was just going to build a wooden duct into the foundation frame, and seal the inside edges with caulk to make it air tight.

Here is a picture of the end result (a louvred vent would be inserted into the front hole, which I cut out with my trusty jigsaw):

Here’s a picture after I caulked the wooden duct:

Securing the Foundation Frames to the Wall

Once the foundation frames were complete, I secured them in place. I used some lag bolts to attach the rear of the frames to some wall studs.

Then I used some L brackets to secure the front to the plywood flooring.

Here is a picture showing some L brackets in action:

You might have noticed a number of pocket holes in my construction. They are very convenient for attaching wood perpendicular to another one, especially in tight or not easily accessible areas.

With the help of a jig (I use the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig), they are very easy to make.

Here is a picture of one of the pocket holes up close:

Above the middle foundation frame, I also started building up the seat supports and cabinet housing, as seen in the picture below:

Helpful Tip: Here’s a useful trick I used while making the foundation frames.

I had made a few alignment errors on the first frame, and so I had to unscrew a few pieces and adjust.

Some wooden toothpicks came in very handy to plug the existing screw holes so that I could re-screw very near to those holes.

I simply stuck the toothpicks in the holes and broke off the protruding pieces. Here’s a picture of me ‘toothpicking’ the holes (all we had were party toothpicks, hence the bright colors):

Constructing the Shelves

With the foundation frames in place, I decided to start work on the shelves. It was getting exciting!

Making Dado Grooves

I used the same technique as my first bookshelf I built in our old home – dado grooves to support the shelves, cut with a standard plunge router.

To start, I placed 2 of the bookshelf vertical end supports side by side, clamped them together tightly, and marked with a pencil where all the dados were to be cut.

Then using some scrap wood, I built a simple jig for my router to speed up the cutting and make all the dados identical.

Here are some pictures showing the the jig and the router in action.

With the help of the jig, cutting the dados was pretty effortless. Eileen even lent me a hand and cut some of them for me, while I did some other tasks.

Here are what the dados look like after routing:

Attaching the Individual Shelves

After the dados were all cut, I started attaching the individual shelves. To do this, I first applied some construction adhesive to the side of a shelf.

Then I inserted it into one of the dado grooves.

Then while using some right angled clamps to hold the shelf in place (I decided to buy some to assist with this project), I fastened 3 deck screws from the other side to complete the task.

Here is a picture showing a shelf being attached:

Only the inner shelves used dado grooves. The top and bottom shelves were attached with just adhesive and screws.

Here is what it looked like with all the inner shelves attached:

Next, I applied more adhesive to the attached shelves, and dropped on the remaining dado-ed vertical support.

Each shelf had to be adjusted so they fit perfectly into the dado grooves. Screws were also inserted to secure the connections.

Finally, I ran a 2×4 wood by the top shelf to serve as a mounting point for securing the bookshelf to the wall.

Priming and Painting the Bookshelves

To complete this bookshelf, I put on 2 coats of primer, and then 2 coats of a special urethane acrylic cabinet paint.

I was worried about regular paint sticking to the books after sitting for some time, so I opted for this hard protective cabinet paint.

You also could use milk paint, which is a more natural paint and it turns out beautiful on furniture. We found this out with our mudroom makeover.

Eileen, who usually does all the painting, prefers milk paint on raw wood, which we learned after we did this built-in bookshelf. More details on this are at the end of the post – in the update section.

Then, with the help of Eileen, we carried the bookshelf upstairs and set it in place. Getting the shelf upstairs was no easy task, by the way.

I knew ahead of time that it was going to be a tight fit, but not impossible.

Here’s a picture of the shelf leaning, while we figured out just how to get it through the doorway. It was an extremely tight fit, but we made it.

The other bookshelf on the opposite side is actually slightly longer than this first one (due to the window not being perfectly centered on the wall).

So we knew ahead of time that the second bookshelf would definitely not fit in our stairway and would have to be constructed upstairs in the bedroom.

Attaching the Shelf to the Foundation Frame

Using some deck screws, I attached the bottom shelf directly to the foundation frame. The left side of the shelf (touching the wall) was secured directly to some wall studs.

Finally, I secured the 2×4 cross piece at the top to some wall studs using some lag bolts.

Aside from the 2×4, I had used a countersinking drill bit to make the screw holes in the shelf. This made a clean hole for the screw to be countersunk without damaging the expensive birch plywood.

I planned on filling in these holes with wood putty later to hide the screw head completely.

Here’s a picture showing the shelf secured in place. It was really cool seeing Eileen’s vision start to take fruition.

Building the Second Bookshelf

Now it was time to start work on the second bookshelf that would sit on the right hand side.

As mentioned earlier, it was a few inches longer than the first one and would have to be constructed in the bedroom, rather than in the garage.

I did as much as I could in the garage though.

First, I cut all the wood to the required sizes, and routed the dados using my jig. I also painted the individual pieces in the garage as well.

Also, I had to be careful not to get too close to the edges of the shelves with the paint though.

The edges would slide in the dado grooves, and any paint (particularly the urethane acrylic paint) would increase the thickness of the shelves and make this step difficult.

Working between the garage and the upstairs bedroom meant frequent trips up and down the stairs. Many times I would have a handful of tools to juggle.

Then during one of my frequent google search sessions for tool organizing ideas, I came across bucket organizers for tools. I didn’t even know they existed.

What a great way to repurpose the standard bucket. So I purchased one and made my garage/bedroom commute a lot easier.

Here’s a picture of mine:

Next, I transported all the individual shelf pieces upstairs, and started assembly with the help of some saw horses.

It was a little more difficult to work in the bedroom due to the limited space, but it was manageable.

After the pieces were put together to assemble the bookshelf, I set it in place using the same steps I went through for the first bookshelf (securing to the wall and to the foundation frame).

Here is a picture of the right bookshelf partially assembled in the bedroom:

Here is a close-up showing the other vertical shelf support prepped with construction adhesive in the dados, ready to be attached to the rest of the shelf:

Both the left and right bookshelves were up at the point, and they were looking great.

Making the Window Seat

So next I started working on the middle portion – the seat and cabinets.

The cabinets were pre-fabricated ones I purchased online from Lowes. I got two of them to mount side-by-side. I just had to assemble them when they arrived.

You can also build the cabinets yourself – I later built these DIY cabinets for our mudroom.

Here is a picture of one of the cabinets after I assembled it:

To get the cabinets ready for installation, I built a framed housing for each. The I slid the cabinets into the housing, and screwed them in.

The top of the housing would also serve as the supports for the seat.

Here is a picture showing the cabinet housing completed:

Here is a picture showing the installed cabinets, as well as the seat attached with some countersunk screws. The bookshelves were looking more complete with the window seat now in.

Building the Top Shelf

With the seat and cabinets in place, it was time to install the final shelf above the window and get ready for the trim work.

To start, I ran three 2 x 4’s across the top of the bookshelves (in between the top front of the bookshelves and the ceiling).

Their primary purpose was to provide a nailing surface for the crown molding.

In addition, the middle 2 x 4 (that bridged the two bookshelves at the top) was going to help support the middle shelf that ran above the window.

I didn’t use dado grooves for this window shelf. I just used construction adhesive and screws to attach two plywood shelf pieces in between the two end bookshelves.

The top shelf piece also attached to the bridging 2 x 4 above.

This window shelf was really long though (the same length as the seat), so to prevent it from drooping in the middle, I added a divider in the center to hold up the bottom shelf to the firmer top shelf.

Installing Crown Molding and Baseboard

Now it was time to install the crown molding and baseboard.

This was a relatively straight forward step that adds a lot of pack for its punch.

I had installed crown molding in the kitchen of our previous home, so I was familiar with the procedure.

This time around though, I had a table saw, so the install went even easier than before.

For an easy crown molding install, having an angled surface to nail the trim into place is key.

So I measured the angle of the crown molding (the angle it would make with the wall), and ripped some 2 x 4s with my table saw to match this angle.

I attached them directly to the 2 x 4s already mounted on top of the bookshelves. Then, I used my finishing nail gun to attach the crown molding.

Here is a close-up of the crown molding. It really added such a finished touch to the built-ins:

The baseboard installed even easier. I just cut the pieces to length and secured them in with the nailgun.

The vent opening on the floor just needed a small top and bottom piece of the baseboard to blend in.

Here is what the baseboard looked like. The whole bookshelf project was really coming together:

Attaching Trim

With the crown molding and baseboard installed, it was time to attach trim to cover the exposed edges of the plywood.

I couldn’t leave the bookshelves as they were because the plywood edges were very rough to the touch (easily leaving splinters) and were not very nice looking.

To save on costs, I decided to cut my own ¼” thick trim from 2 x 4s using my table saw.

I collected all the measurements I needed to cover all the exposed areas and got to work in the garage cutting the trim.

It worked out fairly well – although there were a number of knots in the wood causing several of the trim to break because they were so thin.

Also, other imperfections in the wood caused a few gouges in the cut trim.

So it definitely wasn’t perfect trim, but considering how cheap it was to make from 2 x 4s, it was worth it.

Besides, after the trim gets installed, I planned on patching up any flaws with wood putty. Then, once painted, the trim would look flawless.

Here is a picture showing the installed trim (I use construction adhesive and my finishing nailer to attach them):

Finishing Touches on Construction

Construction of the window bookshelf was pretty much complete at this point. I was really pleased with how it was turning out, and Eileen was absolutely thrilled.

I did attach some beadboard paneling above the seat with construction adhesive and the finishing nailer.

All that remained now was to fill all the countersunk holes with wood putty, patch and smooth any imperfections in the trim, caulk any small gaps (mostly with the crown molding and baseboard) and then apply paint where necessary.

Painting the Built-In Bookshelves & Wall

Eileen hopped in at this point to take over the painting. She painted all remaining wood – going over the edges, getting the trim, and touching up areas here and here.

She also painted the areas to the right and left of the window (which were currently still the color of the walls). That really made the bookshelf pop.

Here is Eileen hard at work finishing off the project. The paint we used is linked above, but be sure to read our Update below on paint.

Using our New Floor-To-Ceiling Bookshelf with a Window Seat

The built-in bookshelf project was now finished. Eileen immediately filled up the shelves with all the books we had, freeing up much needed space around the house.

She even made a really nice cushion for the seat from scratch. She used a cushion material she found and a piece of outdoor fabric that she had leftover.

She’ll tell you that she’s awful with the sewing machine, but I don’t believe it. Look how nice it looks (below):

Here are a few more of the completed built-in bookshelves with a window seat.

The total cost of the built-in bookshelves project was around $600 and took me a few weeks to complete. It was a lot of fun to work on, and the payoff was huge.

It’s such a great addition to our home. It definitely upped the value of our home, not to mention our enjoyment of it.

Eileen has a place that she loves for all of her books – it’s definitely her dream room now.

Who wouldn’t want an entire wall of with floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves?!

To complete Eileen’s office, which is a sitting room off our bedroom, it needs some kind of doors. We are thinking about French doors or barn doors. What do you think would look best?!

And, if you’re trying to figure out how to style your built-in bookshelf and you’re a book hoarder like me, check out Emily’s post on how to style your bookcase if you’re a bookworm.

Three Year Built-In Bookshelf Update

Three years later, the bookshelf still looks amazing.

The paint has held up great. It’s a smooth surface and easy to keep clean.

There is one shelf that has too many heavy textbooks on it and needs a little support, but that it an easy fix.

The trim needed to be recaulked/wood puttied because the ceiling was very uneven. Some of the original caulked loosened up, and it needed another run.

Also, we would have chosen milk paint over the paint we used. Not at because of quality – but because we didn’t realize that a natural paint would hold up just as well and not expose us to any chemicals.

Milk paint is beautiful on natural wood, and it’s so amazing to work with natural paint! Definitely check out our post on using milk paint on raw wood.

And, we still haven’t put up any doors!

Eileen would love to add French doors this year to make it feel like a separate room. That’s definitely on the project list.

Not only was this sitting room wall completely transformed, but be sure to check out what we did to the other side of the room – the craft corner!

This room has certainly come leaps and bounds from the desolate yellow sitting room. It’s absolutely Eileen’s dream room.

If you are wondering whether or not you have the skills to create this built-in bookshelf yourselves, definitely give our DIY instructions a thorough read.

The only thing I had built before I got into DIY was a blanket fort.

Just kidding.

But seriously, you never know what you are capable of until you go for it.

And, if you have questions, ask away!

More DIY Projects You’ll Love

Love shelves just as much as we do?! Make these sliding storage shelves which are perfect for the garage or basement. They hold a TON!
This entryway and mudroom makeover is my wife’s second favorite room in the house! This is another drastic makeover that she just adores.
Want to start with an easy shelf? Make these simple picture ledges for less than $10.

Make These Picture Ledges for Under $10

October 29, 2016 by Ash 59 Comments

Do you have a bunch of picture frames lying around and a couple hours of time on your hands? Make a DIY picture frame ledge. It’s simple to make, easy to arrange, and looks quite elegant.

Since our move, we still have boxes of pictures frames taking up way too much of our closet space. However, we are one ample box lighter, due to the awesome picture ledge that Ash made.

As I was digging through the box that held the white, cream, and grayish frames, I thought about a gallery. However, I already had one on a neighboring wall, so I wanted something different for this collection of pictures.

That being said, one of Ash’s least favorite chores is hanging pictures up on our walls. You should hear how he tries to procrastinate the task, let alone see his expression when he languidly follows me around the house with a hammer and nails.

And, he definitely does not enjoy when I ask him to hold the picture up to the wall, as I direct from across the room saying, “A little bit left, nope too much….” With my indecisiveness, that goes on for a little too long before I usually end up putting the picture somewhere else.

For these reasons, I knew Ash would love the idea of not having to hang any of the picture frames in this hefty box and instead have the pictures rest on a DIY picture frame ledge.

Would you know he had both photo ledges built in a couple hours?

He used all scrap wood, and then I painted with furniture paint for a nice finish.

The best part?

You can make them too for under $10!

How to Make DIY Picture Frame Ledges

Here are Ash’s instructions on how he built these simple photo ledges.

I came up with a very simple design for the DIY picture frame ledge. Here is an exploded 3D diagram that I created in TinkerCAD to show how the pieces came together:

I was able to use all scrap wood left over from previous projects. I cut the long pieces to the appropriate length. Eileen used the length of the love seat as a basis for how long she wanted the shelves.

Then, I formed the triangle support ends with my miter saw (this is one of my favorite tools – check out my other favorites).

After that, using some wood glue, clamps, and finishing nails, I attached the pieces to each other. Once the wood glue dried, I used the orbital sander to smooth down all the surfaces to make the different wood segments blend into each other seamlessly.

Since it was scrap wood, there were a few gouges here and there that I patched with wood filler and sanded down to a smooth surface.

Finally, my painter, aka Eileen, gave the shelves two coats of paint, and then it was ready to be mounted to the wall.

In mounting, I secured the shelves to the wall using two lag bolts, directly into two wall studs. The heads of the bolts stood out slightly, so to help blend them in, I covered them with some white paint to match the shelves.

Looking back, if I had some Forstner bits at the time, I would have countersunk the lag bolt heads to make them flush with the wood surface.

The cost of the project was free, as we had all of the material in our garage; however, I estimate the project costing $10 for the wood plus a quart of paint.

Our New DIY Picture Frame Ledge

I loved the way the picture shelves turned out. Ash built them so quickly, and without any trips to the store for additional materials, which is always a plus!

I think it took me longer to arrange the pictures than it did for Ash to construct them. (I’m super slow at arranging things…)

Everyone who visits has been commenting on how much they like them. A few people have said, “Have these always been here?” That is one of my favorite comments because it goes to show how great they look where they are.

Not to mention, Ash was so pleased that we didn’t have to hang all those frames. I haven’t told him we still have two more boxes of pictures in the closet. I’m not quite sure where they are going either. Maybe another picture ledge will be forthcoming.

Here’s another angle of our new DIY picture frame ledge. The more I look at it, the more I love it – and it was a lot easier than creating a gallery, and unlike the gallery, I can easily rearrange the picture frames too.

Shelving projects are one of my favorites – I just love different ways you can display pictures, books, and other items. I’m sure we will have more shelving projects coming soon.

Converting a CD Tower into a Pantry Shelf

October 15, 2016 by Ash 46 Comments

When we moved into our new home, we found an old, tall tower style CD holder shelf that the previous owners had left.

It was supposed to be screwed into the wall, but the screws were loose.

Seeing it as a hazard, Eileen wanted to remove it and toss it, but I had a feeling that we could repurpose it one day into something more useful.

So off it went into the corner of the garage where it sat for almost a year.

As the months went by, I was starting to regret my decision of keeping the tower because it was always getting in my way when working in the garage.

Then, one day as I was looking for some cashews in the pantry, I noticed something very interesting.

One side of the pantry had an extra thick wall. It was actually twice the thickness of a regular wall. How unusual, I thought.

My mind immediate jumped to storage.

If there was empty space in that wall, it could open up the doors for all sorts of pantry storage ideas.

Ever since I built a sliding spice shelf in our previous home (in between the fridge and the wall), I had been eager to come up with something similar for our new home.

The pantry was getting difficult to navigate with all our spices, and we could never find anything we needed. Unfortunately, there was no decent space to build the equivalent, so I needed other options for spice storage.

This thick wall was the perfect solution to our pantry storage shortage.

Planning for Extra Pantry Storage

First, I needed to assess the wall situation better.

I needed to know how much space was available inside this wall. For all I knew, it could have been thick to accommodate a central air duct.

I did some knocking on the wall and it sounded very hollow.

Still, I needed to know what was inside before unnecessarily ripping off a large chunk of drywall just to find the area impractical for use.

Using an Endoscope Camera

I took to the Internet and purchased a very cheap endoscope camera for my computer.

The endoscope would provide eyes into the wall and allow me peer around without causing too much damage.

When it arrived, I hooked it up to my laptop, tested it out a bit to get a feel for it.

Pictured below is the endoscope camera, which plugs into the computer via USB.

To give you an example of the detail it gives, I placed the camera inside my son’s fire engine, and displayed on the computer screen is a very detailed profile of the driver.

After testing it out, I then stuck it into a very small hole I drilled into the wall.

The camera had an adjustable light, so I could see inside the dark wall.

I looked up and down, and all around, and the endoscope revealed what I suspected all along – a lot of empty space!

Determining How to Use the Space

Now that I knew what type of space I was dealing with, I had to brainstorm the best way to make use of it.

It was a tall vertical space, so I was thinking along the lines of a vertical shelf to hold spices. That would certainly help with storage.

I went off into the garage to plan out designs for a custom-built shelf to fit the area.

In the garage, I saw some scrap wood resting in the corner that could be turned into shelf pieces, but once again, that tall tower style CD shelf was in the way.

The CD shelf was really starting to test my patience.

I was about to finally toss it out when I had a eureka moment. You know, that CD shelf looked very similar in size to the space that I discovered lurking in the pantry walls.

I anxiously took out my tape measure and did an exact comparison.

The shelf would indeed fit into the wall!

Good thing we did not throw out the CD shelf (more reason for Eileen to start accepting my hoard-ish ways).

It seemed like the perfect solution for spice storage.

It was not very deep, so it wouldn’t hold large cans or boxes, but would easily hold spices and baking materials, which was exactly what we needed.

Installing the CD Tower

Excited about repurposing the CD tower into a pantry shelf, I couldn’t wait to get started. I love being able to repurpose some of the junk I keep around. It’s my justification for keeping everything. And, we really needed the pantry storage. I was tired of rooting through baskets of spices.

Preparing the CD Tower

I could have used the shelf unaltered, but I decided to make it a little shorter for the pantry.

The full height would have sent it nearly to the ceiling, which would made it a little impractical for pantry storage that high.

Cutting into the Drywall

After the shelf was shortened, I needed to cut the hole in the drywall.

I first used a pencil and ruler to outline the exact cutout on the wall. Then I used a special drywall handsaw (commonly called a jab saw) to cut out the hole.

It was a little messy working with the drywall, so I kept my shop vac close by.

After the hole was made, I inserted the shelf into the wall to get a feel for how it would look.

It looked amazing! I couldn’t wait for Eileen to see.

Affixing the Shelf

Now I needed to permanently affix the shelf.

The shelf was not resting directly on the floor inside the wall (it was a few inches above the baseboard), so first I had to attach a 2 x 4 cross piece to rest the shelf on.

I used my Kreg pockethole jig and some pockethole screws to attach both ends of a short 2 x 4 to the wall studs.

I repeated the process to attach another cross piece above the shelf to secure the top.

Then I slid the shelf in between the upper and lower 2 x 4 supports and attached the shelf permanently using some screws.

Applying the Trim

All that was left now was to apply some trim.

I actually had a lot of extra trim left over from redoing some kitchen baseboard a few months prior.

The trim I had originally purchased was too tall for the kitchen, so I had cut it shorter using my table saw. Good thing I held onto the cutoffs.

They were the perfect size to use as trim for the new pantry shelf.

It was already painted too. I secured the trim directly to the shelf using some finishing nails.

Finishing Touches

I adjusted the heights of the individual shelves to accommodate a variety of spice configurations, and then the pantry shelf project was complete.

I loaded it up with all my spices and our baking materials, which freed up so much space in the pantry. It truly was such a perfect pantry storage solution.

This was one of the more simple projects I’ve done recently for such a big reward. I completed the project in a few hours, and best of all, it was free! If you are looking for pantry storage ideas, think outside of the box. You never know what you’ll come up with:)

I’m hoping to repurpose more of my stashed finds in the near future.

Six DIY Weekend Projects That You Will Love

September 19, 2016 by Eileen Leave a Comment

With the cooler weather coming in, it’s the perfect time for weekend DIY projects. There’s something about the crisp, clean air that motivates me to accomplish more.

If you are anything like us, you are probably looking to get a few fall projects under your belt too.

The best projects are weekend ones, as I also love a project that only spans two days!

Plus, you can start and finish something amazing before the Monday morning blues set in.

From garage storage to backyard updates to kitchen upgrades, we are sharing quite a few home projects that only span a couple of days.

My personal favorite is the outdoor picnic table – it turned out so beautiful and we saved hundreds!

So, without further ado, here are six projects that you can complete over the course of the weekend.

1. Outdoor Picnic Table

Ash built this picnic table in just one day!

Imagine my surprise and delight:)

It was simple to make, and the results were beautiful. We especially love the composite decking on the tabletop and the seats, as it involved no staining or sealing – and provides a nice safe material to have meals on.

As for cost, this was a steal ($160!) compared to the cost of this type of outdoor furniture at the landscaping and home improvement stores, and it looks just as wonderful. It was definitely one of our favorite weekend DIY projects.

For a step-by-step tutorial, read Building a Picnic Table in One Day.

2. French Door Pantry

In our old house, we had an eyesore of a pantry.

It was nothing more than a nook of shelves with drawn curtains. It was nothing short of awful.

In sprucing up our house for our move, I was looking for ways to make our kitchen look less dated, without updating the counters and cabinets.

The idea of putting French doors then hit me. Ash agreed – he loves my design decisions…:)

We found a reasonable pair, installed them, and painted them white.

I couldn’t have been happier to see those awful curtains go – it was definitely a rags to riches moment!

It took a mere weekend of work, and I’m sure the nice folks who bought our house are enjoying them.

Check out the before and after along, with all the nitty gritty details in From Rags to Riches: Updating the Pantry.

3. Folding Workbench

This project was one of Ash’s favorite weekend DIY projects because he checked an item off his bucket list, as he finally built his own functional workbench.

It’s definitely a fan favorite, as it’s been featured on quite a few sites, including Life Hacker and Make.

In his post Constructing a Folding Workbench with Storage, Ash shares his plans (it’s an Ash original!) and explains not only this thought process, but all the necessary steps for you to build your own.

It only took two days, and Ash has been reaping its benefits ever since!

4. Sliding Garage Shelves

Ash and I are a little storage-obsessed. I’ll admit that I have a little Christmas stuff addiction, although I won’t even admit how many trees I have.

And, Ash, well he never throws anything away.

In his defense, he creates some really cool things from his hoard collection – including a built-in pantry shelf made from a CD shelf.

Thus, we could never have too much storage.

In our garage, we had a 20-foot corner of space between the wall and the fridge, and Ash turned this into 70 feet of space with stacked, slide-out storage shelves.

These shelves are awesome, storing some of our holiday decorations.

The slide-out feature provides easy access to boxes in the back, along with easy steps up to the top.

Not to mention, Ash created bonus shelving with the leftover wood.

If you love storage space as much as we do, check out Creating More Garage Storage.

In just a weekend, you could have yourself your very sliding storage shelves, just in time for the holidays.

5. Wooden Mower Wagon

Inspired by a trip to the strawberry fields, Ash had his mind set on building a trailer for his riding mower.

He figured he could haul yard waste to the curb more easily and even take the family on a few tractor rides.

His vision became a reality with this custom-built wagon.

When he finished the wagon, no one but Zeus was around – so he got the first ride. 🙂

Ash gives all the details, from basic construction to assembling the axles to hooking up the hitch connection in his post How to Build a Wagon for a Riding Mower.

After using it all summer, Ash found it more helpful than he originally thought, and he’ll continue to use it this fall bagging up all of the leaves.

6. Boardwalk Pathway for the Backyard

Thinking about tackling a wooden pathway project? It’s easier than you think. With just a few hours of work, Ash created a perfect path from our patio into the backyard.

Prior to this boardwalk, there was a narrow pathway with a few uneven rocks, so this was quite an upgrade. It took a little digging, but it was completed in a just a weekend – making it a perfect weekend DIY project.

After a year, it gets used each and every day and is holding up great. Looking for a boardwalk solution, read A Wooden Pathway for the Backyard.

All of these weekend DIY projects were tackled in just one weekend.

Make your Monday a little happier next week, knowing you created something awesome during your two day break.

Building a Picnic Table in One Day

July 7, 2016 by Ash 54 Comments

When we were getting our yard ready for spring, we took a trip to our local landscaping center to look at their plants.

On their patio, they had an array of beautiful outdoor furniture. Eileen sat down at a picnic table she liked, looked at the price (a very high $450), and said to me, “I bet you could make this.”

I nodded, thinking about all of the creative things Eileen and our son do in our yard, like having backyard picnics, bubble-making, and painting.

Having a DIY picnic table in the middle of the backyard would be perfect.

Plus, I’m always up for a good woodworking project.

Researching Picnic Table Plans

I did some research online for how to build a picnic table and ended up choosing the first one that came up – PopularMechanics.com.

It seemed simple to construct and the design plans were of a high caliber. The best part was that this picnic table plan called for using composite decking for the tabletop and seats.

This eliminated any concerns I had about having to use pressure-treated wood in close proximity to foods, or having to spend time staining or sealing the surface of the DIY picnic table.

Cleaning the composite decking on the picnic table would be a cinch too. It was a little more expensive than using real wood, but it was worth it.

The rest of the wooden picnic table (legs and supports) would be regular pressure-treated wood, so costs would still be low overall.

The specifics of how to build a picnic table is outlined pretty well in the source website, so I’ll just recap my picnic table building experience.

Overall, it was quite a fun project to work on, and best of all, I accomplished it all on a Saturday (albeit a long Saturday from morning to night).

DIY Picnic Table Material Order

I printed out the materials list from the website, and then I placed order on Lowes’ website for in-store pickup.

I normally don’t like doing store pickup for lumber because you are at the mercy of whatever employee is selecting your wood.

This usually means a random assortment of quality, with crowning knotty boards.

Money-Saving Tips

However, I found an awesome deal on eBay for multiple $15 off $50 Lowes coupons, and they were valid online only.

Using an Excel spreadsheet, I distributed all the materials across 4 separate orders to total just over $50 each.

Then I purchased 4 of the coupons on eBay for a mere $4 (coupon codes were emailed to me immediately after purchase) and placed four Lowes store pickup orders. Just $4 on eBay saved me $60. Not bad! The Lowes guys didn’t mind when I went to pick up the order either.

Here’s my car full of wood after the lumber excursion to Lowes (ignore the concrete and the pipes – they are for an upcoming shade sail project):

I did have to get some wood cut in the store for the picnic table. I ordered several 12 ft pieces of composite decking and I knew that wouldn’t fit in my car.

So I had an employee cut them in half for me. Having the store cut your wood is convenient, but it’s not always worth it.

Their cuts aren’t that accurate, and sometimes you have to wait a while to get help.

Additionally, there seems to be a trend starting in stores to charge you for too many cuts.

Always thinking of how I can save money, I brought a measuring tape and a handsaw in case I decided to cut the picnic table wood myself in the parking lot.

As it turned out, a thunderstorm appeared out of the blue when I got to Lowes, so that forced my hand and I had to have them cut it for me. They usually charge 75 cents for the cuts, but they waived it.

How to Build a Picnic Table

The first step in my how to build a picnic table project was to cut all the wood. So when I got home, I spent an hour cutting all the wood according to the plans. This hard work resulted in the picture below.

Doesn’t it look like a kit just waiting to be put together?

The next step in building a picnic table is to put together the picnic table’s legs:

Here comes the tabletop support:

Next up was the pair of seat supports for the DIY picnic table:

Here are the five pieces of the picnic table project that would soon come together to form the table’s skeleton:

I clamped some of the pieces together and picnic table project was now three dimensional:

With the seat supports attached, it was starting to look like a picnic table now:

Here I used a diagonal support beam to prevent the picnic table’s legs from shifting inwards:

Here I had to reinforce the structure with some 3.5″ galvanized carriage bolts to support the weight of people and tabletop loads:

It wasn’t too early to take the DIY picnic table for a test drive. Here I am taking a break from the work:

Finally, the crowning moment of the project came when I attached the composite decking on the DIY picnic table.

I highly recommend using a countersinking bit for pre-drilling the holes for the deck. I believe they make special screws for composite wood, but I didn’t have any.

At first, I used regular deck screws, and without a countersink bit, they did not look good after the head penetrated the wood.

Unlike real wood that compresses under the screw head, the composite material made a really ugly blemish on the surface.

After trial and error, I found the countersink bit did a wonderful job carving out a notch for the screws.

I used my router and a round-over bit to smooth/bevel the edges of the deck wood:

Finally I completed the DIY picnic table. Eileen helped me move it into the backyard. It was extremely heavy, but that was just a testament to its quality.

Here’s what the picnic table looks like in its element (notice our garden planter and rain barrel in the background).

The total cost of this professional quality DIY picnic table ran us $140, but that’s after a $60 discount via the $4 eBay coupons.

I estimate a pre-built picnic table of this quality would have cost a few hundred dollars in the store and even more at the landscaping stores!

If you are thinking about buying a new picnic table for your yard, instead learn how to build a picnic table with these plans and tips. We are absolutely loving the DIY picnic table, especially the composite tabletop.

Our DIY picnic table is already getting a lot of use and is sure to be a hit at our next BBQ.

How to Paint an Old Wooden Desk Like a Professional – Just 3 Easy Steps!

May 31, 2016 by Eileen 30 Comments

Years ago, I painted an old dresser white with turquoise knobs. It looked really cute, but it was apparent that it was painted – the surface wasn’t anywhere near the quality of the furniture you would buy from the store.

There are so many tutorials online about painting furniture, and so many say that you can skip sanding or priming. Here’s my advice – don’t skip sanding, don’t skip priming, and use a high-quality paint.

Lately, I had been in the market for a new desk in my craft room. I was determined to find a good deal on an old wooden piece and then figure out how to paint the desk like a professional would.

You see, my current desk was an old kitchen table. Ash was in the process of updating my craft room with beautiful built-in bookshelves and a window seat, so it was time for my kitchen table-desk to get the boot.

I didn’t want to pay $200 for a new, modern-looking desk, so I scoured a few flea markets and thrift stores. Finally, at a Habitat for Humanity thrift store. I found a brown wooden desk that I could work with. It was originally $40, but with a 50% coupon – I paid $20.

Being that my craft room would have mostly white furniture, I decided to try my hand at learning how to paint a desk like a professional.

How to Paint a Desk White

Below is a picture from before I started painting the wooden desk.

It’s not a great picture. It had only been in the garage for about two hours, and Ash had the desk covered with tools and wood from another garage storage project. (I should have taken a better picture, but I am always so excited to start my projects that I forget.)

Preparing the Wooden Desk

Before painting the desk, the first thing I did was remove the drawers and knobs. Then I cleaned the desk really well – wiping off dust and anything else that had collected on the surface.

The next step of the desk makeover was sanding it down. To sand, I used a random orbital sander with 80-grit paper. This got the desk down to the bare wood quickly. However, even though the desk was smooth to the touch, I probably should have gone over it with 220 grit paper afterward for a more fine finish.

Here is the desk after the sanding and before painting. Notice I put the feet of desk on pieces of wood to raise it up, so I could easily sand, prime, and paint the desk’s legs.

Priming the Wooden Desk

After I was finished sanding, I wiped the desk down again to get all of the sawdust off. You can use a cheese cloth for this or even paper towels. Next, I was ready for the primer.

Priming Materials

I had a 2-gallon bucket of indoor/outdoor primer leftover from painting the shed last summer, so I was all ready to go.

I used a large roller brush for the desktop. Then I used a small roller brush and a 1-inch brush for corners and tight areas.

In addition, I used an 1-inch foam brush for the rungs.

If you are wondering what the most challenging part of how to paint a desk is – it was painting the rungs. The rungs on this desk were in such close proximity to each other.

As soon as I would paint one side of the rung, paint would build-up on the bordering sides.

I would then smooth this, and once again, the bordering sides would have some build-up, continuing the cycle.

Thus, I had to very meticulously spend time painting the desk rungs, being careful not to use too much paint and being conscientious about going around and around to smooth everything.

If your furniture has a design like this, be sure to leave lots of time (and have plenty of patience).

Also, since the foam brush put on such a light coat of primer, I knew I would have to do at least two coats on the rungs of the desk I was painting.

After two coats of primer on most of the surfaces (I did 3 on the top of the desk as well as the rungs), I was happy with the results and continued on to painting.

Painting a Wooden Desk White

After priming, I was ready to start painting. I was already happy with how the white primer was looking and was excited to finish up the project.

Using a High-Quality Paint

For this, I used a high-quality enamel paint (urethane acrylic satin).

This type of paint differs from regular paint in that the paint pigments are floating in a urethane solution so it dries to form a very hard, protective surface – much like how polyurethane dries.

It is expensive (about $50 a gallon), but its recommended for furniture that gets a lot of use. (Also, I only used about 1/3 of the can painting the desk, so I had a decent amount left for future projects.)

Applying the Paint

To apply this special paint on the desk, I used a foam roller brush.

It is recommended to use a foam brush with this type of paint to give it a smooth finish.

If you use a regular nap roller (like the ones you use when painting walls), it will soak up and waste a lot of the paint, and it leaves a textured finish.

In addition to the foam roller brush, I also used a 1-inch foam brush for the rungs and tight areas.

I applied a thick topcoat on all of the surfaces of the desk, taking my time with the rungs.

After it dried, I put a second coat on the top of the desk only. This provided extra protection on this surface since it would get a lot of wear and tear.

Also, this probably goes without saying, but if it’s a windy day, paint your furniture in the garage if you can, so particles don’t blow and stick to your piece.

Here’s how the painted desk turned out:

The White Painted Desk

The surface of the painted desk had a nice protective enamel that made it easy to wipe, and it looked professional painted.

However, the painted desk still looked like there were ridges in the wood; it wasn’t a sleek, smooth finish like the brand-new furniture you buy directly from the store.

Don’t get me wrong, I was still very happy with the way the wooden desk turned out. However, in hindsight, when I sanded the desk down to the bare wood (even though the wood felt smooth to the touch), I probably should have gone over it with 220 grit paper for a more fine surface.

The 80-grit paper quickly got the old finish off, but the 220 would have given it a smoother seal.

I still loved the way the painted looked – it was a welcome addition to our bright, airy craft room, and I learned exactly how to paint a desk.

Here’s a side-by-side view of the before and after pictures of how to paint a desk. Not bad, right?!

Time & Cost of Painting a Wooden Desk

The time span of painting the desk was the course of a week – including dry time and airing out time. The paint fumes were not strong, but a little extra time never hurts.

The total cost came to $70. The desk was $20, and the paint was $50. We had previously purchased the primer and the painting materials, so that wasn’t a cost for us.

And, there was primer and paint leftover for the next project 🙂 If you are wondering how to paint a desk like professional, these tips and tricks should definitely set you on your way, keeping you loving your professional-looking piece for longer.

Refinishing an Old Telephone Table

May 15, 2016 by Eileen 25 Comments

With the warm weather, Ash and I have been working on so many projects – a built-in bookshelf in our sitting room, a planter box for our garden, painting an old thrift store desk, transforming a kitchen desk area to a cabinet, and refinishing an old telephone table.

Today I’m sharing how Ash and I refinished our old telephone table. I found it for $20 at my favorite flea market years ago and feel in love with its charm. I’d been wanting to stain it dark for years, but it fit in pretty nicely at our old house.

However, in our new house, our family room is much more modern looking, and this old telephone table stood out like a sore thumb!

Preparing the Telephone Table

I was excited to finally have a chance to redo this old telephone table.

My plan was to use wood stain, as we redid my nanny’s coffee table years ago with wood stain. It turned out beautiful.

The first thing I did was wipe it down really well, getting rid of any dust. Then I started to sand down table.

Here’s where I made my mistake. I didn’t sand it down to bare wood. I just did a light sanding, enough to give the stain something to stick too.

Mistakenly, I then moved onto staining the piece, and it was turning out horribly. Since I didn’t sand this old, weathered piece down to bare, there were lots of little knicks and grooves in the surfaces. The stain was filling these in, turning them almost black. So, the surfaces were looking spotty and uneven.

I figured that I now had three choices: I could switch gears and use gel stain like I did on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, I could paint the table, or I could start over again and sand it down to bare wood.

I decided to sand it down to bare wood and start again. Here’s where Ash helped me. We decided to leave the rungs as is – they looked fine with the first coat of stain, and we were hoping they would blend in well with the second application of stain.

To begin the sanding, Ash started with the random orbital sander and 80 grit paper. However, the existing finish on the table proved to be very challenging to remove. The sander was doing its job but very slowly and burning through lots of paper.

After some experimentation with different tools, Ash found the best one to be the oscillating multi-tool.

Using a flush-cut saw blade, running the blade against the surface at the right angle scraped off the thick, difficult finish. It did leave behind a very ragged surface due to the oscillating action of the blade, but he sanded it down smoothly after with the orbital sander.

One caution about using the oscillating multi-tool is that Ash had to be careful to pull the blade versus pushing it through.

When he pushed the tool, it would sometimes snag a groove and start cutting deeply into the wood. The pulling action worked out best.

I made sure to wipe off all of the sawdust – using a combination of a cheese cloth and Ash’s Shop-Vac.

Staining the Telephone Table

Next, I re-gathered my materials for staining:

Dark Walnut Wood Stain – Minwax
Polyurethane – Minwax
Pre-stain – Minwax
Four rags (two per coat)
Foam brushes
Gloves

I prefer to stain wood using rags because the stain rubs into the wood better. You have less excess and build-up; however, I keep the foam brush around for hard to get to places.

Also, I grabbed our can of pre-stain since the wood was now bare. I used the pre-stain first, brushing it on with a foam brush and waiting about 20 minutes before starting to stain.

I used the first rag to rub on a nice coat of stain. Then, I started with the seat and worked my way around.

Since I was working in the hot sun, the wood was absorbing the stain faster than usual. So, I needed to wipe off the excess before I finished the whole piece. I used the second rag for this, lightly brushing it along the surface. Don’t skip this step – or you will end up with globs.

Also, make sure to do a good job removing the excess around tight areas – like where the rungs meet the table. Otherwise, you will end up with ugly, globby lumps.

Even though I used the rag for most of the staining, I took out the foam brush to get the really tight corners or spaces. Be careful with the foam brush because it holds a lot of stain and drips easily and messily.

After I was done staining and removing the excess, I did a quick scan to make sure I didn’t miss any drips. I let it dry until it wasn’t tacky anymore.

Then, I put on another coat.

Sealing the Stain with Polyurethane

After I was done with the two coats, I was pleased with the results. So, Ash put on a coat of polyurethane.

He used a foam brush, going along with the grain of the wood, and carefully making sure there were no lingering air bubbles on the table’s surfaces.

He let that dry overnight and then did another coat. The refinished telephone table was almost done.

Completing the Refinished Telephone Table

The last step was choosing a new knob at Home Depot and screwing it into the drawer.

We let the refinished telephone table air out for a few days. Then, we moved it back into our family room.

Here’s a before and after picture of my charming newly refinished telephone table.

Since we had all of the wood staining materials in our garage, the cost of refinishing the telephone table was $2. Just the cost of the knob. 🙂

The time of project spanned about a week or so, due to the dry time between coats and the couple of days we let it air out. While the refinished telephone table was drying, Ash and I had other projects we were working on – like a desk update.

Overall, the telephone table update was quite an improvement. The dark stain modernized the old table perfectly. I’ll be on the lookout for my next flea market find 🙂

How to Transform Thrift Store Chairs

April 1, 2016 by Eileen 67 Comments

Every time I go to a flea market, a thrift store, even Home Goods, I come home with chairs.

I just love chairs. They can dress a space up, accentuate certain colors, bring back a classic look – they just bring so much personality to a room.

And, I love how easily you can redo them. With a little spray paint and new fabric, you can easily bring a chair new life.

When we were planning to move out of our old house, we had accumulated so many things that Ash told me I wasn’t allowed to bring home any more chairs (or books but that’s a different story).

He was right, as we had enough seats in our house for a Sunday mass.

Before chairs were off limits, I cleaned up a few flea market finds that are now household favorites.

Here’s Ash and I at one of our favorite rummage sales, sitting on the two chairs I later fixed up.

Each of these chairs cost less than $10, which was a steal!

Below is a better picture of the two chairs. The one on the left is an ice cream chair with a wooden seat. Although white, the chipping paint revealed that it had previously been red.

My thinking was to bring back the red with a cranberry color. My grandma had ice cream chairs in that color, and I love little reminders of her.

The one on the right was a purple-ish tan with an old, dingy cushion.

My plan was to make this more modern looking, as I wanted to use this chair for my make-up vanity. I was thinking a dark bronze color.

Preparing for Painting

I decided on spray painting the chairs. It would be easy and spray paint comes in so many colors.

First, I took the seats out of the chairs pretty easily by unscrewing some bolts.

Then, I put the chairs back together without the seats, in order to spray the whole chair.

When painting, I threw down an old shower curtain.

Spray Painting Chairs

After preparing, I applied one thick coat of spray paint on each chair.

The vanity chair looks darker than actuality in these pictures. It’s more of a deep bronze than a black color.

While the paint was drying, I went to work on the seats. The ice cream chair seat was an ugly and uncomfortable wooden circular disk. Here’s a reminder of the what the “seat” looked like:

Choosing New Fabrics

For the ice cream chair, I chose two fabrics that I loved from Joann Fabric.

They were very different patterns because I wasn’t sure which would look better. (I’m very visual and need to see how things would look. It probably would be weird if I carried the chairs through the store holding fabrics up to it – so I just bought my two favorites.

So, I decided at home that the navy blue paisley pattern on an off-white background was the winner.

I loved how the cranberry color contrasted with the navy in the pattern on the finished product.

Here’s a close-up:

Replacing the Old Fabric

To attach the new fabric, I put the current seat on top of the fabric and cut a large square around it.

When cutting, I gave myself about three extra inches around the seat.

Then, I wrapped the seat loosely with the fabric and added stuffing – the white fluffy cushion material (pictured on the floor below).

Next, I pulled the fabric over the underside of the disk and used my staple gun to give it a tight wrap. After screwing the bolts back in, I had a brand new looking seat!

Here’s a before and after of the ice cream chair. I was so pleased with it! My grandma would have been too 🙂

As for the vanity chair, I chose a turquoise and ivory pattern that worked well with the dark bronze spray paint.

This chair already had a cushion, so that saved some time.

In putting this chair back together, I simply wrapped the fabric tightly around the existing seat, used the staple gun to secure the fabric, and then screwed the seat back in.

The chair was looking good – and it worked perfectly with my make-up vanity.

Here’s a before and after of the vanity chair.

Time and Cost of the Chair Makeover

The total cost of making over both chairs was less than $30, including the chairs, stuffing, and fabric.

The time spent working was less than two hours. The longest part was the dry time.

I love how both of the chairs turned out – especially the ice cream chair.

It’s a piece of furniture I will definitely chair-ish 🙂

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