Guest DIY Post!!!

My sister, Reno Queen, puts my DIY skills to shame. Actually, compared to her, I have no skills. I am a total and complete n00b. In my family, we all agree she is Bob Vila’s fraternal twin, only prettier and far younger. You need new screens? She builds them for you. New backsplash? She will cut tiles to fit and make a mosaic that would rival those of Pompeii. I’m telling y’all: the gal can do almost anything.

And I say “almost” because she never got around to working for SpaceX™.

Anyway, she was gracious enough to write a tutorial on making a beautiful work of art for your home. So without further ado, here you go!

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How I Planned to Paint Furniture and It Turned Into Some Other Craft 🙂

Supplies: Cabinet door, sander with 60 grit sand paper, Krylon™ Fusion paint in Satin Black, Paper towels, 180 Grit Sanding block, Stencil, Precious Metals liquid leafing, sponge paint applicator, E6000 and a Cross.

First you take your piece (in my case it was a sample cabinet door) and using 60 grit sand paper you sand off the original finish. (Image 1) I used my mouse because it is easier and faster, but if you don’t have one you can do it by hand (but it will take forever). Make sure you sand the grooves well. (Image 2) Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area because dust will be everywhere!

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Once it is all sanded, make sure you clean off all of the dust residue or the paint won’t stick and it will start to peel. I didn’t use anything fancy, just a wet/damp paper towel. (Image 3)

Once you have removed all of the dust, set up an area outside where you can spray paint. (And make sure there are no cars around, you don’t want the overspray to land on your car) Only do this if it isn’t windy outside, otherwise you will waste a lot of paint. I highly recommend using Krylon™ Fusion spray paint. (It says you don’t need to sand, but trust me, the finish is much better when you do.) The best part of using this paint is you don’t have to prime!!! I held the can about 6 inches from the door and used a left to right, back and forth motion around all sides of the door. You get better coverage this way so make sure you can walk all the way around your piece. Don’t try to spin your piece, you might make a mess of the finish. I put three coats of paint on this piece waiting about an hour in between and sanding lightly in between coats with a 180 Fine grit sanding sponge. This will give you a smoother finish. (Image 4)

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This is what the door looked like after the three coats. (Image5) These were the basic steps I took to paint this cabinet door. The finish comes out really nicely and is so much easier than rolling paint on.

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Once the piece is completely dry you can polyurethane it and let that cure for a couple of days before you bring it into your house because it will STINK!!! However, I went a step further to make a gift for someone who is going through a tough time. I decided to try liquid silver leaf!!

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This stuff is the bomb.com and I may use it for a whole lot more stuff. I used a sponge paint applicator to highlight the raised areas of the cabinet door. (Image 7) (Don’t be jealous of my manicure, lol.)

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And yes, I could have stopped there, but I felt it needed just a little bit more. So, I pulled out a stencil! This was not the easiest thing to do since my surface is not flat, but the imperfections didn’t bother me (which is amazing since I’m kind of a perfectionist.) (Image 8)

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Again, I used a sponge paint applicator and dabbed a little of the liquid leafing to the sections of the stencil I wanted to bring out. (Image 10)

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As you can see, I didn’t go crazy with the stencil and didn’t even use the entire heart. In my opinion, this would make a very nice looking drawer front if you are trying to update a dresser. This would even be nice as the top of a dresser or nightstands. If this had been a real piece of furniture this is where I would spray the matte finish polyurethane. (Matte because I’m not one for very shiny finishes.) However, as I mentioned earlier, I was making a gift for a friend and it just needed a little something extra.

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Ta-da!! Using a little E6000, I glued this pretty cross my hubby and I found at Hobby Lobby. Just apply a little strip of the adhesive to the cross (where it is going to meet with the wood) and a little strip on the wood, wait a couple of minutes, and then attach the cross to the cabinet door. I then placed a weighted object on top of it for a few hours to make sure it adhered well. (Before this step I add a picture hanger to the back so that it could be hung on a wall.) I made this using items I already had, minus the cross, so the cost was approximately $25.00. You can probably find a cabinet door at a RE-Store or Flea Market.

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What did I tell y’all?? She’s a bloody genius, and deadly with a bandsaw, too 😉

THANKS, SIS!!! LOVE YOU!!!