Jeans tabouret

Jeans is so great material and I love it, so many possibilities for creative ideas. This time, I gave a new look to an old and ugly tabouret (in one moment I even decided to through it away, but changed my mind refurbished it). No, I can sit on it, put my legs on it when resting, use pockets for mobile charger or journals.

An old version of tabouret

New look

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Vintage cupboard to cheer me up

This cupboard I put in my kitchen proofs that old furniture could and should be refurbished to improve our space and bring something original in our home.

And this is how the adventure started

This old cupboard belons to my family for decades - in good condition, but ugly. Decided to make something new.

First, of course, dismantled doors and metal parts.

Then sanding, sanding, sanding and cleaning the dust.

Priming is important step as well. I am priming and painting all sides, even back side.

 I decided to combine  three colors - white, black and red.  This plastic plate is cheap and very useful for painting, recommend to use - there is part to pour paint and part to drain roller or brush. 

I am using ruller for the majority of my work, brush just for corners. Look at this post to see how to chose rollers and brushes.

For the stripes and combining colors, use tapes.

And now, there are some details of the finished cupboard:

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Side table remake tutorial

This side table is now living new life in my kitchen. I always need more space for the kitchen tools - thing left in the pantry are forgotten forever. Recently we made some refurbishment in the kitchen and i found a right place for the small side table. Remembered I have one old in the garage and decided to paint it. This is the result.

And short tutorial follows.

Tutorial how to remake an old side table

This is the photo of the table before the remake, just to get the picture.

Material:

- usual suspects for this type of project: acrylic paints (including black school board paint), napkin and decoupage glue (for the black dots), primer, sanding paper, filler, brushes and roller, protective tape, stencils, transparent varnish for the final coat.

Table came with the holes on the upper side - I decided to keep those in the middle and fill the ones on edges - used acrylic filler for wood. As the holes were cca 5 mm deep, put the filler in few steps. After each step, left few hours to dry. In the meantime, put the coat of primer on the table legs.

Once I was happy with the 'filler' work, sanded the table and painted it using cream white for the legs,  black paint for the upper side (school board black), red for the shelf.

Now, the best part of the work started  (at least for me). Used protective tape to get the stripes and then painted them with red color. 

For the stenciling and stripes used little sponge (you can see it on photo). What is important here is to dry the sponge before you use it for stenciling (or stripes) - meaning, put the sponge in color and then on the paper to get rid of the excess paint. With this approach you avoid leakages under stencil or tape and get the neat work.

For the black dotes I used such napkin and decoupaged it on the table sides.
Finally, put the two coats of transparent varnish, for the protection (not on the upper side of the table painted with the school board paint).

I had to put the photo of my trivet - I regularly use it when working on projects, it really helps to save the back.

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Wood stains - secrets, tips, how to apply

      Paint or wood stain  - what to use on the piece we are working on? And what is the difference?

     Wood stains are liquid pigments that dye wood, yet allow the grain of the wood to show through - in my opinion, that's the most important fact regarding the wood stain. They   bring out the work of the crafter. Paint, on the other hand,  covers up blemishes or less than ideal woods on a project. As a general rule, it takes more efforts and time when preparing the piece of furniture for stain then it is for paint, but I love to use it over paint whenever I can.

Types of wood stain

Wood stains can be water based, oil based or alcohol based, mixed with finely ground pigments. As for the paint, I prefer water based stain - it is much easier to clean the tools, and the dry faster. But,which type of wood stain to use depends also on the type of wood - for the most porous wood (almond tree, birch, poplar) any type of stain is OK. For other, less porous, alcohol-based ones are better. 

Regarding opacity, there are basically two different types:

- low-build wood stains allowing enhanced wood structure appearance

- medium or high-build stains that are rather opaque (something between stain and paint, not my favorite)

Stains are designed to soak into the wood, but those marked as outdoor form a thin film on the surface in order to protect the wood.

Preparations

Good preparation is essential for the good results, especially in the case of wood stain. 
This means sanding, sanding, sanding - sand the piece you are working on a few times, using progressively finer grits of sandpaper (larger number  = finer grit).  For flat surfaces I am using sander - it is much easier. Usually I start with the paper grit 80 and finish with the paper grit 120. And remember, always sand with the  grit. Next step is to to get rid of all of the sanding residue. Use vacuum cleaner (with brush) first, then wet clothes (repeat the cleaning with the cloth as many times as necessary; after sanding, this is the easy part).

How to apply a stain

That depends on the type of stain. In the case of oil-based stains use  natural bristle brush, whereas a water-based stain could be  applied using a synthetic brush or a roller. Some crafters use clean cloth to apply stain, I tried this, but it didn't work well for me.

Whatever you choose, try to apply first on the part of furniture that is not visible. For closets, I am using the back side of it to test colors and patterns. For tables, i am using bottom side of the table. It is always good to test the ideas first, and then make final decision.

Protecting stain

I am usually always protecting the stained piece with the transparent varnish.

Be sure to read the instructions on the can before applying it, and  do not shake the can before applying it (as this introduces bubbles that could mar your surface).

Tips and tricks

a. In more porous parts of the wood (eg. around knots), the absorption of the tint will vary - to minimize that, if you don't like it, use pre-stain wood conditioner.

b.  Read the instructions before you apply the pre-stain conditioner or stain. In some cases,  you are advised to wipe the conditioner off after a few minutes, and then apply the stain within two hours. So you may have to plan your time accordingly. 

c. For water - based stains, before applying the first layer of stain, lightly wet the wood. This will help to produce an even spread of the stain.

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Two chairs makeover - easy and fast

These chairs I have for a very long time. Put them on the balcony and didn't know what exactly to do with them - unlike my cat who  used them during summer to nap. I decided to finally refurbish them and it was rather easy and fast project. I really could have done it years ago.

Short tutorial how to makeover chairs

Above are chairs as they look like before makeover.

First step is, as usually, to sand the wooden parts. I  did it manually wit the sand paper grade 80 (moderately rough).  It is essential to thoroughly clean the dust using wet sponge or rag. If there are some grease stains you can use some dish washing liquid. 

As I wanted to achieve shabby look, used wood stain. Put two coats of green color low-build wood stains (acrylic, of course) and one coat of transparent varnish for protection. Allow each coat to dry before putting another one. For acrylic paint it is less then 30 minutes. And voila, chairs are ready.

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Virtual painter software to help you pick up the best color for your room

I love to paint - furniture, walls, fabric. And I love to do it by myself. But sometimes I have not enough courage to try some wild paint or unusual color, particularly if this is costly - time or material. Sometimes I am pretty sure my hubby would complain. I tried some tools earlier, mostly for photo editing to simulate various colors, but this was too tiresome. Recently I discovered there are tools particularly developed for this purpose. Some big paint manufacturers offer their own software, and there are some more to be found on the net. Some tools are very simple - there are photos embeded and you are able just to chnage different colors. Others  allow you to upload your own photo and then play  colloring objects on the photo. Bellow are some free tools I tried. It is now much easier for me to make decisions. 



Colorjive is an on-line tool. You can upload your own photo, choose the color and (re)paint object on it. But nothing is perfect, of course, and some adjustment you need to do by hand. There is an excellent 3 minute Youtube video tutorial for this tool.



Resene EzyPaint is a free software you could download on the PC (ful version with all images takes 400 MB, but the customized one is just about 100 MB.) There is on-line version as well adn help is very easy to follow and very usefull. Y>ou can upload your owen photo as well.





Some manufacturers like Dulux and Sherwin Williams offer their own tool. Dulux offers just a basic, simple possibilities - to chane colors on their photos, but it could be usefull (and fast to try).

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New look of an old benches

Two benches on my terrace realy needed a 'facelifting'. I planned for  months this renovation but there are always something else to be done. Benches were in good condition but shabby (not shabby shic, unfortunatelly).

Short tutorial how I renovated benches

This is small bench 'before' - you can see that the surface isn't very nice.

Even just sanding improved the image of the bench and gave it better look. I used wood stain (acrylic, of course) for painting - two coats were enough. And one coat of varnish (satin) for the protection at the end.

Now it looks much better, doesn't it?

Similar process was done with the bigger bench.

First step -  sanding.

Second step - applying wood stain.

Third step: painting metal parts. I protected the wood with the tape and then painted the metal parts with silver Hammerite (oil) paint. Why this paint? Because I alredy had it and because it has three effects: rust protection, primer and coloring.

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Play with cushions

Back from holidays, spent two weeks on the Adriatic seaside. It was good to get away from high temperature to the coast and enjoy swimming in the warm sea water. I love to craft something even when I am out of the town. This year I was refurbishing some furniture in our summer house and making plans to decorate the apartment - cushions are so great to add sent of romance or create certain filling. I made this one and other two few month ago, put them on (refurbished) sofa and  enjoy them during this vacations. And this is tutorial how to make such cushions - very easy and very quick, no buttons or zip.

Tutorial how to sew cushion or pillow case 

Size of the cushion: 40 x 40 cm

Material:

- cotton fabric
- strip fabric leftovers

You can see the scheme of the cushion - cut off three parts (because of the diagonal ribbons; otherwise, you don't need to cut the parts).  Be aware that seam allowances are NOT included in the scheme. Mark diagonal on the one 40x40 cm part. Cut on diagonal.

Cut off two ribbons out of different fabric (3 cm wide, add seam allowances). Sew the first ribbon on the cut off parts and the second one above (on the right side).

Sew another  40x40 cm part on one side and 40x18 cm on the other side of the ribbon part.

Make borders and turn a shorter part inside as on the photo and sew 'left' and 'right' sides together.

Cuchion case is finished - just put the pillow insert inside. On the photo you can see the backside of the cushion.

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