Showing posts with label Recycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recycle. Show all posts

Jul 17, 2013

New life of an old sofa




It is always dilemma: throw away things or try to renew them and give them new life. Is it worth of effort or is it easier to buy something new? I usually prefer to renew my furniture and make something original or personalized. This sofa is one of the pieces I am very proud of.




This is how it looked like. I bought new fabric and sew covers, added pillows and made completely new sofa for our summer house on the Adriatic sea coast - that's why I apply nautical touch.

Some additional photos I took:




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May 19, 2013

Side tables makeover





Once upon a time they were ugly twins and then decided to take facelifting and continue to live separately. I got these two pieces our acquaintances decided to get rid of and recognized the opportunity at once. it was just the small table I needed for my printer and another one for my son's room.


Tutorial how to makeover side tables






This is how tables looked like 'before'.





And this is their look after makeover.


How to do makeover


Material and tools:




- usual suspects (sander and sanding paper, filler, primer, acrylic paint, roller and brushes, transparent varnish for the protection) plus some additional things for decorations (decoupage and rice papers, thin brushes and acrylic paints)




As usual, sanding is the first step. I am using orbital sander, it is great help. Started sanding with sanding paper grade 40 and continued with paper grade 80.







Tables were in rather good shape and just minimal corrections were necessary to be applied (using filler). After that, I applied one coat of primer. 


Drawer 'before'




Drawers inside are usually hidden, but I like to refresh hidden parts as well, so I applied primer and paint for the complete drawer.





After primer, applied three thin coats of white acrylic paint using roller. This was the process same for the both tables. After that, additional decoration was, of course, different.






For the 'printer' table, I used rice paper for the legs. First, made pattern to be used for legs,  then cut the pieces from rice paper and glued them using decoupage glue. For the drawer, I used tape and stencil and decorative acrylic paint.





This is my 'office' corner with the printer table.









To decorate drawer I used tape to protect tne white part and colored the stripes using colors - blue, red and green as used for the legs.





For the surface, I used decoupage paper and glue.



When finished, I put two coats of transparent varnish (satin) for the protection.


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May 13, 2013

Wooden pallets - endless ideas

  It is amazing to me how rubbish could be turned into treasure. Wooden pallets are certainly the (hidden) source of a thousands creative ideas and projects - to acomplish some of them you need a little bit more practice and tools, but some are so simple yet astonished.  Here are some projects I found the most interesting. 

Source and tutorial for this sofa is scraphacker.com .





 DesignSponge is one of my favourite sites - I found there tut for this beautiful vertical garden.





Source for this interesting pallet fence is Camelot art creation.



You need to be more experienced crafter to make this chair   from pallet, but consider it as a challenge. I have to confess, usually ask my hubby to make more demanding carpentry work for me.


 This awesome shelf is certainly for beginners, just need to get the pallet. The source is fuckyeahbookarts.tumblr.com .



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Mar 28, 2013

Cupboard makeover








Last week we spent in our summer house in Murter, on the Adriatic coast. But didn't just  enjoing long walks. I finaly managed to makeover an old cupboard I planned for years. And I am very proud with myself - I like the final result (which is not always the case), and did it in three days. There are some details I'll add next time we go there, but this is it.


See below how the cupboard looked like before I rufurbished it - ugly and ruined:






I was taking pictures and prepared tutorial how to makeover and paint cupboard.



Tutorial how to refurbish cupboard (or other piece of furniture)



Material and tools




Acrylic paint and primer
Acrylic paints and primer; transparent oil varnish


Acrylic filler and spatulas
Acrylic filler and spatulas


Orbital sender and sanding paper
Orbital sender and sanding paper





Sredrivers
Cordless impact driver or ordinary srewdrivers


Roller and brush
Roller and brush





Additionally, I used some foils for stencils, golden acrylic decorative paints and thin brushes and glazing medium for glazing.



Step 1: Review and decide what to do



cupboard before refurbishment







Take a photos of the cupboard from the all angles - not just for the archive, but to be sure how to assemble all pieces after the refurbishment. Thoroughly review piece condition to see what you need and can do. Sometimes you'll need to ask for help from  some handy friend or professional carpenter, or just need to borrow some tool. And sometimes you'll find quite different usage of the item. This cupboard, focusing just on the wood, was in rather good condition - few damages on the sides and door edges  I decided to repair with filler.



Step 2: Dissemble all pieces




hinges for cupboard door


Philips screw




Dissemble all pieces, it is easier to work. Take photos while doing that to be sure how to assembe them. I am planning to replace those slot screws with Phillips ones, as have cordless impact driver (borrowed from my hubby).


Step 3: Repairing and Sanding 




how to apply filler


how to apply filler and repair wooden furniture

how to apply filler and repair wooden furniture



Before starting to work, I cleaned and washed the cupboard with dump cloth, used water with a few drops of dishwashing liquid in case of greasiness.
Minor damages I found on the door edges (and inside, on the cupboard sides), I repaired with the filler. I used acrylic one, it is fast drying and easy to apply. Put some ammount on   the spatula (or directly on the damaged place) and flatten it with spatula. The coat should not be thicker than 1 mm - if necessary, repeat the process. When the filler is dry, sand the repaired place and view if it is visible on the surface - if it is below the overal surface level, need to add filler. If it is higher, need to sand a little bit more.


Step 4: Sanding, Priming, Sanding



sanding cupboard door


Priming cupboard door




Sanding and priming are important (although strenous) steps in furniture makeover. Skipping preparations might not be visible at once, but can impact the resistance of paint peel off. So, I sanded door (both sides) and carefuly cleaned the dust with damp cloth. I used orbital sander and sanding paper grade of 40. After that, applied the  first coat of primer. About the benefits of the primer you can read in more details in the post Furniture makeover 3 - Benefits of primer. As the primer is white, you can easily check if you repaired all damages and if some repairs are still visible (not leveled with the surface). Sanded again (with the finer sanding paper grade of 60) and applied second coat of primer. This process I did for the second door and outside  cupboard surface. Inside the cupboard just applied two layers of primer. 




This is how cupboard looked like after the firtst coat of primer, much better then isn't it?

Step 5: Painting (at last)




At last, I was ready for the painting - the best but the most challenging step.  I am always beeing afraid of what will be the final result. Am I going to be dissapointed after all these efforts? So, I started. I am using roller for the painting and brush for the edges. I usually first paint all the edges and then paint surface using roller.






This is cupboard after the first coat of paint. In my experience, it is better to use two (ans sometimes three) thinner coats of paint than one thick. 







And cupboard after the second coat - quite good.




For the doors I used a light blue color I mixed myself, using white and blue acrylic paint and added a litlle bit of yellow pigment. When mixing paint, general rule is to add darker paint into the light one (not vice versa, the result will not be as expected).
Decided also to add decorations and used stencils and golden paint for the anchor and 
rudder.

Step 6: Distressing - glazing




At the end, I decided to distress doors by glazing them.


First, I waited  the base paint to dry completely - that's the beauty of acrylic color, it took just about 20 minutes (may be even less).

Mix the glaze with the paint according to the manufacturer's instructions - I put 1 amount of dark blue paint to four amount of glaze. Applied the glaze to the door in sections using a brush. Before the glaze dries, used a clean cotton rag to blend the glaze until achieved the desired effect. When the glaze dries, you can always add additional coats of glaze until your  piece is the colour you want it to be.






To be on the safe side, first glazed inside of the door, to see the result.


Step 7: Assemble all pieces





Finally, it is time to assemble all pieces together. I replaced slot scres with the Phillips ones (and used impact driver, but ordinary one will do as well). Also sanded a little bit hinges and them with golden paint. 
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