Furniture Rehab - Attempt #1

As I mentioned in my first ever blog post (which just happens to have been yesterday), I have recently developed an interest in giving new life to old pieces of wood furniture. It all started with the purchase of a piece I found that had been refinished by someone else -- an antique wash stand that now functions as our catch-all table in the entrance.

When I decided that I was going to have a bit of fun and decorate our smallest spare bedroom I also realized that we had zero furniture to put in there, aside from an old hideous brass bed frame (more details to come in future posts!). So I started trolling Kijiji and managed to collect a few different pieces that were old, made of real wood, small enough to not take up much space in an already crowded room, and in need of some TLC.

The last of my purchases but the first to receive a makeover -- two retro bedside tables. I paid $20 for this pair of beauties...

Pretty hideous, right? I started off by removing the hardware and giving both pieces a really good sand. Because they had already been painted they had an eggshell-ish texture, which meant I had to sand down A LOT to get them to a point where they were at least semi smooth. Then it was on to the primer...

I used an oil based primer, which really stunk up the garage, but provides really good coverage, especially since I still had that black paint to cover up.

I've actually put two coats of paint on at this point, which just leaves a protective clear coat and fancy new knobs (all the way from China!!) to finish both pieces off, but I will save those photos for the final before-and-after reveal!

Also coming up... Furniture Rehab - Attempt #2!

So until next time...

D.