Part II: painting our guest room furniture

i finally finished painting our guest room furniture on saturday.  it took a while to finish (4 days) but it was so worth it.  click here to see Part I of this post.

here’s a few pictures to remind you what the before looked like.

and here are the after’s.

and…

 

i was pretty proud of myself.  i thought the furniture turned out really well.  i decided to reuse the existing tarnished brass hardware because it gives the pieces more character.  i also didn’t want to get rid of them because the furniture is so special to me. 

if you want to do it yourself here are the step by step directions. 

1. remove hardware and prime with oil-based primer (clickhere to see what primer i prefer to use).  let it dry overnight for the best results.

2. paint your base coat.  for this project i used ralph lauren satin latex paint in cottonwood.  you can purchase ralph lauren paints at home depot

3. after the paint dries overnight, use a medium grit sandpaper to rough up the edges and any details as little or as much as you would like. 

4. using a glaze (i used ralph lauren faux technique glaze tinted with sunfade) lightly brush on one coat.  i found that the easiest way to distribute the glaze was to use what i’m calling a dotting technique.  then brush, to spread it out. see my pictures below.  glaze is really forgiving so if you put too much on then you can just wipe it off.

5. once the first coat of glazing dries (mine took about 30-45 minutes) then you can brush on another coat.  it took me three coats, but it just depends on how much or little of the basecoat you want to show through.

6. let the glaze dry for a good 4-6 hours after your final glaze coat. this is key! don’t rush it like i did the first time or the polyurethane that you put on next will start to wipe the glaze off.  if you have time to let it dry for 24 hours that would be ideal.

7. the final step is putting the polyurethane on.  i used behr wipe-on polyurethane in a satin finish from home depot.  i prefer the wipe-on because it’s so easy.  it takes about an hour for the poly to be dry to the touch, and then it takes 72 hours for it to cure completely.  you can add a second coat after about an hour if you would like.

and there you have it.  that’s how i antiqued my furniture.  good luck if you decide to try it for yourself.

LiveJournal Tags: do it yourself,ralph lauren paints,home depot,faux technique glaze