While in cottage country over the Thanksgiving long weekend I lucked out and found a few awesome pieces of furniture that were ridiculously cheap. I suspect that because the cottaging season was coming to an end, all of the local antique spots were just willing to get rid of pieces so they didn't have to hold them over the winter months. Regardless of the reasons - we had my Mom's LandRover filled with pieces to bring back to Toronto (thanks Mom!). Since then I've been having an fun time giving the pieces some love and I thought I'd share the progress ...
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| Above / I've filled the uneven sides (where the veneer pulled away) with putty, and then sanded it smooth once dry |
We found this particular cabinet at a steal of a price. At first glance it's perfect but when you look closer the wood venere on the side was peeling and it was pretty damaged because of neglect and bad DIY jobs. The wood can't be restored (at least not for a price I could afford) so the only thing to do is paint it. But it's such a beautiful piece it needs to really be taken care of before any paint touches the wood.
The sides of the cabinet were wood veneer and were peeling away. So I peeled it back gently where it was really peeling (like peeling birch bark off a tree). I was careful not to pull off too much but just the really loose pieces. That meant that part of the side of the cabinet was uneven - which would look awful once painted. So the big step was spackling the areas that were missing wood. You can see above that I've spackled using DryDex - a putty that is pink and dries white. I love it. I plaster it on using a putty knife and let it dry. Most commonly people I think use it for filling plaster holes (which we do a lot over here), holes from nails (again, we do a lot over here) as it goes on pink, dries, and you can sand it smooth. I used the 80 grit (coarse) sandpaper for the removal of the excess putty. You'll use the Fine (120 grit) for between paint layers.
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| Two different grit sandpaper. I use both for different stages of a project |
I find the spackle works really well as you can really manipulate it so easily. Once it dries, is sanded and painted, you'll never know it was not original to the piece.
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| I'm filling the holes where they added awful hardware. I'll replace it with more appropriate hardware after. |
Whoever owned this piece was unkind to it. :( They added awful hardware and did a sad paint job inside. Thankfully they didn't touch detailing like below.
I got to work filling holes on the doors so that I could add back some different hardware.
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| The detailing was what won me over |
So here is what I've done to the piece so far.
1. Patched areas that were unlevel or missing wood with DryDex but also used wood filler in some areas. You can be liberal with the application of the goop - it will dry and you'll be sanding it down later.
2. Once the putty and wood filler has dried I got out my mouse out and sanded it down to a smooth finish. You may notice that the hole(s) you were patching need a second round of filler - just repeat. This creates a lot of dust so just be mindful of no little ones around and the cleanup. Take your time on this stage because once you start painting and getting layers on, it's harder to get things smooth.
3. In addition to filling holes and missing pieces, sand down the exposed wood. It will help get a nice smooth finish before you prime.
Next up, I'm trying to figure out what colours to paint the cabinet. In terms of colours, I love cabinets that are dark gray however, because this *may* stay in my kitchen Aubrey and I both agree it would look best if it worked / blended in with the cabinetry. So it may get painted the same colour as our cabinetry in the kitchen - so Benjamin Moore Paper Mache. And the inside may get a different colour? Decisions Decisions.
Anyhow, I hope this is kind of helpful for anyone else that wants to fix up some furniture without needing a major investment or, knowledge of wood working. I'll share more of the progress and other pieces of furniture as I do them. :)
Products Used: Mouse Sander by Black & Decker, DryDex by DAP, Diablo Sanding Pads for the Mouse. Wood filler (any kind)
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