"Ugliest-Of-All-Ugly" Bedroom Furniture Refurb

by Amy Brammer

This bedroom furniture was the first new furniture I bought when I moved to LA in 1988. It is cheap particle board and exceptionally dated, BUT it is very sturdy and has nice, large drawers. Since I can't afford new furniture, I decided to turn this old, beat-up stuff into something I could actually look at every day without cringing. I figured I would start out with the smallest piece first, this nightstand.

ugliest of all ugly bedroom furniture refurb, bedroom ideas, painted furniture

Hideous, and there is water damage on the bottom that I would definitely need to fix.

First, I spray painted the handles with this hammered bronze spray paint.

Then, I cut off the damaged part with my happy little jigsaw, then replaced it with a piece of wood from my scrap pile. I screwed it on through the back of the piece so the screws wouldn't show.

Next, I sanded the whole piece just to rough up the surface. Then started painting with homemade chalk paint. This gorgeous sage-colored paint was a returned quart can that I got at Lowe's for $3.00. I mixed 1/4 cup Plaster-of-Paris with 1/4 warm water. Mixed until smooth, then add 1/2 cup of any regular paint. It made a creamy, thick chalk paint that covered this laminate surface in 2 coats. I love this homemade paint. It was very thick, covered really well, dries extremely fast. I did two coats.

Here it is finished. I applied 3 very thin coats of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax over the paint, leaving plenty of time to dry between coats. It left a beautiful lustre on the paint. I understand that polyacrylic top coat is preferable over wax for chalk paint, but I was experimenting with chalk paint and wax. This wax seems to have left a nice sturdy finish, and I definitely did not want this to be shiny. Overall, I really like this product, and it was lot cheaper than the other designer waxes.

Now for the top: I wanted to do something different than just paint the top, and I need something sturdier since the cats use this piece of furniture as a "launching pad". I took some old redwood fence posts I had in my scrap pile, cut them to length and sanded them with 4 different grits of sandpaper to get them smooth as glass. I drilled holes and screwed them onto the nightstand from underneath.

I love all the knotholes and pink ribboning that runs through these boards, so I didn't want to stain them. I did 4 coats of Varathane Spar Urethane (outdoor) formula in Crystal Clear. It left a beautiful satin finish.

I have been working with leather for many years, so I created these two 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" to embellish the top drawer. I found some stained glass patterns that I loved, then recreated them on leather and mounted them with upholstery nails.

Finished product. I am so thrilled with the way this came out. Now, onto the big pieces.

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

3 of 5 questions

Karen Beth Blatcher on Jun 10, 2016
Is it nessary to put the wax finishing over the paint? What happens if one just paints the dresser?

2
Barbara Grace on Jun 11, 2016
Chalk Paint Recipe - Hi, I love what you have done to your cabinet. I have used Annie Sloan Paint and yes it is expensive. Would you mind if I had the recipe please? My email address is charlespuggs@btinternet.com. Kind regards, Barbara

2
Sarah on Jun 12, 2016
GREAT MAKEOVER!! Would you ever consider adding retro style legs?

1