Tag: Wallpaper

Furniture Refinishing to Fit Your Unique Style

When my neighbor asked if I wanted an armoire her daughter didn’t want anymore, I jumped at the offer. It’s hard to pass up free, especially when my crafting space was in need of additional storage. I was heavy into furniture refinishing at that point in time. Over the previous year, I’d completed the antique dresser, stencil coffee table, shutter buffet, and bookcase projects among other dresser refinishes. The armoire was in much better shape than most of my other projects so didn’t require any structural updates. Sometimes, a more simplistic project can be a nice change of pace, especially if time and energy are in short supply. With that in mind, it was up to my creativity to decide what direction to take this piece.

Furniture Refinishing Paint Options

The options for furniture paint seem endless. I’ve tried a fair few at this point from Annie Sloane to Martha Stewart. One of my favorite brands for furniture refinishing is Fusion Mineral paint for its coverage and ability to smooth out as it dries. I decided to use Inglenook, because I’d already used it for a bench refinish and had a lot left. You can search for local shops who sell in store on the Fusion website or you can order it online like I did for this color. Something to keep in mind with Fusion paint is the color changes a bit as it dries, in comparison to how it looks the days you put it on.

Fusion Mineral Paint - 500ml - Inglenook

Inglenook by Fusion Mineral Paint.

As with all furniture refinishing paint jobs, it’s important you either sand the surface to give the paint some grit to adhere to for longevity or use a deglosser. I’ve used the deglosser on several projects and found pretty good results. The deglosser is quite simple and quick. After cleaning the piece, rub the degloser all over the surface with a cloth. Voila!

Trying Something New

In many of the previous furniture refinishing projects, I used stencils to spruce up the paint. It was definitely my obsession for a bit. To pull away a bit from that obsession, I decided to do something different with this armoire. I opted to give adhesive wallpaper a try. After searching Amazon for a good while, an antique bike wallpaper sparked my interest. It was completely affordable and a nice pairing with the color. When the wallpaper came, I was glad to see it indeed matched well with the Inglenook paint.

I love the measurements on the back of peel and stick wallpapers. This one had a ton of language blurbs, so the lines weren’t there to cut along as much as I’ve seen on other peel and stick products. The best way to go about adhering it to the surface is to peel the top edge and place it along the edge. From there, you need to gently pull the backing while smoothly the surface as you go. This allows you to go as fast or slow as you want. I used my hand because it was easiest but a ruler or other straight object could be needed. It was super easy to put it on the two drawer fronts and the inside backing despite being a half inch to short for the width.

The Final Touch

One of my favorite things to do is to cruise through the clearance sections at stores for crafting finds. On one such trip through Walmart, I found some dark wax. It sat with the rest of my finds until this project, which felt like the perfect pairing with the antique bike wallpaper. In general, regardless of the durability of the paint, doing a top coating will serve the furniture and your work best. A sealing wax (light or dark) is one of the options. Dark wax would be a bit much over the whole surface so is usually meant to give the piece an antique look. I put a clear wax over all the surfaces and then opened up the new can of wax. (You just said worms in your head, didn’t you, ha.)

Given this was my first dark wax attempt, I went at it with what I assumed you should do. I was slightly taken aback by how dark the wax actually was on the surface. It was a quick realization I would need to spread it quickly and wipe off the excess. Some spots showed as being a little heavy handed. I stuck to darkening the corners and creases of the door, drawers, top, and bottom frames.

I was definitely winging it and was a bit indecisive on all locations or look, but I think I did an okay job to start. After the wax dried, I thought some of the heavy handed spots needed a bit more fading. Applying the clear wax over it allowed me to lighten those areas.

Furniture Refinishing Completion

With the paint dry, the wallpaper affixed, and the wax applied, this piece was ready to be stocked with crafting supplies. Hopefully, it inspires you on your next project!

*This page contains affiliate links. This means if you use one of my links to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Cathartic Crafting!

Vintage Trunk Coffee Table: From Bedraggled to Shabby Chic

I don’t know about you, but I think cruising the Facebook marketplace every now and again is a must. I’m assuming you’re like me in that you want beautiful décor at budget-friendly prices and you’re excited about the challenge of making a piece your own. I’ve found some real gems in the marketplace. When this trunk came across my feed with a $20 price tag, I was immediately sold. Follow along as I convert this bedraggled vintage trunk to a beautiful shabby chic coffee table on wheels.

Vintage Trunk: Starting Condition

In addition to peeling canvas, there were some signature cracks in the top of this trunk. It was a bit sunken in as well. 

Fixing those Cracks

I settled on using some quarter board I had on hand to solve the sunken crack issue. I cut it to size and screwed it to the top with 1/4″ long screws to level out the cracks. It worked like a charm. From there, I peeled the canvas off the outside from most spots. I left a few panels that were intact. 

I used wood filler to fill the cracks and level out some of the few remaining low lying spots. After a good bit of sanding to get it completely smooth, I was ready to paint. 

Fusion Paint for the Win

I had some Inglenook Fusion Mineral Paint from Vintage Finishes from a recent armoire project. It paired well with the wood and metal colors of this vintage trunk. Green painters tape kept them free of paint. I used a paint brush I also purchased from Vintage Finishes for the majority of the painting, but needed to use some small brushes to get the corners and spots around the locks. It was a fairly quick step. I debated doing just one coat but ended up touching it up with a second coat. 

Vintage Trunk in need of paint aging

I had thought the paint would look completely nice as is with the wood, but I ended up feeling it was missing something. It sat for a night and then I decided to use some dark wax I had to age the paint. It could have been accomplished by sanding the paint in areas but with the difference of the canvas in some spots, wood in others, and wood filler in others, I didn’t feel it was an adequate option. For this vintage trunk look, the wax gave it just the right touch.

Inside this Vintage Trunk

The inside of this trunk was not as easy to scrape clean as the outside was to peel off in long strips. I used some special cleaner purchased from door to door sales gals. This stuff has worked some magic on grease and cars. Anyway, I did my best to scrap all the loose bits off to ensure maximum sticking. It’s also important to rub off all the dirt as best you can. There can definitely be a smell, so jump on over to my other post on trunk refinishing for some other tips. 

Wallpaper time

On my previous trunk project, I used a cotton material with glue and Mod Podge. Initially, I thought I would do the same with this vintage trunk, but then, I thought about the recent project I’d done with peel and stick wallpaper. I was sold on the idea of peeling a sticking. After looking at the options, I was fairly certain I would do a flower pattern. Just as I was about to place the order, I found this mandalla like one which really spoke to me for this vintage trunk. I was sad it didn’t have the measurement lines on the back like the last wallpaper I’d used, but I was alright without it. The hardest part was that it was slightly wider and stiffer than needed, so it required some finessing. A long scraper helped with smoothing it out. I did some of this while watching Bride of Boogedy with my kids for Halloween. A childhood favorite movie I couldn’t wait to show my girls. They were annoyed with the sound of the scraping, so I had to put a pause on the progress. I’m pretty smitten with how it turned out!

Easiest Part of the Project

I did a fair bit of searching for vintage wheels that were appealing and affordable. As usual, I landed back on Amazon, where I found these vintage wheels. They came with the screws the perfect length for my project and a screwdriver. I probably could have just screwed them in without drilling a hole but I didn’t. I decided to make my life easier by drilling the holes. In case you would like a tip for this type of thing, use a pencil to mark the holes. Then, remove the wheel to drill the holes. Using a drill to screw in the screws, tighten one screw 3/4 of the way and continue with the rest to ensure they all fit into the holes. Once the screws are all in, tighten them up. Presto! The 5-minute step was done.

Vintage Trunk Ready for Display

I hope you enjoyed the fairly easy project run down. With some muscle put in scraping and some budget friendly purchases, this bedraggled vintage trunk turned into a shabby chic coffee table showcase. 

*This page contains affiliate links. This means if you use one of my links to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Cathartic Crafting!

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