ugly old to vintage old

My husband and I inherited a lot of furniture when we first got married. We were so thankful that we didn’t have to spend a ton of money that it never bothered me that they weren’t exactly-how do I put this nicely, modern? Needless to say there were a little outdated. Our biggest offender resided in our bedroom. For about a year I didn’t let it bother me, we couldn’t afford to buy a whole new bedroom set so these would have to do.

Then came pinterest- the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to my crafty brain. All these pictures of beautiful vintage white furniture filled my wishful home board, emphasis on the wishful. But again, just wasn’t in the budget. Then my sister decided to get married (yay!). For her ceremony decorations we painted a few old doors and they looked amazing – and as the sister of the bride, I got to keep one!

Thus my inspiration for our bedroom makeover. So here is the tutorial for how I took my ugly old bedroom set to a vintage set. I’m sure there are professional techniques that are probably better but I didn’t want to deal with staining and stripping.

What you’ll need:

·         Paint – I used Better Holmes and Garden interior flat. I did two colors because I wanted the yellow to show through under the cream when sanding but that’s up to you.

·         Paint brush

·         Sand paper

Step 1: Clear out the area. Especially if doing a dresser. I learned this the hard way, it’s easier to just get everything out of the way first instead of realizing you can’t paint around everything while already painting.

Step 2: Start painting with your first color. This coat doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll be covering it with another color so don’t feel like you have to be picky, plus you’ll be sanding.

Step 3: After first color has dried completely, and I really do mean completely, start with second color. You’ll want to be a little neater with this coat because it will be seen, however, once you sand, imperfect painting pretty much goes away.

*Remember that if it’s old furniture, there are going to be dings and dents. Make sure to cover these with at least one of your colors. You want the piece to look vintage but you also want it to look purposeful. Too many random dents will look funny.

Step 4: Wait for second coat to dry, again, completely. Start sanding! Pay special attention to and grooves or edges. This will give your piece character. How much you want sanded is kinda up to you. The more worn you want it to look, the more sanding you have to do. To achieve an overall vintage look, make sure to rub the sandpaper across the entire piece – even if you want that area to remain your second color. This will give the whole thing a worn look.

And that’s it! Wipe off the dust and you’ve got an updated piece of furniture. For an even more dramatic transformation, add new hinges and knobs. I’m still in search for the perfect ones to replace ours but when I find them, I’ll be sure to let you know!

Dresser - new hinges to come!