Now I am the first to admit that there is nothing new under the sun. I realize that there are probably quite a few tutorials out there guiding you step-by-step on how to paint laminate furniture. Some are better than others. I am determined to make mine THE BEST. Just kidding. This is my first tutorial. Heck, this is my first blog post. More than likely it will not be "the best", but I'll try my darnedest to make it worth your time. If you want to skip past all the personal anecdotes, simply scroll down for the tutorial.
;)
{My Poor Husband...}
Let us start at the beginning. We live in a relatively small house. While I am thankful for my home, it's lack of space often produces storage challenges. Storage challenges that make me want to pull my hair out.
We had no real designated "office" space. Our laptop was on the kitchen counter, our files were in a filing cabinet in the living room closet. Anytime we needed to print something I had to drag out the printer, plug it in, hook it up, blah blah blah. You get the idea. Everything was very dis-jointed. We just lived this way because:
A. Lack of disposable income
B. I am EXTREMELY particular about furniture and
C. Lack of disposable income
Oh, and D. I hadn't had that light bulb "A-HA!" moment that I require before moving forward with a design decision. I will live with ugliness, bare walls, and dysfunction purely because I DESPISE buying things that I don't LOVE. I am stubborn. I wait.
{Cue Pinterest}
Do you remember life B.P. (before Pinterest)? I do. I never want to go back. My husband probably does. Just checked, yes he does.
:)
After scrolling through thousands of pins, I began to formulate an idea. Maybe a secretary would be a good solution for us? It would close up, hiding all the computer-y type stuff (a MUST for me, I have never been and never will be a person that embraces clutter). We have just the wall for it (even though I sadly had to move my beloved console table into the attic). We could once and for all put the office-type stuff in ONE PLACE. Very appealing to both me and my dear, patient, saint-like husband.
But how on EARTH am I going to find one that we can afford, and that I will love enough to allow through my door?
{Cue Craigslist}
I began my search. We live in an area that is not heavily populated. It's pretty isolated, so my hopes were not high. We also live in an area with a lot of elderly people (elderly people have antiques!), which can prove to be pretty dandy when it comes to craigslist.
Now I didn't find an antique (well, one that I could afford), but I did find this little beauty.
YES!!
This baby met all of my criteria. It was inexpensive. It was my style. It had a file drawer. Best of all, the person we bought it from was only about five minutes away. It's like it was meant to be! Only problem was, it was cherry wood colored (which I'll be completely honest in saying is NOT my thing) and made of that oh-so-lovely laminate junk. Not real wood.
Can you paint that without it looking ghetto? Why, yes! Yes you can! But how the devil do you do that?
{Cue Pinterest.... again!}
I found these two extremely helpful tutorials
&
Now it would not be fair to pretend that this was a quick and easy process. It simply wasn't. Between busy summer weekends and just being, well, parents...this took awhile. It also took awhile because I wanted to do it right. I didn't want my poor husband to put all this work into a project, only to have to turn around and re-do or (gasp!) scrap the whole thing.
And so it began....
Just look at all that shiny fake-wood-laminate goodness!!
{List of Supplies}
1. Sand paper (we used 220, and by we, I mean my husband)
2. Tack cloth, for wiping down the pieces after the sanding step
3. Protective Masks (to avoid breathing in the stuff the sandpaper kicks up, and fumes)
4. Zinsser Cover Stain Oil Based Primer. I chose this simply because the time it takes to cure is only 2 hours, versus the water-based kind which takes SEVEN days. Because it is oil based, it was messy, which brings us to....
5. Paint thinner, for cleaning the brushes/hands
6. Ultra smooth foam roller (to avoid streak marks) and foam brushes
7. Paint, we used an interior latex paint in high-gloss, specifically Behr in Teal Zeal.
Obviously you need a tray for the primer and paint, but if you didn't realize that on your own, then you probably shouldn't be painting any furniture.
:)
On the left is the door panel that has been sanded, on the right is the un-touched panel. As you can see, sanding it makes it look dull and chalky and pretty gnarly. That's perfectly fine, because we want to get all that shiny junk off so that the primer and paint will adhere to the surface.
Sorry, I guess I didn't take any pictures of all of the pieces primed...but I'm pretty sure you can use your imagination (hint: everything was white).
{The Great Paint Debacle}
Let me begin by stating that those little sample size paint things you can buy to make sure that you're not making a horrible (and expensive) mistake are simply the
BEST.THINGS.EVER.
As you can observe in the picture above, I was a tad bit indecisive about my color. What is that, 3 or 4 different colors? Oh, and never mind the 1 year old finger streaks. My daughter rarely touches things that she shouldn't, but that day she definitely did. Fortunately, nothing crazy happened.
Whew.
I ended up using Behr paint in Teal Zeal. After extensive discussion with the pretty knowledgeable lady in the paint department at Home Depot, we made a pretty tough decision (First World sort of tough decision). To let the paint cure for 30 DAYS after application.
{30 days!!!}
As I said before, this was a long process. I didn't think it would take THAT long, though. The paint department lady expressed her concern that the paint would scratch or chip instantly if we didn't leave it alone for 30 days so that it can completely cure. We had come this far, I definitely did not want to screw it up, especially since it needed to be a functional piece of furniture, not just a stand there and "Look at me!" sort of piece.
Day after day, I sadly walked by my beautifully painted secretary sitting so lonesome in our garage. It was the first thing I'd see when I pulled into the garage. I longed to put it to good use...patience is most definitley a virtue.
That's ok though, because during the waiting period, I came across an affordable way to deal with the awful brass colored hardware that came with the secretary.
{Thanks again, Pinterest!}
I had been searching online for new hardware, discouraged by the prices, and the un-likelyhood of finding drawer pulls that perfectly matched up with the existing screw holes.
{Solution: Spray paint!}
I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint from Wal-Mart, setting me back a whopping $5.77. This made my husband very happy.
Of course I would rather have something new, maybe a little different, but this solution is PERFECT for the time-being. I'll be honest, I'll probably never change the hardware. I'm too distracted by other projects and would frankly rather spend our money on something else!
:)
Here is the final product....
We are so happy with the end result! We haven't had any issues with scratching at all, and better yet, it suits our needs perfectly. My wonderful friend Allison helped me make the two burlap panels to conceal all of the office-supply type stuff in the upper cabinet. I secured them with velcro, so that if I ever change my mind and want to display plates or something in there, I can.
Of course with me, one project ALWAYS leads to another. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how I want to decorate around the secretary.
{It NEVER ends!!}
Thanks for reading my insanely long post, and if you have any questions...just ask!
