This gorgeous solid walnut hutch and sideboard was found on craigslist for $225. I bought if from a young couple in Denver who needed the space due to a move into a little old house in Federal Heights. It belonged to the girl's grandmother. I originally put it in my booth at A & J's Antique Mall just like I found it...in perfect shape, but for 8 months it just sat there. I had a few lookers but no offers. One day I decided to get busy and paint it. It was a huge decision because there was nothing wrong with the piece. It just needed to become something else. I grabbed a gallon of white paint/primer in one by Behr off of the wrong color shelf at Home Depot and got started. It took two coats of paint and then I used a 3X sandpaper to "distress" it. The architecture of the piece entirely changed. I put it back in the booth and marked it "Nantucket Sideboard and Hutch" because it reminded me of something you would see in Martha Stewart's home on the east coast beach. I had marked it $498. It sold in two days. Check out the after picture below! TIPS: Always use a product that kills out the old finish. My favorite right now is a product called "Gripper." You can get it for dark or light colors. It is by Glidden. It literally will cover and coat for painting anything that doesn't grow or walk! Tile, wallpaper, paneling, plastic, wood laminates, drywall and plaster. It also works well on metal. Home Depot. Make sure that all surfaces are completely dry...no tacky at all...before you sand edges and corners to distress a piece. Good Luck! XOXO...the thrift addict.
Look at how the detailing of this piece came out when painted and then distressed. I painted the knobs too. Never even took them off. What a great service I did for this piece of furniture. And to think, it only took a little paint and courage to transform it. Anyone can do this! If you take off too much paint while distressing just paint over it and try again!
2 comments:
I'm confused about the "gripper" does it go on before you paint or after? I have a feeling I'm gonna be saying duh?? I'm thinking that to kill the first coat of whatever piece of furniture, then sand it, then gripper it and then paint it, sand off where ever looks "right" to distress it and then do you put a clear poly on it? Thank you so much! Debbe
With Gripper, you don't need to sand. You just paint it on over the coat you want to kill out then let dry 45 minutes or so and paint your new coat over it. If you are distressing a piece after your new coat of paint then make sure that you use 3X sandpaper 40 grit if you can find it. It will take off the gripper and the top coat down to the raw wood. The most difficult process for most painters is that you use the wrong sand paper and it sands down to the gripper which leaves a white or gray coat that is not wanted. So...step one gripper, step two paint step three sand off if you are distressing the item. Hope that helps!
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