First 2012 DIY

I am often considered a procrastinator when assignments and tests are coming up, so it was no surprise that when I had a final exam on a Thursday, I would start a large DIY project on the Saturday before (the OCD in me would not rest till its completion). I decided to get rid of an old dingy wire shelf that was housing all my linens in the bathroom with an updated chest-of-drawers.


I started with an old chest of drawers dating back to...well old. It had been well used and abused and had no sentimental attachment...perfect for a DIY. I sanded it down the old fashion way (by hand), just enough to remove all of the varnish. I wiped it down with a wet cloth to catch all the floating dust particles. I then started with my first coat of paint. To make a long story much shorter after four coats of paint and stains were still bleeding through I knew I needed some serious help. In addition to the stains bleeding through, I discovered that it was not pink enough either.


Back to Home Depot to get a product called "Bulls Eye Zinsser" (approx. $12 CND). It's an oil based paint product that covers up everything! On it went and it only needed one coat! I have a full quart so I'm ready for any other stained products to refurbish.


Another thing I learned was that when you paint at night, you are often sloppier, thus drips. I thought if I was sanding the sucker down in the end it wouldn't matter...wrong! After hours of sanding and realizing that the drippy lines weren't going I way I pulled out the pain scrapper, scrapped them off, used putty to fill in the hole, waited, sanded, painted, sanded, and painted again. Lesson be learned, sand off the drippy lines at first sight!


After the oil base primer coat (and fixing my drippy lines), I added 2 coats of a darker tinted paint. Ahh, finally it's looking the way I wanted it too! Lots more elbow greece used to sand down the edges to give it that aged/distressed look. It created a really cool effect with the light base underneath.


I wish I could say that I was done then, but another hick up (there is no such thing as a "quick and easy project"). I obviously wanted to replace the dingy brass handles with something that would match my "shabby chic" theme. I found these lovely white pull handles at Home Depot for $3.95 each...more than I wanted to spend ($3.95 x8 = $32 + tax), but they were cheaper than most of them and they fit the look perfectly. The problem occurred when I went to screw them in...the old chest had pulls that were a different size then the lovelies I had just bought. Luckily the decorative ends covered up the hold holes as I drilled new ones. I would like to say my drilling was perfect but alas this was my first real DIY and I failed...thanks Dad for the help, you'd never know half of my drill holes were not in the right place!!


With everything drilled it was time to spray the clear coat. This wouldn't be a typical step, but because this piece was going in the bathroom where there will be excessive moisture AND I had broken the seal of the paint, I wanted to ensure it was not going to expand like a wet sponge. This part was the easiest, shake can, spray, dry for 2 hours, repeat. I did a total of 3 coats and left it overnight to dry.

Before and After - Via "Instagram"

The finished product is perfect!! I absolutely love it! My towels are in the first two drawers, my extra toiletries are in the second to last and the bottom drawer houses my foot bath and epsom salts. Which reminds me...


All in all this project took me 6 days to complete (only working in the evenings after school) and about $80. A quart of pink paint was $19, the hardware was $32, the Zinsser primer was $12, the spray varnish was $6, paint brush and sanders were about $10. Now that I have the primer and paint brush, future projects hopefully wont cost so much.


Stay tuned for my next project...refurbishing an old picture frame into the Pinterest chalk board...now to find an old picture frame.