good table gone bad, the hand me down gets painted.
You know when your at that age when you get all those hand-me-downs from your older siblings? They are great. They fill your new bach-pad at no cost while your adapting to real life.
You know when your at that stage of life when your moving out of said bach-pad into your first place with boyfriend or girlfriend? Both bringing your combined collection of hand me downs and ikea purchases.
You know when your at that stage of life where the beloved hand-me-downs can be replaced with brand new items and its time to regift these hand-me-downs onto the next generation?
Well what happens when that next generation, true to form, haven’t moved out of home and you end up marrying a crazy lady who is convinced that paint can fix everything? Well your hand-me-down, dining room pine table, gets painted of course.
To-ing and fro-ing between a new dining table or a new couch we decided to put the money towards the couch. So one Sunday morning I decided the dining room table and its four faithful chairs should be black glossed.
Off I went to my friendly Home Hardware to pick their brains about the best paint to achieve this gloss. Since I had ZERO interest in sanding back the table and chairs first, I would have to prime it.
So primer was chosen for $23.95
For the black gloss I would definitely have preferred water based. Water based paint as it name would suggest, can be washed out of brushes and off skin with water. Oil based (shudder) needs turps or petrol to remove it.
My choice at the hardware was either: A. A water based paint with black mixed into it at a price of $45.99 or B. A black oil based high gloss at a price of $21.99. I shelved my laziness and bought the cheaper paint that would look better. duh.
So for this project you will need:-
1. Paintbrush $3.99-$12.00 2. Paint tray $4.00+
3. Master Prep Primer $23.95 4. Black Gloss paint. I used oil based (Cheaper with a beautiful finish). $21.99
5. Turps or something disgustingly similar to remove paint from anything.
6. Old towels to be placed EVERYWHERE.
Steps:
1. Ultimately you should get hot soapy water and wash your table first then allow it to dry fully.
2. Open your tin of your primer, stir and pour a small amount into your tray. Paint.
It will take you quite some time to paint your table and chairs, be patient, its worth it. Always follow the back of the tin for directions, but your primer should take 4-6 hours to dry fully. Wash your water based paint out of your brush and tray.
3. Ensure EVERYTHING is covered in towels and/or newspapers. Open your tin of Black liquid, 
carefully pour the inky black paint into your tray, dip in your brush and away you go.
This part of the process will definitely take you some time so make sure you have access to an inspiring show to be playing in the background. Any form of home improvement show or a money saving show 🙂 This will keep you motivated. I love: Channel 10’s Renovators, Nines The Block, Top Design or Andrew Winters Selling Houses Australia
4. Clean everything with your horrid smelling remover. Stand back and look at your black glossy success. Side note: Don’t let husband sweep near your now drying table. It needs to be left completely alone for the next 24 hours.
In this time take yourself off to Kmart, Big W or Target and purchase some great new table decorations!!
Total cost: $45.94 (I already had the paint brush, tray and horrid smelling turps)
Sunshine on Wintery days
Ahhhh bright yellow. Canary yellow, sunshine yellow and just plain yellow. It brightens up a room without being overbearing and really is delightful. Colour in inescapable. It is all around us at all times. Go on, look away from the screen and look around yourself. Colour is everything. So slip some mellow-yellow in your room and give yourself something bright and cheery to come home to.
Ready for Summer? Brighten up your home with a summery hue!
Yellow is a stimulating colour however. So in other words, keep it to a minimum!
How much is too much? Do you paint your walls or administer a peek-a-boo approach?
Yellow is the most difficult colour for the eye to take in creating a very fine balance between just enough and too much.
Even Josh & Jenna got in on the Yellow act on The Block ( http://www.ninemsn.com/theblock ) .
Personally I think bright yellow is best kept to those items that are easily changable.
Want to add just a bit of this great colour to your home?
Lamps, Lampshades, Mirrors and artwork. Easy, non-committal ways of adding this pep up.
Still want more inspiration? Head over to: http://yellow-paint.com for all things yellow!!
To update-new Cupboards for less
One of the quickest and cheapest ways to update a house even if you don’t have much home handyman skill is painting!
Buhbye Mint green, buhbye blue suede and CERTAINLY bidding adieu to the apricot cabinetry.
What to do when you are itching to renovate but have a brand new mortgage and not a huge amount of $ to spend? PAINT.
Painting over laminated cupboards is simple-> Just use a paint primer specifically meant for laminate surfaces, allow it to dry and paint with your desired colour.
You will need:
1Litre will do approximately 12sq. metres. We purchased 3 litres for about $50 from Bunnings. This was intended for our entire Kitchen cabinetry, the 1 tile high splash back (about 15 tiles in total) and the two cupboard doors in the bathroom vanity.
Painters Blue Scotch tape. Don’t skimp on your tape! Yes it is definitely more expensive than your regular 99c masking tape. However, THIS tape will minimize paint leakage which is worth spending less than you would on a cup of coffee on this stuff. Trust me, just buy it. approx. $3 per roll.
Paint Brush (duh) and a tray. The paint brush part is easy. you will spend around $5-$15 on one of these depending on what size you get. It does make things a little easier if you buy a nice little skinny one for all of those corners and a bigger, wider one for just getting the paint on the wall!!
The trays you will generally find in most hardwares with a roller included. Your cheap ones are easy because they can just be thrown out after each paint colour change. However, the rollers have the same throw-out quality. $3-$5 per set. The more quality trays will of course cost you more but the rollers won’t drive you (as) crazy. Make your own decision.
Annnddd last but not least: Paint. We went with White but the decision of course is up to you. A quick note on white however, white makes things bigger and goes with everything.
GET STARTED!
Step 1. Firstly all of the plastic 45degree handles were removed, and the nail holes were filled in (also known as ‘bogged up’ I will post a step by step for this later)
- Now, the directions do state to thoroughly clean surfaces and sand them a bit to roughen. I did clean but did not sand. Simply painted.
Step 2. Blue tape all of the benches where the tiles were butting up against the bench top. Lay the entire floor with old towels and/or newspaper.Open your primer paint, stir it and pour into your paint tray.
Step 3. PAINT YOUR CUPBOARDS and your tiles too. The best part of the job at the very beginning. Like all painting you will start to dispise it halfway through and then you will fall in love again once you finish.
Step 4. Now, walk away. Wash out your brushes and tray. Shower, change and go out for lunch
- We waited for the bare minimum of 1 hour for the primer to dry (Please note:Follow the directions properly, which I believe said to wait 24 hours. But I do struggle to follow some directions)
Step 5. Once you get back from lunch, or quite possibly a trip to Bunnings, Ikea or any other local furniture store as you are by now quite possibly ready to take on the interior designing world go and check on your painting.
As stated above please follow the directions and if it says wait 24 hours then do so.
Step 6. Repeat your towel and paper laying process from Step 2. Open your painting paint, or otherwise known as top coat. Stir, pour into your tray and once again paint.
Step 7. Clean up after yourself now, not later as later is a bit hard to motivate. Once your paint has been drying for an hour or so it should be ready for you to start peeling off your blue tape. Allow everything to dry properly and tomorrow I shall post about adding on your new/previous handles.
But in the mean time TAA DAAA new cupboards!
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