Operation Paint Bedroom Furniture

I’ve had this wooden bedroom furniture (bed, dresser, and swivel mirror) from Ikea for about 15 years.  It’s still in relatively good shape and we’re using it in the guest room.  I wanted to give it a makeover to add some new life to it instead of purchasing new furniture.  I figured it would be really pretty in white and then I could add touches of color to the room with the bedding, art, and accessories. BEFORE Thanksgiving 2009 024 Bedroom furniture makeover 008 I’ve never undertaken a project like this before.  But, I figured that given all the hours I’ve spent “studying” Centsational Girl’s tutorials about how to paint furniture, that I was armed with some good knowledge and instructions.   Day 1.  Like a good student, I sanded the furniture lightly with an electric sander, wiped it down with the tack cloth, then primed each piece with spray primer.  I then tried to spray paint the pieces with white spray paint.  This is where it all went very wrong.  After several coats, it looked terrible.  Very splotchy and uneven.  I think the below picture of the headboard might just be with the primer on, but it didn’t look much better after the spray paint.  Bedroom furniture makeover 006 I ended up at the hardware store buying paint in a can, rollers, and brushes.  When I got home, I applied the first coat and it looked 100 times better.  Then it started raining!  Seriously.  Did I mention that I was doing this project in our driveway? Day 2.  Hubby offered to help.  Thank God.  Needless to say, I quickly discovered that I am no CG, and after two days at this dang fun project in the 100 degree Houston heat and humidity, I really just wanted to be finished!  I’m thinking, she does this for FUN?!?!  I seriously have an even greater appreciation for all of you DIYers out there now (as if I didn’t before:)  Does your back and hands ache too??? Anyhow, the mirror was the last thing to be completed and I really lost steam.  It required some detailed painting, and, in my haste, I really did a sloppy job.  Painted all over the mirror thinking that I could just scrape it off later.  Still on to do list.  My husband commented that CG would be ashamed of me!  Enough of the drama, here is an AFTER shot of the dresser with new $2 pulls from Lowe’s. dresser, ring 001 dresser, ring 002 We still have to put the bed together (can’t find all the pieces since the move) and I have lots of paint to scrape off of the mirror. Even though this project had its challenges, I will not be deterred!  I am determined to try again and, hopefully, my DIY skills will improve with experience.  Also, note to self: apply sunscreen next time! back 001   *Click here to see the parties I’ve linked to.

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

8 Comments

  1. Haha wow this made me crack up! That dresser looks like pine…which is hard to paint. So weird that happened. But it sure looks pretty now!! Don't give up! 🙂

  2. I am in the middle of painting a very similar bedroom set — but it will be black and I'm freezing in the garage with a tiny space heater 😉
    But it looks so much better already!

  3. That dresser looks so great! Do you remember what color of paint you used on it? It's so hard to know what shade of white I want, but I really like the color of your dresser.

    Also, did you paint the media cabinet in your living room? Probably not, since I've scrolled through a ton of your posts looking, but if you did, could you tell me what color of white you used? Thanks!

  4. A little creativity and a lot of effort and bam! you have new furniture for next to nothing. It's definitely not a small undertaking to repaint a whole dresser, but the end results are almost always worth it.

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