Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pretty Inside and Out

So I can't show you on this blog how I found this piece of furniture reeking of cat urine sitting in the driveway of a house with a pile of trash and how I cleaned it out, de-funkified it... and added 14 coats of paint so that it now looks like this:


This end table is a quick change artist.  It is actually an entire dining size table that slides out from the base as an end table to become a full size table.  It's a really cool piece of furniture, it seems well made and well, it was free, which was a great price!

Since I can't show you it's pathetic state upon arrival,  I can show you how I took the drawer inside and lined it so it looks like this:



The drawer was lined in funky green felt that had seen much better days.  Using a an old toothbrush I carefully brushed off most of the green liner, it disintegrated very easily which shows you how old the piece is.  Some was not able to come off and I was okay leaving it.  I figured perfection is not something I was striving for, but I really wanted pretty and as long as I think it is pretty it is, right ? :)

This is a great project that can be completed in less than an hour and if you have the supplies on hand (like I did) then it is even faster because I didn't need to purchase anything.  These are my favorite types of projects for when I'm stuck at home watching my MIL and can't leave the house but get the crafty bug.

Supplies Needed:

  • Modge Podge (or similar decoupage medium)
  • Nice, Thick Paper.  Scrapbook paper works, I used a nice wrapping paper.
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Cleaning Supplies (Toothbrush, damp towel)
If I had to guess at the cost I would say I used $1.00 of Modge Podge and the piece of paper was $2.00 for the sheet, so this is a $3.00 project.

Instructions:

Step One: Clean and dry the bottom of the drawer, get all the dust out.  The damp towel was great but the toothbrush really got the dust out of the corners.  You want a clean smooth surface that is completely dry.

Step Two: Measure openings of the drawers and cut a piece of paper out that is slightly smaller, approximately by 1/16" on all sides of the opening.  Dry fit this in the bottom of the drawer to double check and make sure it fits before you start gluing it down.


Step Three: Coat the bottom of the drawer with a thin layer of Modge Podge and then working from the center outward smooth on the paper. Let Dry for 15 minutes.


Step Four: Coat the top of the paper with a thin coat of Modge Podge.  Let dry for 15 minutes and repeat.  3-4 coats will really make the drawer impervious to most use and it should last for years.

That's it! Go find a drawer or shelf that needs sprucing up and let me know how it works for you.  As you can see I didn't smooth out all of the bumps when I took this picture.  Because of the leftover green felt bits this is as smooth as it can be.  If you get a stubborn bump you can wait until it dries a bit and then make a small hole with a needle and let the air out to smooth it down.


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