Hi, my sweet friends!
Here I am again, about to share a DIY I did more than a year ago and one of my favorites so far. If you are wondering why it took me so long to share it with you let me explain…
It’s well known about my friends and readers that I don’t like winter, at all, and I love summer, a lot! I did this project not last summer but the previous one, then I had a really busy winter with almost no time for anything but family and some orders from clients, and then summer came again.
Summer means joy for me. Days are longer, there’s plenty of sunlight, it’s warm and paint dries super fast. Oh, I love summer so much. Also for any reason I become really active and creative, and I am constantly creating something outdoors which means less time in front of the computer (the time I am not making something I’m hanging out with family and friends, so you get the idea…)
And here I am again, kind of hibernating inside my home because it’s warm. Counting the days until Spring, sigh…
On the positive side it means I have time to keep up with the blog because I have too many projects to share with you. There is always something positive into what we think it’s negative, do you agree?
Well, back to today’s project. I was asked to refurbish part of a small apartment with an almost non-existent budget, so I got to be creative. There wasn’t money to throw away the old furniture and buy new one, so I had to work with what was there.
How To Upcycle Old Furniture
Or maybe I should say “How to upcycle old and boring furniture”?
Here’s a better shot of it.
From what the owner told me they were about 50 years old…
This was a sideboard
A matching night stand of course 😉
Have you noticed the curtain? Vintage curtain as well, it was too short for my taste.
Anyway, with my plans to upcycle old furniture the curtains wouldn’t be a problem. I will be sharing some affiliate links for your convenience, you can read about it here.
This is what I used and if you are inspired to update old furniture of your own you will need it too:
- Jigsaw (or miter saw, in my case I used a table saw because it’s what I had in that moment)
- KregJig
- Metal Legs
- Glue
- Screws
- Wood (or scrap wood if you are lucky like me)
- Wood filler
- Old fashioned milk paint
- Hardware
- Stain
- AcriGlaze Top coat
The first thing I did was to create a base for both pieces.
Then with the help of my KregJig and some wood glue it was easy to join all the pieces.
Once it was dry I added a piece of particle board on top, flip it and added the metal legs.
The base was done. As it wasn’t too long it wasn’t necessary to add a leg in the middle. If yours is longer or the sideboards are heavy I would suggest add one more in the middle just in case.
I was doing everything at home and then the last part which was painting should be done in the apartment. One of the days I went there to work on the bathrooms I tried the base to see if it fit correctly… and it did. I also had the top done already which I will explain how I did it later.
I am a huge fan of card catalogs, the first I did was for myself and I still have it. Well, mine is a faux card catalog and this was going to be one too.
As you may have seen, these had only two drawers and a gap at the bottom and I had to fix that to give it the look I was wanting.
I used a little circular saw to make a groove on the door of the sideboard.
Then with more scrap wood I cut some pieces with the same measures of the drawers.
I also removed the hardware to start paiting.
I chose a beautiful blue color from Old Fashioned Milk Paint, Federal Blue is called. Let me tell you this paint is amazing. If this is the first time you hear about it or want to find more information about how to use it you can read this post about painting furniture with milk paint.
I also had to give a nice finish to the base.
I glued the fake drawers, nailed a trim around the base and added some wood filler to fill in the gaps. I also did some painting 😉
Before you see it finished, I will explain how I did the top.
I bought a piece of pine wood and ask the man there to cut it for me. Less work at home.
I sanded it completely until I got a smooth finish. You can see at the back another project for that apartment but that will be another post. Also the bottles were drying, do you remember I told you I love summer? Multi tasking!
I used some walnut stain I had on hand. I knew it was going to look gorgeous against the blue paint.
I used two coats of stain, sanding between layers. Once it was dry I used AcriGlaze to seal it. I loooove this stuff. It creates a hard finish and gives the wood a rich finish. I prefer matte but you can find it in several finishes.
Second layer on and waiting to dry. If you compare it to the other project you will see a difference; it was going to be used as a bathroom vanity so I wanted to try a different product and a glossy finish.
Ready to see the reveal?
It won’t seem the same room but it is. Also moving furniture makes a great impact.
Here it goes!
I am so happy with how it turned out! I love to upcycle old furniture and give it a new life.
Also the client was happy with it because that was her room when she was a kid and that was her furniture. At first she couldn’t believe it was the same, she even opened the drawers to check haha.
I hope you enjoyed this transformation and if you ever upcycle old furniture I’d love to see it. Below you will find my social media in case you want to get in touch or send me some pictures.
Remember to Pin It or share it with your friends if you liked it. Sharing is caring! 
Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Pili
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Any content on this website is created for inspiration purposes only. Creating with my suggested methods, products used and tools fail under your own risk. Please ensure you are following proper guidelines with anything used, and you receive professional guidance if you don’t know how to do something. For more details you can read my complete disclosure
Pili it really turned out beautiful. And no one would ever know that it was originally two totally different pieces. Your DIY skills know no bounds!
Whaaaaaaatttttt!!!!! I would also have double checked that it was still the same furniture 😀 OMW, what a transformation Pili. It’s stunning now and you’re right the blue paint and new top work beautifully together.