Real Girl Runway: Frugal (Home) Fashion Friday

When I moved into the house we own now, I did lots of redecorating and slowly acquired new furniture. It was a move from the town house I'd owned as a young 20 something to a more grown-up single family home. I wanted it to look stylish and sophisticated. My budget was tight so I purchased some second hand pieces from thrift stores and individuals. This buffet was one of those pieces. I bought it for about $30 from a colleague. It's a solid, well built piece (solid wood, dove tail drawers, good quality). The finish was worn in places and the drawer pulls had been replaced with some polished silver pulls that didn't work so well with the style of the piece. It's been on my project list for years. I finally decided to check it off the list.

My first try at painting was a disaster. Even though I cleaned the dresser with denatured alcohol, the paint bubbled and looked awful. I wiped it off and sanded it down. One day I was reading my favorite design and DIY blog, Little Green Notebook. Jenny wrote about the primer she uses when painting furniture (Zinsser primer). I used the water based primer since I was planning to use spray paint for the buffet. I primed the entire buffet (with the exception of the inside and the inside of the drawers. I used a roller on the flat surfaces and a brush on the spindles.

Once the primer was completely dry, I began painting. I should have taken Jenny's advice and gotten the primer tinted. That would have helped to cut down on the number of coats I needed.

I searched for hardware that I thought would look good but in the end I just decided to paint the hardware I already had. Once again I turned to Jenny for advice. She paints hardware often and I used her tips. Instead of the gold spray paint she uses, I used, Rust-Oleum Britght Coat Metallic Finish in Gold. It gives a great color, not too yellow and a bright metallic finish. I primed with Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer first. Once it was dry, I followed with several coats of the Rust-Oleum gold, until I got the finish I wanted. Then I finished with a two clear coats for protection.

I love spray paint because as long as you shake well and use even strokes, it is pretty much fool proof. It's forgiving. If there is a drip, you can wipe it away quickly and then even it out with the next coat. I decided on a deep red and chose Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover 2x in Colonial Red. I wanted a glossy finish and it delivered.

I decided to add a clear gloss coat to the top of the buffet and the lower shelf. Those areas will get the most wear and I thought they needed extra protection. It gets tons of use when I throw parties. I use it for serving drinks and appetizers. Once the hardware was dry I reattached it and I'm thrilled with the results.