Little Brown Blah to Coastal Glam
Hello, gentle readers!
Please be aware: My blog contains adult subject matter i.e. occasional colorful language, references to wine, and perhaps a photo of a DIY injury or some such other nonsense.
LITTLE BROWN BLAH TO COASTAL GLAM
I have had these two small cubed trunk end tables for twelve years. I lent them to my son when he had his first apartment, but alas, the cubes came home. Not that there's anything wrong with them...but I'm just sick of BROWN. They have a nice crocodile texture. I got them at HomeGoods on clearance since one is missing part of a latch. Who cares? For $30 each, I didn't. And anyway let's face it....If a friend comes into your house and notices a missing latch on your end table, she's not your friend.
So I agonized over what to do with these things, and it only got worse after I remade my awesome antique machinist's chest. (that's another post)
I googled TRUNK END TABLES and finally saw one that was whitish and looked decent. So I figured what the heck..I hate the brown so what did I have to lose?
I painted the glossy texture with the best stuff on earth. What IS the best stuff on Earth, you ask? Why, it's GRIPPER by Glidden, found at Home Depot. If you haven't discovered it yet, I'll pray for you.
Gripper is a primer that's simply PHENOMENAL. It has a bright white color and is slightly glossy. And the ish sticks to EVERYTHING. I discovered it ten years ago when I was a decorative painter, and decided that my hideous pink kitchen counter just HAD to go. So one day I looked for a primer at Home Depot and thought I'd give Gripper a try. I used it to paint over the pink laminate, then did a faux granite top coat paint job complete with irridescent sparkles, and finished up with two coats of a BEHR clear coat that you'd use on top of a painted garage floor. I lived in that house for seven more years. No peeling. No wearing away. And no one knew it wasn't granite.
Anyway, I painted the entire surface of the cube trunks with Gripper. The next day after it was fully dried, I painted with a Sherwin Williams off-white (can't remember the name and I'm too tired to go look.)
After that dried, I whipped out my other favorite hack, RUB N BUFF. If you've never tried it, please do. It's a canauba wax that is infused with fine metallic particles. I chose the sterling silver. I put some on my finger (use gloves blah blah blah) and rubbed the waxy wonder all over the metal pieces, including hardware. That took a while and I got a little buzzy from the fumes, but I already have brain damage from chemotherapy so I figured it was too late for me....but SAVE YOURSELVES and use in a well ventilated area.
After the Rub n Buff was dry, I buffed the living hell out of it and that silver shone like utensils. The stuff is the bomb diggity.
The cubes were always too short as far as I was concerned, so the next step was to remove and replace the little bun feet they came with. Simple. I just unscrewed them. Even a man could do it.
But what to use instead? I had too much wine, and then slept on it.
The next morning, it came to me. I could cut some pieces of my driftwood into legs. So that's what I did. I went out to my shed's driftwood collection, chose two driftwood branches, and whipped out my Ryobi trim saw. I marked the legs 7", and cut them.
I brought the 8 legs into the house and sanded the bottoms. (I enjoy a sawdusty kitchen). I found the center of each leg, predrilled a half inch deep hole just to make attaching the legs easier. After that, I decided I'd just use the same holes in the cubes that were already there from the original legs. I got 8 2" wood screws and 8 washers. I put washers on the wood screws (so the screw heads wouldnt p go thru the existing holes in the base of the cubes). I lined up each leg with the holes, and drilled the screws thru the base. It was dark in the cube so I used a flashlight. Easy peasy.
They looked cute. Coastal glam. I had two glass tops and I placed the tables next to the couch. But....I wasn't satisfied. So I took interesting curvy pieces of driftwood, whipped out my small high temp glue gun and my Gorilla Glue glue sticks and went to work. I glued some funky driftwood between the legs all around the bottom and then IT WAS DONE.
I think they came out awesome. I'm not sure if I'll add even more driftwood to the bottoms but I'm having some wine. And I'll sleep on it, and let you know in the morning ;)
Please be aware: My blog contains adult subject matter i.e. occasional colorful language, references to wine, and perhaps a photo of a DIY injury or some such other nonsense.
LITTLE BROWN BLAH TO COASTAL GLAM
I have had these two small cubed trunk end tables for twelve years. I lent them to my son when he had his first apartment, but alas, the cubes came home. Not that there's anything wrong with them...but I'm just sick of BROWN. They have a nice crocodile texture. I got them at HomeGoods on clearance since one is missing part of a latch. Who cares? For $30 each, I didn't. And anyway let's face it....If a friend comes into your house and notices a missing latch on your end table, she's not your friend.
So I agonized over what to do with these things, and it only got worse after I remade my awesome antique machinist's chest. (that's another post)
I googled TRUNK END TABLES and finally saw one that was whitish and looked decent. So I figured what the heck..I hate the brown so what did I have to lose?
I painted the glossy texture with the best stuff on earth. What IS the best stuff on Earth, you ask? Why, it's GRIPPER by Glidden, found at Home Depot. If you haven't discovered it yet, I'll pray for you.
Gripper is a primer that's simply PHENOMENAL. It has a bright white color and is slightly glossy. And the ish sticks to EVERYTHING. I discovered it ten years ago when I was a decorative painter, and decided that my hideous pink kitchen counter just HAD to go. So one day I looked for a primer at Home Depot and thought I'd give Gripper a try. I used it to paint over the pink laminate, then did a faux granite top coat paint job complete with irridescent sparkles, and finished up with two coats of a BEHR clear coat that you'd use on top of a painted garage floor. I lived in that house for seven more years. No peeling. No wearing away. And no one knew it wasn't granite.
Anyway, I painted the entire surface of the cube trunks with Gripper. The next day after it was fully dried, I painted with a Sherwin Williams off-white (can't remember the name and I'm too tired to go look.)
After that dried, I whipped out my other favorite hack, RUB N BUFF. If you've never tried it, please do. It's a canauba wax that is infused with fine metallic particles. I chose the sterling silver. I put some on my finger (use gloves blah blah blah) and rubbed the waxy wonder all over the metal pieces, including hardware. That took a while and I got a little buzzy from the fumes, but I already have brain damage from chemotherapy so I figured it was too late for me....but SAVE YOURSELVES and use in a well ventilated area.
After the Rub n Buff was dry, I buffed the living hell out of it and that silver shone like utensils. The stuff is the bomb diggity.
The cubes were always too short as far as I was concerned, so the next step was to remove and replace the little bun feet they came with. Simple. I just unscrewed them. Even a man could do it.
But what to use instead? I had too much wine, and then slept on it.
The next morning, it came to me. I could cut some pieces of my driftwood into legs. So that's what I did. I went out to my shed's driftwood collection, chose two driftwood branches, and whipped out my Ryobi trim saw. I marked the legs 7", and cut them.
I brought the 8 legs into the house and sanded the bottoms. (I enjoy a sawdusty kitchen). I found the center of each leg, predrilled a half inch deep hole just to make attaching the legs easier. After that, I decided I'd just use the same holes in the cubes that were already there from the original legs. I got 8 2" wood screws and 8 washers. I put washers on the wood screws (so the screw heads wouldnt p go thru the existing holes in the base of the cubes). I lined up each leg with the holes, and drilled the screws thru the base. It was dark in the cube so I used a flashlight. Easy peasy.
They looked cute. Coastal glam. I had two glass tops and I placed the tables next to the couch. But....I wasn't satisfied. So I took interesting curvy pieces of driftwood, whipped out my small high temp glue gun and my Gorilla Glue glue sticks and went to work. I glued some funky driftwood between the legs all around the bottom and then IT WAS DONE.
I think they came out awesome. I'm not sure if I'll add even more driftwood to the bottoms but I'm having some wine. And I'll sleep on it, and let you know in the morning ;)
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