Unfinished Furniture

Unfinished furniture is a great way to get exactly the look you want.  You can paint it, you can stain it, you can make it any finish you would like.  The best part...you don't have to be super artistic.  AC Moore and Michaels are a great place to get unfinished tables and shelves.   They run sales on their unfinished wood all the time (it's worth waiting for the sale - usually 1/3 off).

This side table above is from AC Moore which I bought a few years ago as a night table for my son's room.  It came unfinished with two drawers.  I first sanded the piece completely using a 220 grit sandpaper.  I next painted it using leftover paint from a bed we had painted.  It is painted a navy blue.  It came with basic knobs which I replaced with the baseball knobs.  I got the knobs at Target.  In less than an hour I had a great little table using left over paint.  Total cost was under $30.

This is a table I made for a friend's daughter's bedroom. Again, it started out as an unfinished table bought from Michaels.   I was decorating her room in lavender, pink and green.  The top of the table is a piece of 12x12 scrap book paper which I trimmed to fit and decoupaged to the top of the table.  The rest I just used my imagination and started painting.  I made a simple bubble letter for her initial which I filled in with paint and the white dots were made using a sponge brush (also sold at Michaels and AC Moore) in the shape of a dot.  Total cost under $20.

This is my favorite little table.  I made this table when my daughter was a few months old.  I sanded it, and painted it white.  I would suggest using a primer.  I didn't and after a few years the yellowness of the wood underneath is seeping through.  I may be re-doing this piece in the near future.  For the top and little shelf below I used a checkerboard stencil.  For my daughter's first and middle name I again used a stencil, but instead of paint, I used colored pencils.  I actually couldn't believe how well the pencils worked.  I wanted some flowers and butterflies on the piece but wasn't that confident in my ability to paint them.  Instead I bought rub-on decals (the kind they sell in Michaels/AC Moore where you use a popsicle stick to rub them on).  It looks like paint, even up close.

View of the top of the table

How about making shelves to match your child's decor?  These were so easy.  Again, I sanded and painted a base coat (one was pink and one was white).  I then used blue painters tape to tape off the stripes.  Again I used the rub on decals for the flowers and butterflies.

Rub-on decals are the best.  They make me look like a great artist.

Hope you try one of these projects at home.  Please forward me your pictures.  I would love to share them.

-Judy


I am joining Debbiedoos for her before and after party. Come take a look.