DIY: Revamping Tired Furniture

The days of picking up a great bench or armoire at a Christie's auction are completely over. I loved redecorating my room during high school and Pratesi had my credit card on file. It was so easy to pop in for brand new sheets, throws and pillows. Those day are over and now I'm left to my own devices.

 

 

I went to a garage sale in East Hampton and bought a cute little bedside table. For $10 how could I say no? Anyway, it was clearly in bad shape but I decided I would restore it. No, I have never done this before and do not know why I thought it would only take me an hour. It didn't, by the way.

I knew that I would need to sand it so I stopped by a hardware store after work (I had never been to one before - no it wasn't full of great shopping). I went to a local one near my job - but you could also get everything at Home Depot. So I bought the sander and some sand paper and felt quite proud of myself at how handy I’d become. I went home and cut a piece of sandpaper and put it on the sander. After a few minutes nothing was coming off- obviously I had purchased a broker sander! Just to make sure I knocked on my super’s door to ask his opinion. He informed me that no, it wasn't a faulty sander, I had just inserted the sandpaper upside down. I marched back to my apartment annoyed - don't you agree the directions really should have been clearer?! Anyway, now that my sander was set up correctly I was able to easily sand the top and drawers after removing the gross, broken knobs.

 

Not planning ahead, unsurprisingly, I went back to the hardware store to buy some paint. After asking a million questions to my new friend, (no, he was not particularly interested in the before picture of my table, but I showed him anyway) I finally purchased some white, glossy paint and paint brushes. Back home I went to paint - it took two coats by the way. At this point I pretty much consider myself a professional painter so feel free to email me if your apartment needs painting.

 

 

Finally the fun part - buying the drawer knobs! I scoured the Internet for the perfect knobs and found them at Urban Outfitters.

 

I couldn't help myself and bought a little bowl to match the knobs.

 

 

I was finally ready to screw in the knobs and enjoy my new bedside table. After doing this with my hands I realized I needed a tool to tighten the bolts on the inside of the drawers. I went, yet again, back to the hardware store (I consider myself a regular). Apparently, I needed a wrench for this step and no, sadly, they didn't have any pink ones.

Finally I was done! So I moved my finished piece next to my bed AND IT DIDN'T FIT. I called my mom in tears - and her advice was to measure furniture before purchasing it. First of all, that was obviously not helpful at this point. Second of all, I can guarantee she doesn't even know what a measuring tape looks like, Harold, her interior decorator, handles that.

 

 

Not to worry, I moved the table to the other side of my apartment and turned it into a makeup table! I now need a tiny stool - I will keep you (and Jose, my BFF from the hardware store) posted.

Perfectly Glossed Kisses,

Sutton