Have you ever gone shopping for one specific item but then stumble into something totally different that will also do the job? Recently, for me, it was this desk:
We were really on the hunt for a night stand for my oldest sons room when this baby found me at a local thrift store here in Carlsbad. They were asking $25 for the desk set and with the additional military discount, I knew it was a great deal. The desk was very sturdy, but as you can see from the the pic below the chairs were in bad shape. They were covered in some kind of black dirt or maybe it was mildew. Honestly, I wasn't sure they could be saved but wanted to give it a shot.
In an effort to save the chairs and kill any possible mildew issues, I put them in the bathtub and sprayed them down with a bleach and water mixture. As I sprayed, the 'black yuckniess' (yes, yeckniess is a word) began to lift away from the chairs. Yieppe! It was just dirt after all. Happy Dance! I was able to just wipe it away! The chairs were set outside in the sun to dry so my attention was turned to the table:
After a light sanding, I applied a wood conditioner to prep the wood to accept the stain. The wood conditioner helps keep the wood from turning out blotchy when the stain is applied. It can be found at any hardware store next to the wood stain.
After waiting 15 minutes, the stain was added to the bottom of the table. I used what we already had on hand: Minwax stain in Dark Walnut for the 1st coat and Minwax in Cherry for the 2nd coat. I wanted just a hit of redness to the table for some dimension.
The next day, I was able to apply the Clear coat. I used my current favorite: Minwax Rub-On Poly in Satin.
Once dry, the desk was fliped over and placed painters tape around the edges. This was followed by 2 coats of chalk board paint from Lowes. I used the paint on kind vs. the spray version of chalk board paint for this project. You can find it near the spray paint section of most hardware stores. I used a foam roller for an even smooth finish, then just tossed it in the trash afterwords. My kind of clean up!
If you have never worked with chalk board paint before, you will need to 'season' it once dry. You know how you 'season' a new cooking pan or skillet for the first time? Its basically the same thing- just with chalk. You want to cover the entire surface with chalk! So naturally I recruited some helpers for this part:
The boys had fun going crazy with the chalk! Once the table top was completely covered with the chalk, I used a slightly damp rag to wipe it all off. That's it! Now, its ready for use.
Opps- almost forgot about the chairs! Being the awesome blogger that I am- of course I forgot to snap a pic of that part! sorry! Just use your imagination:
While waiting for the table to dry, I applied the clean and dry chairs with a stain-blocking primer (my favorite Kilz oil based primer in the spray paint version - as mentioned in the campaign dresser re-do post), followed by 3 coats of an orange spray paint in gloss. I was looking for a burnt orange finish, but they came out more 'construction worker' orange. Not sure how I feel about that yet-but the boys love it!
Here it is in JT's room, next to the bed. Its currently serving double duty as both a night stand and kids table.
His room is still in progress but we have big plans for this big-boy space (including a pallet headboard and a fun surprise) More on that when this room is complete!
They love it!
Have you used Chalk Board Paint yet???
Thanks for visiting!
~Lindsay
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