Guest Bedroom Re-do: Part II

As I mentioned in my previous post, our guest room re-do was kick-started when we acquired a free bedroom set not long ago from our neighbors who were moving and didn't want to hassle with the furniture. It consisted of a long dresser with a mirror, two nightstands, and a headboard. When they first offered it to us, my initial instinct was Heck no! A) It was pretty fugly not exactly my style, and B) We didn't really NEED any more furniture as far as I was concerned.

But never the ones to turn down free stuff, we said we'd take it off their hands. I soon realized this was my golden opportunity to discover what potential it held. If it turned out well, we could use it in the guest room so we'd actually have a matching set of furniture in there. And if not, well, at least it was free and we hadn't lost much besides time.

The furniture is a laminate, so I really saw no other choice besides to paint it. I had never done anything like that before, so of course I thought it sounded pretty easy. (Naturally, I underestimated how long it would really take.) The first step was removing all the doors/drawers/hardware, which was a time-consuming process in itself.

I thought a spray paint would provide a smoother finish than using a brush, so I bought some Valspar primer and Satin White spray paint. After the first two coats of primer, I started getting impatient with the progress and switched to the actual white paint, which I thought would have better coverage than the primer. Wrong! After two more coats, I soon discovered it was going to take many, many coats and my trigger finger was already sore. I'm not sure if I'm just really bad at spray painting, or if this is normal.

I finally decided to just buy some Valspar Satin White latex enamel and paint it all with a brush. I saw better results this way--despite the brush strokes, which don't bother me too much. Still, it took three thin coats (maybe even four?) to cover the dark laminate sufficiently. Then, I still had to get a small brush to carefully paint in the crevices of all the carvings in the drawers, without getting it all gloppy . This part would have been somewhat fun, actually, except for the fact that I had already been hunched over several hours and this was about the fourth straight night I'd spent painting in the garage... plus a couple of early mornings. I just wanted to get it done.

The hardware on the furniture wasn't exactly my stye either - brassy, gaudy, and ornate. *shudder* But buying all new hardware would have defeated the purpose of keeping this a cheap project, so I decided to get some Valspar metallic silver spray paint instead and see if that would do the trick. And actually, I ended up liking the way it turned out! Plus, I was much more pleased with the way the metallic paint covered vs. the white spray paint.

Finally, I felt that the furniture should have more of a protective coating, so I got some Rust-oleum Painter's Touch Crystal Clear Gloss and brushed a couple of thin coats just on the tops of the dresser and nightstands.

And now, the obligatory sneak preview of the transformed furniture!

I know you can't wait to see the finished room! Don't worry, it will come soon enough.  I'm supposed to let the gloss dry for 48 hours before I can sit anything on it, so that means holding off a little longer on decorating. In the meantime, feel free to let me know if I did anything horribly wrong for my first furniture-painting project. I figure at least it's just for the guest room and it won't get used frequently, so it's okay if it's not perfect. But I'd be happy to take any pointers if there's a next time!