My Weekend Upcyclin'

To some a weekend without plans is a dreaded prospect, with nothing but time on your hands and no major social plans to focus on, this can be a nightmare for many people.
But for others, a weekend of 'me time' is a truly delicious prospect.
The passing weekend, I found myself in this position. What's a gal to do when she's broke and bored?

My answer? Start a project!

To say my domesticated skills are lacking is a serious understatement. But since relocating, Pinterest has become a new found love for me as I try and de-boy my boyfriend's apartment and prettify the place a little. Over the past few months my DIY to-do list has grown but with little or no experience in DIY, the task seemed pretty difficult!

Last weekend, I decided that starting small would be a wise idea, so I chose an upcycling project to test my abilities (or lack of!)

This was a small bedside locker that I had gotten in Argos a few years ago. It was a standard flat pack piece put together by my Dad (I didn't even try and construct it - I was having a 'Lazy Lucy' day!!) It was a typical cheap piece of wood furniture with a veneer finish.

Before I purchased paint, I had gotten some rough sandpaper from my Dad's hardware shop because while I knew nothing about furniture painting, a quick Google search told me sanding a piece before painting is essential as well as to 'age' paint finishes.

Next stop was to scour for an easy paint to use that wouldn't require too much work and stress for a total rookie like me. I knew I wanted to vintage up my locker but I had no idea what I needed. Turns out, there was an upcycling queen and her name was Annie Sloan. Every blog I read about these projects mentioned this lady and her amazing chalk paint for restoring and renovating furniture. This stuff can be painted on pretty much anything (Wood, metal, glass) and doesn't require sanding or priming! Lazy Lucy was only delighted as I skipped down to my local interior shop Woodgrove Interiors in Tullamore to purchase some.

I had looked online and decided 'Paris Grey' was the colour I wanted and while there, I was advised a 100ml pot of chalk paint would be enough for my little project because some water is often added to Annie Sloan chalk paint as it's quite thick and you don't need much for good coverage.
The 100ml pot's were €8.95 however I decided to get a 1 litre pot instead (€27.95) as I loved the colour and have a few more things I would use it on so it worked out better value for money I think!

The process was fairly straight forward after that! After wiping down my locker with a damp cloth, I mixed a small amount of chalk paint with a dash of water and mixed it up. Then I got my paintbrush and started painting!

I applied one coat (enough to cover the wood & old colour) to both the main body and drawers of the locker (after I removed the drawer handles) and I left to dry. Because I didn't want a thick even colour rather a more distressed look, I figured one coat was enough!

The paint took a matter of hours to dry however as I was a newbie upcycler and a bit nervous, I left it overnight.

The following morning, I used sandpaper to slightly scour all surfaces on the locker and its edges in order to give it a more 'distressed' look. I was nervous about overdoing it so I only sanded the paint slightly.

Annie Sloan paint experts say that waxing is the last step in sealing the paint onto a piece of furniture. However after reading some reviews of people who've used it and found out that, although the special buffing wax seals the paint, it's only temporary and needs to be reapplied every few months! Lazy Lucy did NOT like the sound of that! Also if I ever wanted to repaint my locker another shade, I would have to remove all the wax and apparently this is a seriously time consuming job!

The alternative?  Polyurethane varnish! A thin layer of this baby seals the paint and is considered much easier to remove before repainting by those 'in the know'!

A trip to Woodies DIY for the varnish and a previous purchase of new handles in Heatons (Pack of 2 were €4) finished the job!

So what do ye think? It's not perfect by any means but it's Monday, I have a brand new addition to my bedroom and I discovered that I'm not entirely crap at a bit of DIY!

I'm already eyeing more bits for a Lucy up cycle  - I think I've caught the bug!
Any questions? Please comment & I'll answer any/all I can!


Forever in the Sky

Lucy x