Category Archives: Furniture

Stripping Paint Off a Door the Right Way

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Design Build Love

Refinishing doors is a little bit of a labor of love around our home after our Refinishing Our Front Door, so it seems natural that we share another way to refinish a front door. In our home, interior doors are composite, and we won’t be stripping paint from them any day, but in case we come across a door we want to strip and re-design to repurpose in our home, we felt that this guest tutorial was well worth sharing! And for many of you, painted solid wood doors may be a big part of your home! Hope the tutorial helps and enjoy! ________________________________________________________________________ At some stage in our DIY lifetime we will all be faced with the task of stripping furniture of paint or any other sealant. In our experience 80% of the time our front doors or internal doors will be the pieces we attempt to convert. Solid wooden doors are a great piece to strip as they visually benefit so much from both the natural or distressed finish as well as being painted. Whichever look you are going for, the chances are you will need to firstly strip the door of its current coating. Stripping paint, if done the correct way is actually one of our favourite DIY projects; it can be therapeutic and nearly always results in a great looking finished item. If executed poorly and without the necessary tools, it can quickly become one of the most frustrating tasks you could attempt. Before you begin it is important that you have the below items to hand: Stripping knifeWire woolDust sheetsSandpaper and sanding block or mechanical sanderelectric hot air gunchemical stripperSafety gogglesMaskRubber gloves 1. Preparation There are a few key things to consider before you touch the door. Have a dust sheet down, as it will … Continue reading

Posted in DIY, Furniture, Painting | Leave a comment

12 Ways to Use an Extra Dresser

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Design Build Love

If you’re a recently merged household, an avid yard-seller, or even a thrift shop addict… you might be able to relate. All too often, our homes seem to just end up with spare furniture. Most of the time, we have no idea what to do with these extra pieces and they often end up in obscure places or get unnecessarily dumped! I’m here to tell you that an extra dresser is one piece that can serve at least 12 purposes, if not more! Dressers are versatile, have tons of storage, and come in millions of styles! Moral of the story… don’t get rid of one unless you have to. After all, you could always remake your dresser into one of these… Nightstand {Dresser as Nightstand from Emily Clark Interiors} Changing Table {Dresser as Changing Table from Project Nursery} Sideboard {Sideboard by Abbie @ Five Days Five Ways} Media Cabinet {Dresser as Media Storage from House of Turquoise} {Dresser as Media Storage from Danielle Oakley Interiors} Bathroom Vanity {Dresser as Bathroom vanity from HGTV} Garage Storage {Dresser as Garage/Tool Storage by Crafty Nest} Craft Room Storage {Dresser as Craft Storage by Maple & Magnolia} Credenza {Dressed Up Dresser as a Credenza by Brooklyn Limestone} Hostess Table at Restaurant Sadly, I can’t find a picture of one online, but one of our favorite local restaurants has a vintage dresser that has been refinished in a bold, high-gloss color. The drawers face outward and are permanently closed. The back of the dresser was removed and a small curtain place inside to conceal the built-in shelves that hold the menus and other supplies. It’s awesome… REALLY! I’ll have to try and snap a picture next time I’m there. Outdoor Buffet {Dresser Transformed into Rolling Outdoor Buffet by Organizing Made Fun} Kitchen Island {Dresser Reinvented … Continue reading

Posted in DIY, Furniture, Get Inspired | 8 Comments

Ikea Latt Children’s Activity Table Hack

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Design Build Love

I was recently asked to donate to a local children’s charity which includes a ball and an action. Fun stuff, right! So, of course, I went ahead with a donation. Keeping in mind that this is a children’s charity and there would be lots of parents and grandparents attending, I wanted to create something that would be both attractive and functional. My decision… the Ikea Latt Children’s Activity Table. I ran over to my local Ikea and picked one up, but the look left much to be desired… and honestly, what kind of DIYer would I be if I simply donated a store-bought table without putting my own spin on it. So, this is what I came up with: The process is very straight-forward and fairly simple, and since it really only involves paint, just about anyone should be able to DIY this project! To start, I pulled all of possible supplies together, knowing that I might not use them all, but wanted options. After the supplies were gathered, I pulled all of the pieces for the table and chairs out of the box and laid them out on the floor. I quickly was able to formulate my painting approach and settled on a soft, grey-blue as the main color, leaving all of the legs natural wood for texture and contrast to the grey-blue color and the black, chalkboard table-top. First, I painted the the first coat of chalkboard paint on the tabletop, knowing that it would require multiple coats. The next step was to paint all of the grey-blue accents on the table and chairs. I was immediately more in love with the blue I had chosen than I thought I would be! It played so well against the natural wood legs and the dark, charcoal-black chalkboard top. Score! … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Contests, DIY, Furniture, Get Inspired, Painting, Pinspiration | 18 Comments

Hi I’m Eric and I Built a Workbench

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Design Build Love

Hey guys… I’m officially handing over the blog to the hubby today to let him introduce you to his pride and joy! Remember when I mentioned that he surprised me here… well, it’s been done and it’s getting more use than ever! Here’s Eric… Well, as you can imagine, ever since Ashley started this blog, our house has been a constant construction zone. We have more projects than I can keep track of! With that said, we have quickly learned that there is one essential thing that every DIYer MUST have in their arsenol, a work bench. For example, a while ago, Ash posted a blog about my old man and me cutting down some trees in our backyard. Well, there was a part she left out: trying to take apart and fix the chainsaw without a workbench: bending over, trying to find screws in the dirt after we dropped them; it wasn’t any fun. Since then, I have taken apart a rotortill on my lap while sitting in a chair… So, I figured I would take on the challenge of adding a workbench to our garage. And because I’m beyond ecstatic with the results, I thought I would share the step-by-step with everyone. Materials Needed: • 1 – 4’X8’X 23/32” Sheet of Plywood (basically 1 sheet of ¾ inch thick) Price: $34.18 • 5 – 2X6 8’ long Price: $18.20 • 2 – 4X4 8’ long Price: $14.62 • 32 – 5/16 Hex Bolts 6” long Price: $18.56 • 32 – 5/16 Lock Nuts Price: $4.80 • 64 – 5/16 Washers Price: $5.90 • 1 Box – 1 5/8” Deck Screws Price: $7.89 Total: $104.15 Tools Needed: • Tape Measure • Carpenter Pencil • Square • Skill Saw • Level • Drill with 5/16 bit • ½” Socket • … Continue reading

Posted in DIY, Furniture, Garage | 10 Comments

My DIY Upholstered Headboard Tutorial

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Design Build Love

When I first saw upholstered headboards floating around the blogosphere, I thought… I want to make one of those! Then reality smacked me in the face… I literally didn’t have the tools I needed to make the headboard, so as soon as I had the opportunity, I bought them! Nothing was going to stand between me and creating the headboard of my dreams! Just kidding… well, kinda… After I bought a jigsaw and a staple gun, it was go time! We made a quick trip to the the fabric store to pick up some batting, and another stop at Lowe’s to grab the plywood… and we were ready to go! This is what it took to git r’ done: fabric of choice (mine was actually an extra curtain panel from an Ikea set) batting (or foam of your choice) plywood jigsaw staple gun tape measure spray adhesive pencil string mounting hardware (we opted for our personal fave… a Hangman system) That’s it! Not bad. I really thought it would take crazy supplies to create a headboard, but it really doesn’t! And this was our process: 1. pick a headboard design that you love! I pinned a ton of inspiration on my Pinterest to help sort out all of the different headboards I loved! We finally settled on a simple but shapely design 2. lay out your plywood and trace the desired design onto the plywood. For symmetry, we used a tape measure, string, and pencil, giving us a perfectly uniform design 3. after the design is all drawn out, make your cuts! 4. dust off all excess sawdust remaining on the plywood 5. lay batting on cut plywood to desired thickness 6. adhere batting to wood with spray adhesive 7. trim batting down to size to allow for the batting … Continue reading

Posted in DIY, Furniture, Guest Bedroom | 8 Comments

A Blast from the Past: My First Furniture Makeover Ever

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Design Build Love

My parents took a recent trip to our hometown in Northern (northern) California where my grandparents own a Mini-Storage. My mom is not much of a keeper, like me… we’re minimalists, BUT, my parents have a unit there where they keep sentimental and/or valuable items that can be repurposed later. Apparently, my wonderful parents thought I might enjoy a little blast from my past and showed up on my doorstep with this: When I was in high school, I went yard sale-ing with my mom and saw a very unattractive piece of furniture that needed love. It looked a little like this wood side table below, but it was in terrible shape, with vinyl floor tiles on its top and terrible bumps and bruises all over it’s wood. It looked similar to this one, but in awful shape! I insisted to my mother that I could restore its former glory with a thorough cleaning and some spray paint. At only $5, she decided to humor me. So, home we went with this little beat up, ugly side table. I got to work right away. I paint the hole thing silver, inside and out, and then applied a few coats of chalkboard spray paint to the top! Yup! I was doing DIY chalkboard table way before chalkboard surfaces were cool (except in classrooms of course)! It was really fun, to see this little table again. After all, it carried me through my teenage years, through college, and into my first few years of post-college independent life! And now, it’s back! It has made itself at home in our living room between our two peacock chairs! I know my “revival” was fairly rough, but I was quite proud of it, and at this moment, I just don’t have the heart to remake … Continue reading