4 Things We Learned From Our First DIY

This past holiday weekend, we updated our china hutch from this:

to this:

We had so much fun and I am really enjoying the fruits of our labor. This is our first furniture piece that I have really really loved and been able to make MY style.

How it all went down:
I knew I wanted to do my hutch for a while, so I was excited when the stars aligned and there was finally time! I had previously talked to my Mom (you can see all her amazing craftiness at her blog) who gave me a few tips, and after some google searches, I stumbled across Live Love DIY's blog "How To Paint Laminate Furniture". If you are tempted to paint SOMETHING check out that resource.

1) We took apart all of the hinges and drawers

2) Used Kilz Original primer on everything ($6) 

3) Then we used an acrylic paint from walmart ($8)
4) We did a second coat of the acrylic paint, I mixed up a little blue paint for the back.

5) Let it all dry, put it back together, and we were DONE!

But it wasn't exactly seamless. Here is what we learned.

1) It took me 30 minutes to pick out what "white" paint I wanted. I knew I wanted it to look warm, so I was thinking "ivory". I picked out a shade called "White with Everything". It was actually the darkest "white" shade they had. I AM SO GLAD I DID. Anything less cream-colored would have just looked stark white. As far as the white shades go, choose one darker than you think. It will still look white, it will just look warmer. For anyone who cares, we chose a flat paint to mimic the chalk-paint style that is fashionable these days. 

2) One thing they don't teach you in your first 20 years of life, is that primer is THICK. It also dries fairly quickly. That means any globs or unevenness you see needs to be taken care of pretty quickly. If you are going for smooth finish, put on smooth primer. For the most part, ours turned out very smooth and we weren't super aware of that, but there are some spots that could have benefited from smoother application.

3) Here is where I got stupid. We live in Pullman, Washington. On a nice January day, it may get in to the 40s or 50s, but by evening it is back in the 20s. Do you know that paint doesn't dry sub-40ish degrees? It seems obvious, but we didn't think of that. After waiting hours for the last coat to dry (unlike the others which only took a little bit), I turned to google and found that I needed to rescue that furniture ASAP or I would end up with an icy mess. So, at about 11pm, I made my husband lovingly asked my husband to help me bring all of the doors, drawers, and the big piece itself into our make-shift art studio (my living room). We put down an old sheet and towel and got everything situated, and touched up any little mistakes. It wasn't a huge deal for us, but just remember to check the drying temperature of your paint, otherwise you may end up with an icy/frosty mess!

4) "Do you ever swear in your head sometimes?" Derek asked me this after we had been frustrated for hours trying to get the doors to close properly after putting back on the hinges. I quickly responded "YES." So we are probably going to H-E-double-hockey-sticks for sure. But really, those door hinges are a nightmare. Everything finally worked out after messing with them for a day or two. Out of everything, I think this is the most important thing we learned: Instead of getting excited and removing every hinge you see EVER, tape over them (or I suppose you could just paint them too!). It really wouldn't have been too hard to just paint them while they were attached, so taping is a possibility. My dad also suggested that at the very least, you mark where the hinges were before you take them off. Ours were adjustable, so even though there is only one hole drilled in the wood, the piece can move up and down AHHH. It ended up being that I was screwing the screws in too tightly, and it was slightly warping the hinge. I loosened up the bottom a bit and PRESTO- it was good to go.

We are already getting excited for our next DIY. I wonder what it will be! In the mean time, I am enjoying seeing my vintage style starting to appear in our little place. Things are coming together!