DIY Spray Paint Chevron Table

 

Turn an ugly fixer-upper piece of furniture into a bold and beautiful addition to your living room!

I made a big move and had to get rid of a lot of my stuff, which meant getting new stuff at a good price. I found this coffee table at the goodwill for $5, but it was really ugly. I wish I had a “before” picture! My friend and I decided it was a craft just waiting to happen! I had always wanted to try Chevrons, and this was the perfect opportunity!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A fixer-upper table (or other piece of furniture)
• A sander and matching sand paper
• Sand paper for the little cracks a sander can’t get to
• Blue tape. I got 2-inch tape, but you can choose whichever size you like. The smaller the tape the smaller the chevron.
• Spray paint in two colors of your choice (I went with taupe and white)
• A clear coat spray paint. I got one that would be water resistant, so I could set cups on there without worrying.

Directions:

1. The table I started with had peeling varnish on it. You want to make sure you sand that off so the spray paint sticks.  Sanding was the most time-consuming part. I don’t have a sander, but luckily my move brought me closer to my parents place. My dad loaned me his sander, which saved a lot of time! There will be little cracks and curves and crannies that you’ll have to use sand paper for, though.
2. Once it is all sanded down, you’ll want to spray it with your base color. My base color was white. Spray from far away to get a nice even finish.
3. Now to lay down your blue tape. This is the tricky part. You’ll notice that my chevrons are not perfect. That is because I perfected the art after I started. What you’ll want to do is measure out pieces of tape to be the exact same size. 5 inches is what I ended up going with. Then, as you go along, you’ll lay down each piece of tape corner-to-corner so they overlap and leave a perfect angle.
4. Take a credit card and carefully smooth down all edges of your tape so the paint won’t bleed. (In the picture to the right you can see that the left upper corner didn’t get smoothed down enough and the paint bled a little.)
5. Tape off everything else you don’t want to get your secondary color on – sides, legs, etc.
6. Spray your secondary color. In my case, this was the taupe/brown color I chose.
7. Once everything has dried, carefully peel off the tape.
8. Now you’re ready to spray on your clear coat. I wanted to make sure my table was well-protected, so I put on two coats.

Viola! You now have a beautifully redone table (or other piece of furniture) that you can be proud to show to company!

This was simple once you got past the “how do I lay down the tape?” part. The most fun was peeling off all the paint to reveal the chevrons!

Have fun, and please comment with your trials and errors below, I would love to see what you come up with in terms of colors and different furniture pieces! The possibilities are endless!

DIY Spray Paint Chevron Table

<3, Laina & Small Detail Crafts

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The RE Store, reclaimed building materials for a greener home

I recently visited The RE Store for the first time. I’d heard wonderful things about it but had never made the time to stop by. It was like fun land for crafter/upcycle/repurpose/reclaimers! I wanted to share some fun pictures I took while I was there. Oh, the possibilities! I know they have a RE Store Bellingham and in Seattle. If you love making old things new I highly suggest you find a similar store in your location. Feel free to comment your findings!

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Check out Laina on Pinterest to find more fun ideas, crafts, and recipes!

Trash or Treasure?

I’ve created a new “Tips” tab, where I’ll be posting tips for crafting. So far, I’ve posted “Trash or Treasure?” ideas, sharing what I save and why. I’ll be adding to the list as I think of more things! Hope it is helpful 🙂

Trash or Treasure? Here is a list of things I keep and store in my craft supplies instead of tossing:

• The “hanger” straps inside tops and dresses. If they are made out of ribbon I cut them off the shirt and put them in my ribbon jar.
• Glass jars & their lids. Salsa, pickles, jam… They’re just as good as mason jars and sometimes come with fun shapes or designs!
• Old maps or atlases. You can do tons of different crafts with these, and they look so fun, too!
• Old loofas. You can toss them in the wash (but not the dryer!) and cut them apart to use as netting or decoration.
• Fun greeting cards. You can cut out and use the front of the Thank You/Birthday/Sympathy card to make a new one!
• Packing Peanuts. I once made a bean bag chair and filled it up with packing peanuts (My work had a bunch of garbage bags full)! Much cheaper than buying the big filler bags at the store.
• Wire, twine, string. I keep usable lengths in a big jar (Here’s where an empty pickle jar can come in handy!).
• Old, broken crayons. They are great for coloring candles, or making those fun melted crayon on canvas projects. You can even melt them down in muffin tins or molds to make new, shaped crayons.
• Magazines. One of my favorite things to do is decoupage!
• Strips of cloth. After sewing I always have small strips of cloth that I put in a jar next to my sewing machine. These can come in handy for many a craft project!
• Old silverware. You can bend them into all sorts of shapes (rings, hooks, bracelets) or make a wind chime out of them.
• Candle wax. I always save that little bit that won’t burn anymore and save it in a jar until I can get a new wick and melt it all down to make a new candle. You can also put your “excess wax” jar on a “no flame” candle burner.

Are you creative? Love crafting? Upcycling/repurposing? Check out Laina on Pinterest!

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