Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Krylon Dual Dresser Redo

Krylon sent me the new Dual Paint to try out. Check out their latest promotion, The Dual Duel, where Krylon is looking to find The Ultimate Restorer. To win this title, enter your spray paint restoration project and encourage friends and family to vote for your project as their favorite for their chance to win too.  (Stop by and check out the contest!  There are a few Twice Lovely pieces entered there, and I would very much appreciate your vote if you’re so inclined!  You can vote once a day, so check back and vote often!)

Dual Duel Button

Being a busy mom of (almost) 4, any steps I can save in the furniture refinishing process are always welcome, so I was very excited to try out Krylon’s new Dual Paint and Primer in One!

There was a lot going on with this makeover, so I apologize before hand for the lengthy post.  :)

I started with a dresser I picked up on my local Craigslist.

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It’s a fantastically versatile size and solidly built.  What I didn’t love about it was the multitude of faux drawers and excessive pulls.  It’s a three drawer dresser that’s trying to look like it has 8!  What’s up with that?!?!  And 16 pulls for 3 drawers is just a little ridiculous, don’t you think?  So I set out to transform this little beaut into a THREE drawer dresser and restore the universe to rights.  :)

For those of you who live for the before and after’s (like me), I won’t keep you waiting.  Here she is without all those faux drawers.  ;)

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Ahhhh!  Much better, doncha think?

But first things first!  When I get real solid wood pieces like this, I usually try to strip and stain the top.  I LOVE the combination of a painted body with a warm, earthy, wood top!  If you have never tried stripping and staining wood out of fear (believe me, I used to be scared to death of it too!), I’d like to take some of the mystery and fear out of the process.  It really is easy, pretty fast, and terribly rewarding!

I always use Citristrip.  I find it does a great job without all the toxicity and stinkiness of other chemical strippers.  (You’ll notice my bottle was just about empty when I finished this project.  I use it a lot.)

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You’ll notice, though, it’s a “safer” paint stripper.  Still, be sure to wear protective gloves and avoid getting it on your skin or in your eyes.  I paint it on thick using a wide, cheap, chip brush.  It’ll start doing it’s thing right away.  Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then scrape up all the gunk.

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The top still had quite a bit of paint left after the first application of the stripper.  (This dresser had no fewer than 4 or 5 layers of paint on it!)

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Even with at least 4 or 5 layers of paint on it, I was still able to get the top stripped to bare wood in 3.5 hours (while going about my life.)  ;)  So don’t be afraid of this process!!

Here’s a little bit how that particular 3.5 hours went:

2:00 – applied stripper

2:30 – removed first layer, reapplied stripper

2:45-4:00 – picked up kids from school

4:15 – removed second layer, reapplied stripper

4:15–5:15 – cleaned up 3 year old’s poop castastrophy, gave the pooper a bath

5:15 – removed last layer, cleaned off remaining paint/stripper with denatured alcohol and fine steel wool, gave a quick sanding with fine sandpaper

5:30 – WE HAVE WOOD!  (time to cook dinner)

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See?  Not so bad.  You can do it!

Once the top was stripped, I moved on to tackle the issue of turning those faux drawers into single drawers.  I accomplished this using moulding, some masonite, wood filler, and (my good friend) Kwik Wood.

First, I used my miter box and saw to cut some very small moulding to size and miter the end to 45 degrees.

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Just line up your carefully measured edge like this:

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and you end up with a nice 45 degree angle, perfect for making a frame of moulding!

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Then, I attached the moulding to the fronts of the drawers using wood glue and clamps.  (This moulding was so lightweight and small, I didn’t feel the need to tack them on with nails.  The wood glue held it on just fine.)

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Next, I had my hunky husband use our very-old-and-heavy-but-still-effective circular saw to cut some thin masonite board to size to fit inside the mouliding frame.

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I attached the masonite with wood glue as well, and filled all the gaps and cracks with wood filler.

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The last step in creating the new drawer fronts was to fill in the small gaps that remained on the sides with my trusty JB Weld Kwik Wood.  (This stuff is perfect for larger fills and repairs that are just too much for your wood filler to handle.)  Just mix up the putty, smoosh it in the gaps, let it dry, and sand to smooth.

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Now that I had the body of the dresser ready to go, I started staining the nicely stripped top.  I save my boys destroyed and dirty beyond saving socks for just this purpose.

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(Gross!  That used to be white!)

Just put on a glove, slip on the sock, and you’re ready to wipe off your stain!

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I wanted to give it a nice, dark walnut stain (my personal fave.)  The dresser top had other ideas.  :)  After the first coat of stain, it barely looked any different.

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I’m not sure what was up with it, but I must of given the thing 5 or 6 applications of Dark Walnut stain before I was somewhat happy with the result (and the result certainly wasn’t the Dark Walnut I was looking for.)  Oh well!  Sometimes the furniture has a mind of it’s own and I can’t break it to my will.  ;)

I always get antsy for the wood staining and do it before paint the body of the piece.  My trick on keeping the paint off the nicely stained wood top is to turn the piece upside down on the drop cloth.  Then I use painters tape over any edges still exposed.  The paint away!  Always does the trick.

Usually, I start with a primer, but since Krylon sent me their new Dual Paint and Primer Spray Paint to try, I got to skip that step and jump right in!  For this project, I used High Gloss Piston Gray, and I love the way it turned out!! 

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I bought these gorgeous, detailed, black cup pulls from an Ebay seller (thehardwarehunter) for less than $2 a piece!!  I’ll definitely be shopping with them again!

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Here’s how the not-quite-dark-walnut top ended up (pretty nice, even though not what I originally had envisioned):

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I heard that the Krylon Dual spray paint is now available at Walmart, so I certainly recommend giving it a try! 

I did notice the paint stayed tacky for quite a while (much longer than their regular indoor/outdoor spray paint), so make sure you leave it a good long time to set up before handling it or touching it.  It feels like it’s going to be a tough finish that will really hold-up though!

Happy (spray) painting!

Linking to:

Primitive and Proper

DIY Club

25 comments:

  1. It is it is! I just bought two cans to try out! At my walmart is was no more expensive than a regular can of Krylon, so hurray!

    Your piece is fantastic! I'm in love with that gray color, such a great surprisingly neutral piece that could host any number of great color schemes on top!

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  2. Wow, I love this redo! Fabulous! Do you sand your piece before applying the spray paint? I am new to this whole process!

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  3. that doesn't even look at all like the same dresser! it is amazing!!!

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  4. Looks SO much better, great job!

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  5. HOLY SMOKES!! What a LOT of work you invested here...beautiful result!

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  6. What a great post. I love it when people 'spill the beans' and give you all their awesome tricks and advice :). I know EXACTLY what you mean when furniture has it's own will. I stained a top a dark walnut and it wouldn't take either, it's a lot lighter than I'd like it to be, oh well!! Yours turned out awesome!

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  7. I love how this turned out. I also loved that you showed us what you used to make the new drawers. I wish I had known this for some projects I've done in the past. Cutting wood to a 45 degree angle with out a mitter box was such a pain. I'll have to remember this for the next time!

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  8. Awesome Job! I loved how you changed the look of the drawer fronts. I does look so much better that way. :)

    The Miller's from Prezidential Life

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  9. It looks great, and you were wise to see what it could become.

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  10. Amazing transformation! I've been looking at miter saws and I'm constantly cringing at the price looking for some way to spend that much money. I'm so glad you posted about the miter box! My new favorite tool until we invest in the real thing. Thanks so much!

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  11. I have been meaning to grab Citristrip the next time we were in town and now I think I MUST. We have this old sewing machine-in-table piece in desperate need of stripping and I have a feeling this will do the trick.

    Oh....lovin the sock. I giggled out loud :)

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  12. Wow, we are speechless! Can you come re-do all of our furniture? Hehe ;)
    -Jessica & Holly
    Etsy.com/shop/chezjolly
    <3

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  13. This is one of the most amazing before and after projects!! The new dresser is beautiful! Great job, and great tutorial!

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  14. Hey, fabulous job!! I've got one of those faux drawer dressers (really, why??) but all I did was remove some knobs. Yours is MUCH better. I love Citristrip too, its great on veneer as well.wwwas

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  15. sorry,my parrot stepped on the keyboard just as i hit enter...

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  16. Beautiful blog, so glad I'm your newest follower! Thank you for posting our Mountain of Giveaway button on your sidebar!! As I was reading about your chest re-do I couldn't help but wonder if you've tried Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?! No stripping, priming or sanding is ever required. Sounds too good to be true but it is! It leaves a beautiful finish and it's almost INSTANT GRATIFICATION!~~

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  17. what a transformation! Lovely! I wouldn't have had the guts to spray paint after all that work, but it turned out great!

    I really liked the Dual too. And, yes, it did seem to take a little longer than other sprays to dry. But love the coverage it has.

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  18. Love it! Did you use a sealer on the top after staining?

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  19. Okay Miss, you have taken a makeover to a whole other level! Now that what I'm talking about really great TRANSFORMATION!!!

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  20. Great Job! I will have to try the stripper, thanks for sharing. Good pic's

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  21. Gorgeous transformation, Ann Marie! I'm going to have to get me some of that wood filler putty!

    xo,
    Jami

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  22. shes a beauty. great job love the finish on the top and how you redid the drawers.
    love it.
    lauren
    i would love to feature this on my next revival monday
    if thats ok with you please let me know.
    lauren

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  23. Hi there. Nice blog. You have shared useful information. Keep up the good work! Your blog is really interesting and provides good details. hospital furniture, baby care products.

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  24. Wow, love that redo! Doesn't even look the same and I love the timeline of cleaning and stripping (paint) at the same time - I can relate!

    Did you use the spray paint while pregnant? I'm 5 months right now and am not spray painting anything for fear of ???. Anyway I can't find any good advice about this anywhere in blogland. Maybe I'll just wait.

    Cheers!
    Lisa

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