Makin’ Old Furniture Fancy with Stencils!
Hello everyone! I am just THRILLED to announce that my little blog was featured on Better Aftertoday! It’s my biggest feature yet, and it’s allowed me to share my Home Office Makeover with so many new people! I’m just so excited to have so many new readers! I can’t wait to meet you all and share my new projects with you!
I’ve decided to share my vanity stencil project today. I shared it earlier in the month on a guest post over at Well To Do You (an AMAZING lifestyle blog!), but my little blog has grown so much this month, that I wanted to share it again so all of my new readers can enjoy too!
If you are new to LiveLoveDIY, I just want to welcome you with a big cyber-hug and let you know how much it means to share my work with new friends!
Enjoy!
This is the trash-to-treasure story of a $15 vanity I found at Goodwill, and how with some paint, a stencil, and some good ol’ fashioned elbow grease, I was able to transform it into a beautiful piece of furniture for our master bedroom!
Here is my latest thrift store find….AFTER some major craftiness.
and a close-up:
Check out this awesome metallic gold ‘iron lattice stencil’ on the vanity table!
So, now that you’ve seen the AFTER, let me walk you through how this beauty was transformed!
I just happened upon this vanity at Goodwill a few months ago. She was a dark, ugly, outdated, 1980′s wooden monstrosity and had this horrible floral upholstered stool. The first thing I did was paint the whole thing an ivory white (TIP: I used Behr Premium Plus Satin in Creamy Whiteand ultimately finished it in polyurethane.). Unfortunately, I never took a picture of her while she was still wood-colored (SHAME on me!!). You will just have to use your imagination.
Luckily, I did remember to whip out the camera before I started with the reupholstering. Check out how UGLY the stool was BEFORE!!
NO. NO. and NO. Just no.
(Side note: When I first brought the vanity home, it was knob-less. The knob in the above picture is a new addition that I found at Hobby Lobby! LOVE IT!)
Now that you have seen the rosy (PUN!) before picture, let’s start the tutorial.
Time to dig around that craft closet (ya know…the one where you hoard your 200 throw pillows) and dig out the following supplies:
WHOA. Okay…honesty alert. I only used 2/3 of these. Here’s a more factual list:
1. Upholstery fabric of your choice (I used about 1/3 of a yard.)
2. trim (optional)
3. Staple gun & staples
4. scissors
5. screw driver
6. hot glue gun & hot glue sticks
7. painter’s tape
8. metallic paint for stencil (or color of your choice)
9. stencil
10. paintbrush or roller
(and of course the paint to paint the whole vanity & stool if yours is also a wooden monstrosity)
PART I: UPHOLSTERY
To reupholster the stool, you first have to remove the top cushion from the base of the stool. It’s usually screwed on and a simple screwdriver will do the trick.
Next, separate the cushion from the base and place the cushion on your fabric. Make sure the side of the fabric you want to show is facing the floor. Like this:
Make sure there is enough fabric on each side to wrap over the edge. Staple around all four sides, leaving just the four corners unstapled.
Once your cushion looks like the above picture, you are ready to finish the corners. To make the corners look as smooth as possible, I cut the majority of the fabric off of the corner and leave just a little strip of fabric remaining. Then, I pull the strip as far as I can towards the middle and staple it securely to the wooden bottom. It should look something like this once the corners are finished:
Now, you are ready to reattach the cushion to the base! I just poked around for the original holes and then matched them up with the holes on the base. Then simply screw the original screws back in.
Voila! Your stool is now upholstered with pretty new fabric!
Now, to make your stool look really nice, I think it is best to use some trim to cover the gap between the base and cushion. I purchased 2 yards of trim from Hobby Lobby for $4 total. You simply start at one corner and hot glue it around the edges.
So, plug in the ol’ glue gun (aka my favorite toy/current best friend) and go crazy!! No, really…keep calm…it’s HOT glue, remember?
and then you will have this beauty all finished and ready to sit on! She’s so purdy!
That’s all folks!! Well, there’s still Part II…
PART II: STENCIL THE TABLE
This is my favorite part of the project…and the easiest! (Not to mention, it makes the vanity a total conversation piece!)
I found this ‘Iron Lattice’ wall stencil at Hobby Lobby for $14 (TIP: use their online 40% OFF coupon and it’s only $7!). By the way…I am not in any way affiliated with Hobby Lobby…just simply a huge advocate of spending every dollar I make there. FACT.
Take the stencil and tape it where you want it on the first half of the table (with your blue painter’s tape).
Next, dip your roller in your metallic gold paint (or poodle pink…it’s your call.) and paint over the the part covered by the stencil. (NOTE: go light on the paint so that it doesn’t seep under the stencil. I rolled my roller over a paper towel a few times before I started.)
Next, match up the stencil and repeat on the opposite side. Again, remove the stencil and you will have this:
Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far, you have a beautiful, totally unique piece of furniture for 1/10 of a store-bought vanity!!!
Also, one last really cool tip. I love pretty mirrors. This vanity did not come with ANY mirror. Good thing I’m a problem solver. I took an old bulky black mirror we already had, primed it with white primer, then painted it with the same metallic gold paint I used on the stencil…and TA-DA!…A lovely gold mirror….Fo’ FREE.
Now that we are all finished, let’s look at the finished product once more, and even take a little peak around the whole room to see how great the vanity complements the other furniture! (Interesting tidbit: all of our bedroom furniture came from a thrift store! Read more HERE )
A Last Look.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the vanity OVERHAUL! It’s been a true pleasure sharing my little project with everyone!
-Virginia
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