Tuesday, August 23, 2011

It Can Happen!

What I mean is, painting ugly laminate wood CAN be done!!!!  You have no idea how excited I am about that!

I started with an old shelf we had, because it's fairly small.  I should've taken a picture of it in the room it was actually in, but I forgot, and already had it in the garage.


I went to Home Depot, armed with my list, and got all the supplies I would need; Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer, which Lindsay from Living With Lindsay recommended here, a gallon of paint, a small roller, foam brush and pan. 


I also borrowed my mom's palm sander, so that I wouldn't have to do this sucker by hand.  It would've taken forever!

This is how I transformed this shelf....

Sand everything down until you begin to see tiny white flecks on the surface.

 
Lay pieces out on plastic in well-ventilated area.  Wipe all the pieces down with a tack cloth and get ready to prime!


This primer worked amazingly well!  :)


I gave each piece two, thin, even coats of primer.  I waited about a day between each coat.



The can of primer says to let it cure on whatever you've painted for 7 days.  I waited 4, because, I guess I was impatient.  The longer you let it cure, the more scratch resistant, durable it is.  Because this is just going to have things sitting on it, I didn't really think it was a big deal.

I get a big giant FAIL for taking pictures of the rest of the process, but basically this is what happened.  I poured the white paint from the gallon I had bought and started painting.  I then realized that I was probably going to need about 7 coats to cover the entire thing.  I had some white spray paint left over from my first DIY project .... the one that is not quite done yet....so, I figured it was worth a shot.  Yay Rustoleum!!!!!  It worked like a charm.  I did have to make a run to Home Depot to get some more, but all in all, it only took 2 coats of the spray paint.

I left the shelf to dry for two days and then brought it inside.  My plan was to cover the back of the shelf in something that would go with the gray/yellow theme I want for my office, buuuuuut, for the life of me I cannot find scrapbook paper or material that I love or that I am sure is quite for this project right now.

Enter leftover wallpaper.  Again.  Yep, I still had wallpaper left from our bathroom wall, and from the necklace holder I made, so for the time-being to make it look presentable, I cut it to size and used in in the back of the shelf.

Here is the final product.



I love it so much more than the original, ugly, honey-coloured laminate!!!!  The wallpaper won't stay forever, but for now, it works.

Moral of the story: you CAN paint laminate.  Now about that desk...............

8 comments:

  1. Okay lady, you are starting to turn into one of my favourite DIYers.... That looks amazing!! You should submit it to http://betterafter.blogspot.com/

    Keep them coming! I'm totally stockpiling ideas for when we move in. :D

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  2. dude seriously this looks amazing!!! can u come to my house and do some diy projects for me?? :)

    J-Lo xoxo

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  3. Angela! That looks awesome!

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  4. This turned out beautifully. Great job!

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  5. Ang, just saw this on Better After. YAY, congratulations!!!!!! :D

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  6. Yea it looks great. I so want to do mine. Its a dark brown laminate with glass doors at the top. So I am not sure what I will do in regards to them. I was wondering what you finally put on your bookcase now that it is done & pretty?

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  7. Wow! It looks great! And I love the wallpaper on the back! Great idea. I am starting my first project painting laminate furniture and I'm so excited now. Excellent job!

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