Craft Room - Project #1 - Storage Armoire

For the last year, I've been working on creating a small craft room.  My main piece of storage for my craft room is an armoire that a friend gave to me.  It sat in my garage for about a year, before I finally pulled it out to paint it.

The armoire was part of a nursery set that was in a white finish.  I started the project, by disassembling the armoire - taking off the hardware, drawers, and backing.   I gave the wood a thorough sanding and washed it down. After letting the armoire dry, I primed and let it dry.  Next, I applied a coat of paint in a gorgeous robin egg blue color.

A friend of mine, Rachel Ropp of Revamp & Revive gave me the paint.  She has been a great resource for all my painting projects.  This paint was a mis-tint (one of Rachel's secret weapons!!)  Even though the paint was a satin, she told me that if I seal it with a polyurethane, then it doesn't matter what paint finish I used.

The original armoire had drawers at the bottom for storage.  I didn't want drawers, so I had my husband built two simple shelves out of scrap wood and I painted them a fun lime green color.  I followed the same steps as I did with the armoire.

After letting the paint thoroughly dried, I lightly sanded the armoire again, washed it down, and let it dry.  Then, I painted a second coat of paint.  Once it was completely dried, I took the belt sander and sanded the entire armoire.  This time, I roughed up the wood, by pressing the sander harder in spots and taking the paint finish down to the bare wood.  I paid attention to corners, edges, and ridges.  Next, I washed down the armoire, once again.

I love furniture that looks old and lived with.  I've rarely had a brand new piece of furniture and when I have, I dread the day that it gets its first knick or ding, so why not make it that way from the beginning!!

Then I pulled out a secret weapon - oil-based glaze in a dark chocolate brown. Applying glaze definitely has a learning curve, so I started with the doors to get the hang of it.  I found a pair of plastic gloves, a small cheap paint brush, and a few lint free rags.  Working in a small area, I brushed on a light coating of the glaze and then quickly took a rag to wipe it into and off the painted surface.  The glaze is extremely runny, so plan accordingly.  Like with the sanding, I paid attention to the corners, edges, and ridges.  I repeated this step over the entire armoire.  Glazing takes the longest time because of the two steps to the process, but the results are AMAZING!!

Glazing completely changes the look your paint.  It softens the color and ages the finish beautifully.  You can also decide how much of a glaze you want.  If I wanted to, I could have just glazed the doors and edges and not the entire surface.  I did not glaze the lime green shelves.

After all the pieces of the armoire are dry, the last step was to seal.  I close a clear polyurethane that I had on hand.  Sealing it with a polyurethane will protect your pieces from damage from unexpected bumps and spills. I put on two coats of poly, letting the armoire dry for at least 24 hours between coats.

Then I put the armoire back together again!!  Compared to all the other steps, this was a breeze!!  I replaced the wooden doorknobs with a couple of pink glass knobs I purchased at Michael's for a whooping .25 each!!  When I spotted them, I picked up several in the three color options they had and I've used them for several projects.

When I do a project like this, I try to use what I already have on hand or keep it as inexpensive as possible.  I already had some of the paint, poly, and glaze.  I was gifted the armoire and the robin egg blue paint and we used scrap wood for the shelves.  The only purchase were my two doorknobs!!

Taking on a project like this takes quite a bit of time, but I would usually get up early, put on a coat of paint and then do another, during afternoon nap.

Stayed tune for a few more Craft Room projects!! I'm already working on my next one - Organization Options.