Happy Easter

We hope you have had a blessed Easter!

We'd like to extend a "welcome" to our new Followers. Thank you for taking the time to find Furniture Intervention. We appreciate the comments! We also enjoy spending time on your blogs.

We are now on Facebook. We'll upload project pictures to FB weekly. "Like" us...please!!!

It's spring break this week - we'll have lots of help from our girls this week! I'm hoping to get the chandeliers finished - I need my dining room table back! Becky will be in her garage painting. Hoping to post pictures on Wednesday.

Have a great week!

Cheers to the Two Tiered Tables

When we found this table, we felt it had the potential to be cute. The two levels make it so you can have a lamp on one level and the magazines or books on the other. The drawers add more space!

Two Tier End Tables

Ingredients: Graco cordless paint sprayer, Valspar Signature Color Hazy Dawn (paint and primer in one step), paintable wall paper, glass knob

Steps:

• Sand and clean. Yes, tedious. Sanding will remove nicks and scratches. Clean after you sand because the piece will be very dusty. Paint won't stick if dust is present.
• Check drawers. I learned something new with this project. Slide drawers open and closed. If the drawers "stick", sand the area. This will help out!
• Apply paintable pre-pasted wall paper to flat surfaces. We used wall paper to cover up imperfections on the flat surfaces of the tables.
• Cut the wall paper before wetting it - recommend an extra inch wide on the edges. Set the paper in 2 inches of water. I let it "set" for 20-30 seconds. My daughter just learned how to count to twenty - so we tested her skills! :-) The paste is ready when it feels like Elmer's White School Glue to your touch. Gently, fold wall paper in half. This helps to activate the glue. Drain excess water off wall paper. Don't make creases in the paper!
• Apply to your piece of furniture. Center it. Wipe the top of the wall paper with a damp cotton towel to remove bubbles. Glue will ooze out of the edges. That's ok. Just wipe it off. Trim the edges with a razor knife when the paper is wet. Let it dry for 24 hours before you paint. No cheating!
• Wall paper closeup picture will be added soon.
• Paint two coats of Valspar paint. The all-in-one paint and primer works great - sticks very well to the wall paper.
• Add glass knob for finishing touch!

Before...




 After...


Adorable or what???


Closeup of After...

The wall paper is a subtle touch, barely noticeable!

Now partying at:

Naperville Booth Display

We now have a Furniture Intervention Booth.  Huh...how...why?  Well, we start by finding "at-risk" furniture.  We clean, paint, fix, counsel, or do whatever it takes to make pieces "happy".  And then cram them into our 2'x10' spot for people to buy.  It's quite the adventure!  We'll post pictures of the booth every month we change the look.


This is what we look like this month.... 

Front View

Side view

Quite the "springy" look, eh?  We are so done with the cloudy, wintry weather!


If you like what you see, then RUN to Affordable Antiques and More in Naperville, IL and make a purchase!  Ha...I'm kidding!  The store's addresss is 1508 North Naper Blvd (NE corner of Ogden and Naper Blvd).  We have furniture and other items available for purchase at the store.  If you can't make it to the store, please email us with questions on specific pieces.  Our email address is furnitureintervention@gmail.com.  We'd be thrilled to hear from you.

Wicker Headboard Recipe

Wicker Headboard Recipe
Ingredients:  Graco power sprayer, Valspar Signature Color Hazy Dawn (paint and primer in one step), two rolls of ribbon


Steps:

• Apply two coats of Hazy Dawn (yellow) Valspar paint and primer in one.  We used the power sprayer - you could just as easily use spray paint. 
• Weave ribbon of your choice through the wicker.  Super easy!  Adds a personal touch.

Here's a closeup of the ribbon weaving...

Check out how great the headboard looks with the small night stand...

Yellow Night Stand Recipe

Night Stand Recipe
Ingredients:  Graco cordless paint sprayer, Valspar Signature Color Hazy Dawn (paint and primer in one step), sand paper, silver knob, silver metallic craft paint

Steps:

• Sand.  This will help remove surface scratches.  Wipe off furniture after sanding.  It will be dusty!
• Apply two coats of Valspar paint.  Let dry 12 hours.
• Add stencil to door front.  We used silver metallic craft paint to match the knob.  Center stencil on front of drawer.  Attach using blue painter's tape.  You don't want to use sticky tape because the tape will peel off your paint.  Stencil away!
• Add knob or pull of your choice. 

Check out how cute this night stand looks with the wicker headboard in the same color...

Zebra Bamboo Chair Recipe

Zebra Bamboo Chair Recipe

Ingredients:  Graco cordless paint sprayer, Valspar Signature Color Kettle Black (paint and primer in one step), sand paper, fabric, foam, stapler, welting

Steps:

• Sand out knicks and scratches by hand.  Wipe dust off chair. 
• Apply two coats of Valspar's Kettle Black.  Use a brush for touch ups. 
• Put foam on the seat of the chair.  Wrap the fabric over the top of foam.  Staple fabric to frame.
• Add black welting around edges to cover staples - gives it a finished look

Closeup of welting

Another look at the chair...

Now partying at:

Tips For Drawers That Don't Slide

Quick tips for pesky drawers the won't shut -

• Take a look at the drawer.  If you see grooves or any consistent scratch marks on the side or front of the drawer, this could be the source of your problem.
• I've found drawer fronts (front panel) expand over time.  The easiest way to shrink the front is by sanding.  Remember to sand the sides evenly.  Sand until the drawer shuts to your liking.
• Use a bar of soap on the track that the drawer slides - if the track is wooden.  I've also been told to use wax.  The problem with wax is that I just don't have wax hanging around my house.  I always have soap!  Pick soap with a pleasant smell.  You will smell it every time you open and close the drawer. 
• If the track is metal and you have issues with opening and closing due to the track, use petroleum jelly or WD-40.
• You will want to apply soap and wax after you paint.  Paint will not stick to soap or wax.
• If the drawer front is in bad shape, cover it with pre-pasted paintable wall paper.  Applying Mod Podge to scrapbook paper will work, too. 

Two Tier End Tables

Another project in the works....

Has great lines.  Thinking pastel.  Will post recipe and pictures soon!

Brass Chandeliers - Part 1

Prepping the brass chandeliers has been time consuming.  I want to share a tip to help you out.  TEST the power before you paint.  Not all chandeliers work - fact of the resale world.  Wouldn't it be a bummer to paint all to find out the chandelier doesn't work?  TEST THE POWER!

I'm an electrical junkie.  I've wired many switches and outlets.  If you aren't sure of yourself with wiring - you will want to get help from someone who has wiring experience.


Let me show you how I tested my 'brass'. 

Step #1 - You need a plug.  A plug that can be plugged into an outlet.  Must easier than hard wiring!  You can purchase a plug from any hardware store.  They are in the electrical aisle.  Here's a picture of mine...

You will be taking the two ends of the wire and wrapping them around the two silver screws in the plug.  One wire on each screw.  Close the black plastic cover.  My plug has a screw that holds the cover shut.  It's important you make sure the plastic cover is completely closed.  If you don't, you will get shocked.  I'm speaking from experience!  I've tried all the short cuts possible with electricity and my husband.  Yeah...short cuts are not a good idea when you are dealing with electricity. :-) 


Step #2 - Light Bulbs.  Using light bulbs that work is very important.  This may sounds like a no-brainer but, well, broken bulbs happen. 

Step #3 - Prayer.  Pray the chandelier will work.  OK - this step is optional. 

Step #4 - Plug it in!


Hope you find this helpful!  Prep work takes time and can be tedious.  You need to prep the 'brass' in this case or else you will be wasting a lot of time. 

Brassy, Not Sassy....YET!

Our next project - brass chandeliers.

Becky and I have high hopes for these brass babies!  The recipe will be posted as soon as they are finished.  The first step will checking if the lights work.  Then, brass will be cleaned up and prepped for priming.  Stay tuned!

Scroll Mirror Recipe

Today is a sick day in our house...for me.  This means I will be catching up on my Recipe Postings.  Yay! 

SCROLL MIRROR
Ingredients:  Graco cordless paint sprayer, sand paper, paint, stain

Steps:

• Sand thoroughly
• Paint with Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk
• Glaze with Minxwax Dark Walnut Stain = brush on – wipe off with wet rag, then dry rag 
• Rub edges back down to original wood for distressed look

Candlesticks

New Recipe Posting...

CANDLESTICKS

Ingredients:  Graco cordless paint sprayer, paint, stain

Steps:

• Paint 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Steely Gray 
• Glazed with Minwax Dark Walnut Stain – brush on – wipe off with wet rag, then dry rag

Baseball Hats

The laundry room is the "dumping ground" in our home.  It is located between our garage and kitchen.  The kids turn into zombies when they walk through the garage door.  Something causes them to instantly drop their coats, bags, colors, papers, you name it once they walk through the door.  This room will be an ongoing conversation. 

I'm going to start the laundry room "chat" with BASEBALL HATS.  It's baseball season, so I thought this topic would be very "festive" to blog.

We have a hat for anything.  My family members can't part with most of them.  I need a solution to store the hats, as well as be able to see them.  I've tried hooks for hats.  No one in our house can get a hat on a hook.  I've tried containers.  Containers take space.  I don't want my room to have the look of a department store with items piled high on shelves.  We already have too many containers.

SO - why not on the curtain rod?

We can see them!  They are off the floor!  You need to make sure your rod is supported in the middle.  That's the only tricky part. 

The hats have been pretty simple to get down so far.  I'm pretty excited about this!  The "look" fits for my laundry room.  Here's hoping someone out in blog world will find my idea useful, too! 

Footboard Connected To My Chalkboard

So, I found this leftover footboard at Goodwill...

It started out white.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture while it was white.  Why purple?  I found a spare purple spray paint can in our basement.  I left the center white because I had an idea - why not make it into a chalkboard?  I applied the chalkboard paint with a roller.  You can also use spray can chalkboard paint.

Chalkboard Footboard

Tah, dah!  I added two hooks thinking this could be used as a coat rack message board.  It could be put in a kids room.  The hooks could be used for dressup clothes.  They could also be used for hats.  I hope this inspires you to do someting clever with a leftover piece.   

Jewelry Box

"hi"

When I was a little girl, I LOVED playing dressup.  I loved bracelets and necklaces.  When I see jewelry boxes like this at a Thrift Store - it puts be back down memory lane.  I just had to buy this box!  The recipe is below. 

***When I paint smaller projects, I use spray paint. 
I will always clarify spray paint versus Graco paint sprayer in the recipes we post.***

JEWELRY BOX RECIPE

Ingredients:  spray paint, masking tape, sand paper, fabric, scrap book paper, Mod Podge, drawer pulls

Steps:

• Clean out the inside.  I used masking tape.  It does a great job of grabbing lint.
• Prime!  Spray with Rust-Oleum White 2x Painter’s Touch Primer.  This will help keep the brown from bleeding through the light colors.  It dries quickly and was ready to paint first coat after 30 minutes.
• Spray with Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Heirloom White in Satin.  Took three coats.  
• Add fabric to the inside of the drawers.  First, cut fabric to fit.  Attach fabric in place with spray adhesive. 

Before fabric



Fabric after spray adhesive

• Next, spread Mod Podge on top of the fabric.  This will help make the fabric stick and to give the material rigidity.  Repeat steps for all drawers.

• The fun step – DECOUPAGE!!!  I found paisley scrapbooking paper that had a shabby chic look to it.  The top of the jewelry box was larger than my paper.  I cut a smaller sheet for the left side and the right side.  I used a full sheet and centered it on top of the smaller sheets. 

Note large piece of paper centered on top of two smaller pieces

• I attached the paper with spray adhesive.  I then put on three coats of Mod Podge Satin and lightly sanded between coats.  I let the paper dry 30 minutes between coats. 
• I had so much fun with the Mod Podge on top of the jewelry box that I put paper on the front of it. 
• Sand the edges of the drawers to give the jewelry box character.  I sanded until I got the look I was wanting.
• Reattach pulls.

So darn cute!

Here are the pictures again...

Before...

After

Lilac 1970's Dresser

Dressers are always fun to paint for kids! This recipe comes from a dresser painted by Becky. It is a 1970’s oak dresser. It is very solid and has bark-like grooves. Wowee!

This piece needs a major furniture intervention to make it work for a 3-year-old fairy and butterfly room.

Lilac Dresser

Before

LILAC DRESSER

Ingredients: sand paper, Graco cordless paint sprayer, primer, paint and crystal handles

Steps:

1. Sand. This always helps the paint stick to the wood. It also helps to clean up the piece.
2. Prime with with Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3
3. Paint with Valspar Lilac (2 coats). The Graco cordless paint sprayer was used to spray the paint.
4. Sealed with spray polycrylic
5. Add crystal handles

So, so pretty!

Here they are again...

Before and After




Now partying it up at :

High Back Chair Project

This is going to be our first blog "recipe".  When we find a project we think you may like, we'll create a recipe for it.  We'll give you our step by step directions.  We'll also give you tips, mistakes, and whatever else happens along the way.  Please feel free to give us your comments.

High Back Chairs

Add caption

Becky found these chairs.  They need something!  The recipe is below. 

One item to note - Becky paints her furniture with a Graco cordless paint sprayer. 

We'll post information about the sprayer another time. 

HIGH BACK CHAIR RECIPE 

1. Spray with Kilz Primer (spray paint)
2. Sand because Kilz leaves a rough texture – left it rough in some places as I liked the texture it gave to the wood.
3. Spray with Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk
4. Dry brush a combo of Valspar Mixing Glaze and Sherwin Williams Steely Gray/Aqua Sphere – just played with these three until I got the color I liked.  Dry brushing lets the base paint color show through so you can see the brush marks and the creamy color underneath. 
5. Rub the edges for a distressed look.
6. Cover the seat cushion in cream linen from Hancock Fabrics.
7. Seal with spray polycrylic.

Tah, dah!  The "after" look.

Here they are again...

The "before" and "after"