While I’m not new to second-hand furniture, this one was probably a little more than second hand. Third or fourth is more like it. The chest appeared to have been painted a vintage green a good while ago, judging by the color. I shall call her the GREEN GODDESS. She was the dirtiest, grungiest chest ever and had about a bazillion spider eggs from probably 20 years ago all tufted up nicely underneath her. Do you know those little round balls attached to spider webs? No shortage of that either. Let’s just say I made a little noise when I flipped it over. I swear I hit the motherload with this one. Oh, and then there was the smoke smell. It was so bad that I had to air it out for 2 months on my porch. The GREEN GODDESS needed me in the worst way.
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The Second Hand Furniture Makeover
For starters, one of the doors was broken beyond repair. It appeared that someone had even tried gluing them back together at one point, but the break was clean and lengthwise down the door. Really, no good way to salvage it.
The only thing to do was to make new ones. I simply used the original wood door as my pattern and outlined it using my carpenter pencil. I used the straight edge of 2 sides of the board and then cut the other two with my Ryobi Circular Saw. It made a clean straight line. My Makita rotary sander was used to smooth out the edges and get it ready for paint.
Because the original doors had ornate detailing, I decided to remove the molding on the drawers to match the new doors. With a paint scraper and hammer, I managed to get most of it off of the drawer facing. It wasn’t smooth at all, but I was able to smooth it down using my hand sander. And yes, I realize that I should have used a wood chisel. I was lazy and grabbed the first sharp-looking tool I could find.
The drawers were lined with this beautiful vintage paper. I did manage to save a few big pieces of the vintage paper for future projects.
I used the original hinges to re-attach the doors. When replacing the hardware on furniture, I try to reuse the original as much as possible. The newer hardware doesn’t always fit properly on older furniture. This can be a challenge and using the original is best if it’s in good shape.
Choosing A Paint Design
Products List:
This is what you will need to create a rust patina on painted furniture.
- Modern Masters Metal Effects Paint (This product can be substituted with Dixie Belle Patina Collection and it works great too!) See products below.
- Iron Patina Paint and activator Green Patina Spray (substitution for Modern Masters Metal Effects Paint)
This is always the hardest part for me. I had ordered this Modern Master Metal Effects Paint a few months ago and I was just waiting for the right piece. Initially, the plan was to paint it black with a rusty finish. About 5 minutes before I actually started painting, I changed my mind! Who does that???
Sapphire Blue, Robins Egg Blue, and Weathervane gray were the colors for the base coat. A blending method was used with a Cling-On Paint Brush, a spray bottle with water, a putty knife, and a sponge. to create the colors and texture before the iron-oxidizing paint was applied. It was like magic happening right before my eyes!
Rust Never Looked So Good On Second Hand Furniture
The RUSTY GODDESS
I know, shocking right? So, are you ready to try a little rusty goodness on your furniture? I’d love to hear what you think about this makeover. The good, bad, and ugly. Drop me a comment below and don’t forget to pin this to your painted furniture board for later.
Want to see more shocking makeovers? CLICK HERE for some copper inspiration. This is one of my FAVES!
Until the next project… xo, Do
Wait! Don’t forget to PIN THIS for later!
