So you have done all of the work……the hard stuff.  You’ve found the perfect piece of furniture!  Sometimes that is half the battle. Possibly the furniture was a hand-me-down, a thrift find, an Estate sale purchase, or maybe it was rescued from the curb destined for the landfill.

It’s the perfect piece for your furniture makeover!

So what’s next? You have it in your work space and the wheels are turning.  What is this piece saying to you? This is the fun part! Sometimes the possibilities are endless. You have selected a quality piece and all of the details are just crying out for some attention.  Will this makeover be for your home or will this be to sell? What is your style? Will that style compliment this piece? What is selling in your area? What color will you choose? Decisions decisions!

Where to start? My best advice is to get familiar with your piece. Oftentimes, the best way to do this is to start with the prep work. Giving the furniture a good cleaning……I use Wise Owl Green EZ Furniture Cleaner and a scuff sanding to remove any loose varnish and give your surface a little tooth for better adhesion. This is a great time to get better acquainted with your piece, Its also a great time to make any necessary repairs. I find that this is also a great time to allow the creative process to begin.

One of the most important things that I have learned over the years is to enjoy the entire process. Play with the paint! Try new things. Step out of your comfort zone! It is just paint! You can always repaint it and you can embrace what you learn along the way.

Back to the topic at hand. So, you’ve painted your piece. Maybe it was a creative finish, a farmhouse white, distressed, or maybe you chose a more modern, clean look. I thought this would be a great time to share some photos because the possibilities are truly endless. Here are some of the different finishes that I chose for the set that belonged to the dresser above.

Yes! They are from the same set and as you can see I definitely had fun along the way.  The first dresser sold very quickly and found its new forever home in Arizona. It was painted in one of my favorite textured Patina finishes using Saltwash and my favorite blues and greens with Wise Owl Chalk Synthesis Paint and Glazes. The nightstands were sold locally at my shop in Crown Point, Indiana and were painted in a beautiful Bone white in Wise Owl One Hour Enamel with added gold detailing and soft gray stripes on both sides.

The third dresser pictured was painted in rich greens, blues, and bronzy rust tones with a complimenting decoupage paper by Redesign with Prima.

So back to the topic at hand. What do you do if a piece of furniture does not sell? This can be the tricky part. Is it just be a matter of time waiting for that perfect customer to come along or is it time to start over with your design?

Creative finishes often take a bit longer to sell. Do not get discouraged. Your creation stared out as a blank canvas…….and just like wall art it simply needs to find the perfect wall to transform its new space. Your furniture is a work of art. Did you enjoy the process of creating this look? Did you learn something along the way? Did you experience a new technique?  If you answered yes to any of these questions then all is not lost.

I decided that this piece was well worth giving it another new look. I loved the details that were original to the piece and I loved the added textures that I had created but I too was not a huge fan of the green tones that I had chosen. It also had not sold and I was ready to play in the paint.

Easy solution!  Repaint it!  I added our Wise Owl White Stain Eliminating Primer to the top portion and the magic happened. Simply starting off with that blank canvas once again was the key to getting my creative juices flowing. White looked amazing!  The transformation had begun.

Loving all of the texture that I had created during the first design I simply chose to just go with a different color pallet. in my opinion,  Wise Owl Paint has the most beautiful blues in the industry so I chose a blend of blues, teals, and a soft white.

Same dresser with a new look. Time to find its new forever home.

Calle’s ReDesigns