Repairing Peeling Wood Veneer

Welcome to Monday Everyone!

Here is a simple step by step tutorial on how to fix peeling wood veneer. 

This technique is best used for furniture you will be finishing with paint.

But first,a few things to consider...

Peeling veneer can become a big mess!

 So, always check any piece you are considering 

buying for loose or peeling veneer.

 If it looks like a lot is coming off, 

you may want to reconsider.

And,

On this piece, the peeling veneer was localized to the bottom trim which made it manageable. Since veneer was already coming off, I removed any more loose veneer.

 But word of caution, if the veneer is not already coming off, 

but it is just lifting up...do not pull up and remove, 

reapply with wood glue!

Step-by-Step

1. Here, I gently pulled up any more loose veneer from the already missing wood veneer patches.

2. For the repair, I used DAP Plastic Wood filler which is "a high performance wood filler that hardens to give a surface and body that looks and acts like wood".

3. Apply the DAP wearing rubber gloves and with a plastic knife for easy clean up. Spread the fill over bare areas leaving the now coated area raised so you can sand down to level later. I also used my gloved finger to press the wood fill into spots because sometimes during spreading the putty wants to pull away with knife. Using your finger to press into each spot helps it sticks.

4.After the wood filler has dried (approx. 1 hour but I usually five longer), sand it down with sander. Feel for smoothness as you do this to make sure the area is level.

5. After sanding the wood fill level with original veneer, the finish will feel smooth and unified. 

Look how nice this looks compared to image 1.

6. Because I want to paint and distress this piece (and some of the wood may peek through), I used a foam brush to apply Minwax stain and sealer to match the original dark finish.

7. Once the stain is dry, the area where the wood veneer had been missing is smooth and unified and ready to paint.

The Easiest Ever Way To Fix Stained Drawers

This past Sunday I spent like most Sundays.

Doing laundry. Then, doing more laundry. Oh, and also ironing. Let's not forget that.

However, in between all my domestic responsibities, I was also able to fit in one of the many tasks on my never ending to do list. I was able to finish lining the drawers of a furntiture piece I recently completed. Yay! Ok, this was not really an exciting task, but I got it done.

A couple of weeks ago, I finished a dresser/buffet in a finish I call Two-Toned Glam. The piece came out beautifully in the end, but it had given me little fits here and there. Just little things. For intstance, I talked in an earlier post about having to deal with water marks that had popped up.

Another minor, but nevertheless so very annoying, problem with this piece was a drawer which had a stain. From time to time, I will have a great piece to refinish that may have stains or marks inside the drawers. And, because most of my pieces I sell at my Etsy shop, I want to be sure they go to my customers in good shape. Sometimes, I can clean away marks. Other times, I may need to sand them away. On this piece, however, the stain was too deep and superficial sanding would not work.

So, my favorite, and by far the easiest, fix for imperfect drawers is lining them with adhesive cork.

This brand I purchase right at Home Depot.
It gives a clean and natural look and for drawers that could see a lot of wear, it is very durable. It also "naturally resists mold and mildew, as well as, cushions and protects"...that there is right off the label!

First, I measure the length and width of the drawer. Oh, and take out the drawer to make it easier...which I, of course, did not yet do in this picture.

Then, unroll your cork adhesive onto a flat surface and mark off the drawer measurements on the back grid and cut along the lines.

Next, peel back one corner of the cut liner and lay the adhesive side down in your selected drawer corner.

Once your corner is down, slowly pull the white paper off the adhesive back, working from the first corner. At the same time you are pulling the white paper off, begin pressing down the adhesive side, smoothing as you go.

Here is my drawer "after" with the cork liner. It is a downright pretty inside of a drawer...don't you think?

German Numbered Dresser

This piece was done for my oldest son over the summer. Originally, at his request, I had created a dresser with an American flag on the front. He loved it, but it was a long dresser and it never really fit the space in his room. So, when I found this tall and narrow dresser, I decided to sell the flag dresser. Wanting to try something different from a flag, we decided on doing this new piece in a spin off of the popular numbered drawers, by doing the numbers in German. As a student studying German and with German heritage, this seemed like a fun and fresh look for him. Although, I had to wonder if a woman in Germany was at this time also painting a numbered dresser using the English language and thinking herself original?

Either way, I do love the simplicity of numbered drawers and this design was straight forward and easy to do.

COLORS

Dark blue latex paint in Behr Paint and Primer flat...can't find the color, but will post if I find it!

White acrylic paint 

AS clear wax, AS dark wax

First, I printed out the numbers in a font I liked. Then, I traced the numbers onto the drawers using white carbon paper from Michaels.

Next. I painted in the words with white acrylic paint.

I waited until dry and then the next day I sanded the entire piece. Exposing edges and sanding more where natural where would be. I also sanded the words for a more distressed look.

I finished with a coat of clear wax followed by dark wax applied sparingly to add a little more dimension and age.

 Auf Wiedersehen!

This post has been linked to:
City Farmhouse, Miss Mustard Seed, Made In a day

Three Ways to Protect, Preserve and Store Your Precious Chalk Paint

I'm an impulsive person. When I think of something, I must do it.
 And then, when I think of something else, I must do that as well.
That leaves me doing a lot of different things and sometimes at the same time.

 So, where am I going with this? Well, I find that my impulsivity affects my painting. When I want to start painting a new piece of furniture, I want to start painting.

 I gather my brushes and other supplies, open my paint can and begin. And this, lack of planning has led to some problems, particularly with chalk paint.

You see, I like to paint directly out of the can. In my flurry to begin my project, pouring paint into another container would slow me down, it would be messy and I am certain it would interrupt my creative process. So, I  paint out of my can, dipping and wiping my brush along the side.
But...this is what I end up with.

The paint that I wipe along the sides ends up drying along the lid. The lid never fits tight after that and eventually, the paint remaining inside thickens. At almost $40 a quart, this is a waste!  So, I figured if I wanted to enjoy the spontaneity of painting out of a can,
 I had to come up with some ways to preserve my chalk paint.

3 Ways To Protect, Preserve and Store

 Your Precious Chalk Paint

1. Create a temporary and reusable lid with an old or new Ziplock twist lid...they fit perfectly!!

Creating a temporary lid gives me a lip to catch the paint on, 

without getting any paint on the actual rim of the can.

Here, I used a hot tool with a blade to cut a circle

 leaving about a half inch rim to catch the paint. 

You can also use scissors if you carefully drill a hole in the center and cut outwards.

 Just eyeball the circle. It does not have to be perfect.

Plop this on your can and as you paint it will catch all your paint. When finished painting, remove it, rinse it and save it to reuse. 

This is how my new can of paint looks after using the zip lock lid. Much better.

2. With my rims clean from the storage lid, my paint can be kept safely in their original cans. However, when my quart of paint starts to run really low, I sometimes like to move what is unused into empty mason jars. They store paint air tight and they look pretty. Mason jars can just do anything with style!

3. Finally, another way you can keep your chalk paint fresh is with Annie Sloan storage lids.

 These look wonderful. They are only $4.95 each and can be purchased at one of my favorite sites, www.thepurplepaintedlady.com.

Now, no more dried out paint:)

Two Toned Glam Distressing with Duck Egg Blue

  Just yesterday, I finally finished this buffet/dresser and it is ready for Etsy!

Although I used Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue paint, I added a little twist by doing some gold metallic underneath....for a little glam! After some heavier distressing, the real wood and the softer metallic comes through, giving it a nice little variation.

Follow the recipe below:)

Two Toned Glam Distressing

For this finish, I start with a primer and metallic base coat that is painted on sporadically, randomly or artsy fartsy...however you like to look at it.

You do not cover the piece completely because you also want the original finish to show through.

First, basecoat with a primer tinted to gold color.

I used Sherwin Williams ProBlock tinted to a manual color.

This step will help the metallic adhere better and it will make the color richer. (Metallics will often come out too sheer on darker colors, so a matching base helps a lot.)

Take your paint brush and cover about 70% of the piece with the primer.

 Now cover all the areas with primer with the metallic. This doesn't have to be neat. I used Modern Masters in Pale Gold, one of my favorite golds, ever. We don't want to bring on the bling too much.

Just make sure to brush out your strokes so you don't leave ridges and lap lines where the paint is!!

 Using, Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue Chalk paint, paint the piece, but do not cover completely. 

Cover about 90% leaving some bare strokes to expose a lot of the gold and some of the bare wood. This is so you get a heavier distressed look 

without so much sanding which would remove some of the gold.

You could also use something under the blue to resist like wax but this gives me better control.

 Paint your second coat of chalk paint continuing to leave some gold and wood exposed. 

Step a way from your piece at this time and see if you like the exposed areas..you can always add more paint to cover up. If it's looking good to you, after your final chalk paint layer is dry,

you can distress with 100 grit sand paper, concentrating on edges and places where furniture would naturally age.

Here is the door before the last step, waxing with plain and then dark wax.

Last, apply a coat of plain wax followed by dark wax....

all of the depth really comes out.

Pretty!

How to Fix Watermarks on Furniture

For the past couple weeks, I have been having some changes made to my website and blog, so, I really didn't want to post much. I sort of figured, why have anyone drop by and visit when things were not "all fixed up"? Right?

Well this week all the changes should be in place and with the kids back to school, I am ready to get posting.

Now, with all this time I have now that the kids are back in school, I still manage to fall behind here and there, because furniture rehab is just not a perfect science. For instance, I have been trying to finish a small buffet in a Duck Egg Blue distressed with gold beneath. And this baby has been giving me little fits.

 The first problem was this. (Oh, yeah. I'll let you here about the other problems in upcoming posts) After finishing my first coat of Duck Egg Blue, some ugly water marks popped up!

Now, even though I have been doing this for years, I never had this happen! I immediately went to my source for great refinishing advice, The Purple Painted Lady at www.thepurplepaintedlady.com.

There, I discovered Zinsser shellac. Thank the Lord! Here I thought I would have to re-sand and all it took... was two coats of Zinsser Shallac to seal the stains and prevent future bleed through.

Look how perfect it turned out! Not a watermark in site! Here's how ->

Easy Way To Fix Watermarks on Furniture

On an original furniture surface with a watermark, stain, or wood sap bleeding,

or on a just painted surface where a water mark has appeared:

1. Spray surface with an even coat of of zinsser shellac.
2. Wait 5 or more minutes and spray with a second even coat of zinger shellac.
3. After only 10 minutes, surface with marks can be painted.