Spray Paint and Grown Up Furniture

So, I attempted a "make-over" this week on this ugly cabinet:

I shall treat this like all those decorator before and after bloggers.

Truth - We bought this small unfinished pine cabinet 13 years ago when we moved in this house. Yes, it has remained unfinished for that many years. Once again, fear of messing it up had taken over so I didn't try to do anything to it even though I bought stain, sandpaper, etc. TWICE. Yes, twice. Sigh. It has a sister armoire that remains unfinished and I am actually going to sell it. Anyone? Anyone?

The purpose of this cabinet was to hold the numerous Disney, church, and miscellaneous videos we collected when our big kids were little kids. Well, now those big kids have laptops and other electronics. So do Richard and I. Frankly, we both got sick of the cords all over the house charging this and that everywhere. I KNOW- yes, it bothered Hubby, too. Who knew? So, last Saturday, we spontaneously decided to re-do the cabinet and give it a new function in life. (again, as before in another post, I won't use that word "re-purpose" - bugs me). (Ha). (And, we don't do much at all spontaneously). Richard cut holes in the back of it first to see if our plan would really work.


I read and read over all the blogs that show the how-tos of spray painting furniture. I made my list and and went to town, came home and got started.

You'll get the REAL story here of how this stuff works.

Here is what I learned the HARD way:

1. When the decorator bloggers say "sand a little", I realized that my "sand a little" is way less than theirs. I did not sand enough at ALL.

2. Pine is a different species - hard to cover. Didn't read that anywhere.

3. When they say Prime WELL, they mean prime REALLY WELL. I didn't get enough coverage with the primer spray so it took me 3,000 coats of the color to cover it. Ok, not quite that many, but more than it should have.

4. I look at their photos of how smooth and nice their stuff looks. Mine didn't turn out smooth or that nice. So, when you come to my house, don't look too close.

5. Although this didn't go as I had planned, it doesn't look half-bad.... from far away. If I decide to spray paint furniture again, I will be much better at it. Part of me thinks I would rather just use a good ol brush and a bucket of paint.

Is that really THAT much more time-consuming than spray painting?

It's yellow - can you see that? It's up against my green accent wall -
I think it will look okay there.

6. Why is it that I can tell my kids and everyone else that "this is how we learn", and that they will learn from the experience even if it doesn't turn out perfectly, but I have a hard time with that myself?

7. Furniture grows up just like kids do, I suppose.

Better go call that therapist....time for a session.