My Zinc Bookcase: A Faux Finishing Tutorial Part 2

If you remember from the first part of the tutorial, I recently have fallen in love with zinc furniture. My inspiration came from pieces like this from Restoration Hardware. Like this gorgeous nightstand.

Beautiful. But of course I don't have $1000 to throw at a new piece of furniture so I decided to try and create the look myself.

I finished the outside of my bookcase using my faux zinc finishing technique but the inside I had left to look like this.

Yes I know it looks great just the way it is (chuckle) but you know me, I am an overachiever.

It took me a few days to decide how to finish the inside. I kept going back and forth between fabric and the zinc look. All I knew is that I wanted it to have nice clean lines inside and I wanted to hide all the unfinished edges of the tinfoil.

I decided to go with fabric and to make sure my fabric would have clean lines I used poster board and mod podge.

First I had to cover the 2x2s that were in each corner. I cut my fabric to cover the two by two but I added 1 inch to the length. I covered the fabric with mod podge.

I folded each end over 1/2.

I pressed it over the 2x2 and moved it until it fit snugly and smoothed it out.

I did this on all of the 2x2s and then moved on to cover the sides and tops.

I first measured my sides and top and then I cut out my poster boards about 1/4" less. So if I measured 15 1/2 " by 23" I actually cut my poster board to 15 1/4" by 22 3/4".

Next I cut fabric about an inch bigger on all four sides and coated the poster board in a thin layer of mod podge.

I turned it over and smoothed the fabric out. I then wrapped the edges over and glued them down.

I then did another layer of mod podge on the back of the poster board and glued them the the sides of my bookcase until it looked like this.

I really liked how it turned out. It gave me clean lines and it added some interest to the piece. Here is another angle.

Here is a reminder of my inspiration.

I filled my shelves with things to help me get organized.

 

On the bottom shelf I put two baskets.

 I labeled the baskets with upstairs and downstairs. The kitchen is on the main floor and seems to be the gathering place for EVERYTHING in the house. This way I can throw things into the baskets as the day goes on and then take only one trip up and one trip down to put everything back. The baskets are from Ikea and I am going to do a tutorial on the tags.

On the middle shelf I have file boxes.

One thing I have struggled organizing since I have been married is mail. I have tried SO MANY different storage options but it always piles up on me. I am hoping that this bookcase will make opening my mail and then throwing away, shredding or filing right away more reasonable.These file boxes were also from Ikea.

On the top shelf I have my version of this Ballard Designs Desk Organizer.

This was the first thing I have ever built in my life. It is a little rough but I am like a proud mama when it comes to this organizer. I will share a tutorial soon on how to build one yourself.

You could easily use this technique on a existing piece of furniture but you could also build something new. You can visit Ana White's site for some great plans. You can even check here to see the kitchen furniture we built with her free plans.

I hope everyone had a great week. Did anyone else watch the royal wedding? I got together with a few friends and watched it today (thanks to a DVR). They were so cute and I loved watching them break into huge grins. I thought it was nice to see something so sweet on TV when usually it is just sad. My heart and prayers go out to those living in the areas affected by the crazy tornadoes they have been having down south.

My Zinc Bookcase: A Faux Finishing Tutorial Part 1

We have had quite an adventure up here. My husbands company finds us housing to live in while we are away for the summer but when we got here the apartments were not ready to move into, so we have been staying at an extended stay.

Oh, the fun you can have in a tiny room with 3 kids all day.... wait...

Well, after looking into the apartments they had for us I found out that they accepted animals and from most of the reviews it sounded like there are a ton of animals there. Well I panicked a little because my oldest has animal allergies, especially to cats, and those allergies induce asthma attacks.

Bad ones. 

I called the housing department at my hubby's work and they were so sweet and understanding and took it upon themselves to find us a new place on almost no notice! We get to move in on Saturday and I get to kiss this extended stay goodbye. Now that is exciting!

In my kitchen at The Starter Home I have an awkward empty space right next to the fridge. I have always wondered why they didn't just put more cabinets there...

Well I decided to build a mail storage/book shelf thing for that wall so increase my storage space and make use of all that empty space.

My husband built the bookcase using mdf, 2x2's, 1x2's and moulding.

Because the main part of this was made from MDF I knew I would have to paint it but I wasn't really sold on a color or even how it would look once it was all done. After scourging the internet I fell in love with zinc wrapped furniture. Zinc furniture is all over the place in super gorgeous/expensive designs right now. I mean just take a look at this piece from Restoration Hardware. I mean it is only a measly $795. Pocket change....right...?

www.restorationhardware.com

I loved the idea of adding another layer to my kitchen. I had painted wood cabinets, stained wood furniture so I thought a metallic piece would be a great addition but the real questions was how in the world could I create it? I thought about just painting the wood with metallic paint but I was worried that it would look just like that.

Wood painted with metallic paint.

So I decided to get a little creative and pray to the crafting gods that it would all turn out how I wanted.

I used some tinfoil, a ton of mod podge, craft paint (I bought black, cream, gray and brown metallic craft paints) and a foam craft brush.

The very first thing I did was apply the tinfoil. I planned out where I wanted seams and started going for it.

Cut your tinfoil to fit the area you will cover and then use your craft brush to apply a thin layer of mod podge to the wood.

Smooth your tinfoil over the wood being careful to not wrinkle it too much.

Keep up this process until you have completely covered your item. When my hubby walked in at this point you could tell that he hated it but wasn't sure how I felt about it.  He sat there quietly starring and not wanting to hurt my feelings.

I let him struggle for a minute before I told him I wasn't done. Big Huge Sigh of Relief!

Do you see that large container of mod podge! Seriously love that stuff.

Next I used small nails to create the look that the metal was wrapped around the furniture. I used pictures from Restoration Hardware to choose where to place them. Then I started the faux finishing.

I was going to use a glazing medium to create the the faux zinc look but then I decided to use the flat finish mod podge. Not only would it create a protective finish but since it drys clear it would work similar to a glaze.

I poured a bunch of mod podge on a plate and added my colors.

I used mostly the grey metallic color and just added spots of the black, brown and cream. Next I mixed the colors until they were kind of swirly.

Like this.

You don't want to mix it too much because you want there to be variation in the color. I just painted on a layer letting the colors go where they wanted and not trying to be too perfect with it. This was while it was still wet.

Do you see how it is kind of streaky and varied? Let that layer dry and keep layering. I think I ended up with four coats of different mixtures.

This was the side after the first layer had dried. It still looked a little tinfoily.

Now the sides were a little plain so I added metal straps to them. I cut out strips of cardboard and, using mod podge, I covered them in tinfoil.

If you like my granite counters in the background of these photos you can learn how I created them with craft paint here.

I attached the strips to the sides of my bookcase with nails and used my mod podge/paint mix to faux finish them.

I let everything dry thoroughly and then topped it with two coats of satin finish poly-acrylic.

 

Here is just one side. I decided not to finish the inside of it with the zinc finish so I will show you in the next post how I chose to finish the inside and I will also have the final after pictures!

Thanks to all you who come, read and share your thoughts on the happenings at The Starter Home and hopefully the next time I am posting it will be from an apartment and not a hotel :)

Handmade Kitchen Furniture: An Ode to Anna White

For those of you that don't know who Ana White is, it's okay because I am going to introduce you.

Meet Ana White.

www.ana-white.com

She is beautiful, a wife, a mama, an Alaskan and can build like no ones business.

Not only can she build but she shares all of her plans FOR FREE on her fantastic site that you can find here.
We used three of her plans to make our furniture for our "new kitchen" on the cheapo.

Let's review the extent of my kitchen furniture before.

Yep...that's it in all its glory.

Now this photo does not do justice to the table. My great-grandmother received this as her wedding gift. It was passed down to my grandma and then to my momma. It is a beautiful table but it did not fit the space well not to mention I cringed every time a toy was banged into it. The chairs were hand-me-downs from my mom and then we used folding chairs for the kiddos.

That is how my kitchen looked for the last 4 1/2 years because furniture is expensive!

Our first project was her very popular farmhouse table.

We printed the plans and shortened the measurements for the length of the table and got to work.

We (and by we I mean my hubby) cut all the wood and assembled the table according to Ana's instructions. After the hubster got it all put together I filled the screw holes and sanded it smooth with my new sander. We then brought it inside because it was still too stinkin' cold outside to stain it.

Now here is where the real process started. At first I thought I wanted a lighter "driftwood" look for the table. I used wood conditioner and a water based stain from minwax.

I topped it with minwax finishing paste.

www.homedepot.com

I liked that the wax filled in the little cracks in-between the boards. I let it dry and it sat like that for a day or two. I kept trying to convince myself that I liked the table but I didn't. I don't have a picture of what it looked like but you can see a small corner of it here.

Also, the wax cracked where it had been pushed into the seams between the wood and I knew that I would have take a toothpick after every meal to clean out those little crevices.

So I started over. I sanded it down and scraped the wax out of the seams. I was trying to decide what to use in the seams to keep all those pesky crumbs out and decided to try some wood glue (I still am not sure why I though this was a good idea).

Anyway.

The glue did not work. Surprise. Surprise. So after it was dried I had to scrap all of it out and after talking to some other wood enthusiast and my mama I decided to try would filler. I bought minwax wood putty that was stained to match the stain I would use.

www.homedepot.com

I got all the seams filled and waited for it to dry... and waited, and waited. I finally read the instructions and realized that wood putty does not dry. EVER.

So I scraped that out and bought some wood filler. I filled the seams and let it dry. I then sanded it smooth. I stained the table using a pretty dark stain called Jacobean. I used two coats and then sealed it with 2 coats of satin finish polyurethane.

I needed the tabletop to withstand my kids.

www.homedepot.com

And here she is after the first coat of stain.

And here she is all done.

I love the way the dark stain pops against our blue walls. Our total cost on this table was around $175. I love the table and in increases the room we have for our family. I can actually fit all the food and plates on the table! Plus it would easily accommodate one more kiddo if we so decide. 

The chairs for the table were not made by us but I found them through a local classified website. They were brand new and I paid $60 for all of them. I know I could have found cheaper used ones if I had been patient but I wasn't.

They started out with a cherry wood frame and a white damask fabric. I primed and painted them with a white gloss spray paint. 

I removed the seats and cut Joel Dewberry's Acorn Chain in Pond fabric into large squares and stapled it right over the existing fabric.

I then added the seats back onto my chairs. I am so happy with them! I thought about adding plastic over the top but it was just too cheap/restaurant looking. I decided to scotch guard them and I kept enough fabric in case I need to redo one of the seats.  

Total cost for my brand new chairs was around $80.

Next we tackled the matching farmhouse bench. We also shortened the length to match the table and my husband did the cutting and building and I filled holes, sanded and stained it to match the table.

Because we already had the screws, stain and polyurethane we only had to pay for the wood. I think the total cost came to $15 for the bench. This is where the kids sit and it is a little more hardy then the chairs.

Our last build from Ana's site were bar stools.

The bar stools were for an extra tall bar but I loved that they had backs. We shortened the legs and used 2 2x4's on the back instead of the 2x3's and used 2x6's for the seat. Ana's plans are so versatile and it really is easy to customize the plans to fit your space and needs.

I used the same stain on the bar stools.

I think we spent around $30 total for all 3 stools.This was our first time having bar stools and I love having them! The kids eat breakfast and lunch up there and it keeps me from having to wipe both the counter and table down after every meal.

So we were out around $300 for all our kitchen furniture! Thinking that this table goes for $2600 at Restoration Hardware I think we ended up pretty well.

www.restorationhardware.com

 

 

 

 Yeah, we're cheap like that.

So do you guys have any new ideas for kitchen furniture you are going to build? Visit her site and you will find at least a dozen plans that you will want to add to your to-do list for every room in your house.

I know my list is very, very long.

Go check it out and get building!