Whooo-y! I am pooped! With all the great steals I got yesterday, Lexie's nightstand and my two dollar yard sale find, I have a full plate of projects! (Any my mom has a full garage!) Since yesterday was full of purchasing, I thought today should be full of fixing up!
After untangling the tightly packed car, I decided to take a good, hard look at the cedar chest Matt and I found yesterday... I needed to decide on my first move... Not bad for 35 bucks, right?
Here's a close up of the faux wood-grain adhesive vinyl on the top of chest... Isn't it atrocious?! I can't imagine that thought process: "Gee, lets cover the beautiful wood, with fake plastic wood!" What a shame. But nothing that couldn't be fixed!
My mom and I just couldn't keep our hands off it and started peeling it all off. It came off very easily, contrary to what I had anticipated. We were hootin', hollerin' and high-fivin' over pulling off big pieces all in one go! And before we knew it were were admiring our accomplishment and were ready to bring it into the basement for storage. But something came over us and Mom just happened to have a brand new bottle of paint stripper and all the tools we needed to start taking all the gunk from the top of the chest. Here's how it looked after we applied a good thick coat of stripper to the top.
Folks, don't forget to read the directions on the bottle. The time it takes to let the gunk sit, is dependent on what kind of varnish, paint or polyurethane it is. I let mine sit for about 40 minutes, next time... I'll let it go an hour. And of course this is highly hazardous material and the directions tell you the safest way to use it.
I took my trusty metal scraper and some newspaper to discard scrapings and after about an hour of manual labor, it came out looking like this!
If you'll see, one side has been wiped down with a damp towel. Can you see the drastic difference? I am thrilled with how it looks now and I cant wait to finish the rest of it!
There are more updates and more pictures coming soon, so you better come back to visit to see how it all goes down! Stay tuned!
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Temp Nest: I LOVE your bargains from this past weekend, all impressive finds. can already see that your place is going to be sooooo comfy and homey. Your eye is in high gear and it will all come together in a warm, colorful and personal apartment!!
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