Outdoor lounge update 2

I recently started jazzing up my outdoor lounge. I had painted it white and Mum had started recovering the cushions with calico as the lining.
I had been trying to find a suitable outer fabric that wouldn't fade from the sunlight. I couldn't find anything locally that I liked or could afford. I ended up finding this one at an online American shop, fabric.com. Surprisingly adding the postage costs to the price of the fabric still made this a far cheaper option than buying anything locally. From the time the order was processed to the time it arrived to my door step was less than a week.

Here is a blurb on it.
"This outdoor solarium fabric is solution dyed (solution-dye process is when the color is manufactured into and throughout the fiber, the color is part of the finished fabric). This gives the fiber consistent and durable color that stands up in tough environments, such as sustained direct sunlight. This fabric will withstand 5,000 hours sunlight and is perfect for porches, patios, deck side, pool side and boat side"

Now I just have to wait until Mum has time to sew these for me. 

Kitchen hutch - I have started

Oops I am been absent for a while. No, I don't have a note from my Mother.

I had computer dramas and had to delete my cookies. Then I couldn't automatically log in and I had forgotten both my password and my google email. I am not, and probably never will be, a computer expert.

I have finally started on the hutch. Woohoo.

Here is another BEFORE shot.

 The black patches on the paint are mold stains. EWWW

The inside was very dirty. The Contact Paper that had been stuck on was very hard to remove and I nearly pulled the cupboard on top of myself a few times. Without anything inside it is very front heavy and easily to unbalance. In fact the entire thing fell over from a gust of wind when I had it outside doing the sanding.

The picture below shows the cupboard stripped of all doors and the contact paper. It took about two hours just to remove the hinges and latches as they were so rusty.

 As the hinges and latches were rusty, I made the expensive decision to replace them. Trust me this was EXPENSIVE. It better be worth it in the end. I ended up buying them online from hardware.net.au as they were the cheapest online shop I could find.

I need to replace some of the plywood on the bottom shelf. I am not very good at cutting anything so this will be interesting. The damaged piece looks to have 4 straight sides so hopefully I can cut it without too many dramas.

You can't see it in this photo but I have already sanded the sides of the hutch.

I am still unsure if I paint the inside or use wallpaper. I think I might be leaning towards painting. Mainly as I have paint and need to keep the costs down after what I have spent on new latches and hinges. I really wish I had a paint sprayer, it would come in handy for a job like this.

My next project - Kitchen hutch

I bought this cabinet because it has potential. I know it is hard to see past the peeling, mouldy paint and the feral inside that looks like it was a cockroach motel for many years. But I see a beautiful piece of furniture, but I know that it will take a lot of work to find the hidden beauty. 

I bought it weeks ago and haven't started it yet. The main reason is because I can't move it by myself. I usually work outside and really think this piece should be sanded outside as it may be lead based paint. I don't want particles of that in the shed especially as the kids play in the shed. But by posting this here, that this is my next project, I am hoping to shame myself into making a start. 

I am just dreading the sanding part. I really hate wearing a face mask when sanding but will have to for this project. 

I was thinking of painting it mint green with antique white doors. But I really like the blue that I painted the table. This was featured in my last post. The deciding factor is that I have enough blue paint left without having to outlay any more money on paint. I think the hutch will make a lovely craft cupboard and the table in the last post would be a good craft table. They would look nice together if I paint this blue.

Outdoor Lounge Part 1

This outdoor lounge is very sturdy but was drab, faded and dated.

I painted the timber in white outdoor gloss paint. Then my darling Mum took the feral covers off and replaced them with Calico. Boy typing it like that makes it sound like it was an easy quick job. Don't be fooled, those timber slats on the chairs took ages to paint.

I bought the calico as lining. There is special UV resistant fabric coming to cover the cushions. Those will be included in the Part 2 edition.  I have ordered the fabric from the USA and have to wait for it to arrive. But for now the calico looks much nicer than the old faded red fabric.

Blue Table

I bought this table very cheap, it had been knocked about a bit, from a furniture store. It then took me a couple of years to notice that one leg was very different to the others. I was using the table as a craft table so it really didn't matter.  It was sturdy and strong and that's all that matters. But I got sick of the boring brown and it was time this table got a makeover too.

I gave the table a light sand and then painted it in an exterior paint that has an undercoat built in. I am not sure if I am going to distress the table and if I do then I don't want an undercoat showing. The colour I picked is a Dulux exterior paint colour called Template.
This table is very heavy and very difficult for me to move by myself so unfortunately the "after" photos aren't very flash.

I really like the colour but haven't decided if I leave it as it is or if I distress it. Either way I still need to do a very light sand on the top to remove some of the paint brush lines.
I do like the colour and can just imagine how nice it would look set up with an afternoon tea spread of nice china, scones and cream, and a jug of iced tea.

Lockers

I have been chasing a set of lockers for ages to store school bags, school shoes, umbrellas, rain coats and other items that get scattered around the house the moment the boys get home from school.

I picked these lockers up for a great price but they are very drab. I bought 2 identical sets so the boys will have one locker each and I will have space to store the vacuum cleaner and brooms.

For this project I have decided to spray paint the lockers with cans of spray paint. I picked up this handy little gadget to help. It clips on the tin and makes spraying easier on the hand.

I set up a wind break outside and got to work.

The wind decided to change direction though the moment I set up the wind break. Typical.

I applied two coats of a violet coloured spray paint. I think I should have stopped with one coat. With the second coat some of the mist landed on the surface creating a matt effect on the gloss surface. The surface now looks a little blotchy with gloss and matt effects.  I am not sure if I am happy with the results and perhaps if it annoys me enough I will re-do the second coat again.

It is hard to get a decent shot of the lockers because of lighting and positioning in the hallway. 

The Littlest Man played with my camera on Friday. I am not sure what he did with the settings but all the photos are coming out grainy. I will  have to keep fiddling with the camera and hopefully I can update the post with clearer photos as a later date. Otherwise I hope Santa will bring me a nice camera for Christmas.

I plan to add a decorative feature to the front of each locker so the boys will know who has which one.

Chalk Board Coffee Table

I bought this coffee table very cheap at an auction. Initially I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I had thought maybe using it as a base for an ottoman but then I decided to turn it into a chalk board coffee table.

The base was a bland grey colour so I spray painted it blue. I then sanded back the top and painted it with chalk board paint. Now it didn't quite go to plan as the paint kept going very streaky. I tried using a mini roller but still got lines. I sanded back between coats but it still looked streaky. I then sanded it back again and tried using chalk board spray paint. Well it wasn't streaky but I am not sure if I am any happier with the results.

As it is for the kids I figured that they wont mind if it wasn't 100% and once there is a layer of smeared in chalk no one will ever notice.

The Littlest Man really likes this as he can easily reach. Usually with upright chalk boards he can only reach the bottom third. Now he can cover the entire area in squiggles.