from our house to yours...: Sunday Funday: New Life for an Old Bed

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! (Not that I really think there are very many fathers checking out my blog!) I am sure many of you had a wonderfully exciting day with your fathers, but around our parts, fathers were scarce. We celebrated early with my own dear father before they left on vacation, and will celebrate late with Jason's father when we see him in a couple of weeks, but, alas! What do we do on Father's Day itself when everyone else seems to be busy with their own family?

{ring, ring}

{See caller ID from Abbey, also not in proximity of her own father}

{Hey, Abbey!}

{What are you doing today?}

{Um, thinking I might paint our guest bed. It was my husband's father's father's, so it seems paternal enough for today.}

{Have you ever done that before?}

{Nope.}

{Do you have a power sander?}

{Nope.}

{I'll be there in a few.}

So...Meet my old bed.

We inherit many things from our fathers. On top of all the wonderful, fantastic, gushy things, we inherited this bed. It served Jason well through his bachelor pad days and even made it out unscathed after Hurricane Ike claimed all its 1970's Solid Oak Bedroom Set Companions, but has seemed a little sad in our newly completed home.

I went to Home Depot and loaded up on all the things I thought I would need. If there are any DIY'ers out there who might actually use this guide, two things -- you will NOT need the jumbo tub of KILZ, and you will not need the $21.97 pack of 100 Grit sandpaper. I think we used two sheets on the whole headboard & footboard. Also, don't skimp on your brush.

Turns out what I REALLY needed was Abbey's good friend, Mr. Dewalt! He made the sanding process a whole lot easier, and bought me a couple more months I can delay my carpul tunnel surgery.

Our fabulous sanding job....well, it worked well enough! We got all the shine off, and it had a nice chalky texture.

We wiped all the dust down with paper towels wetted by neighbor's sprinkler which was on. It was convenient, and we didn't think he'd mind. He actualy loved it and came out and gave us ten minutes of some pointers! Maybe we'll try some of his advice next time.

Next, we primered the whole thing with Kilz Oil Based Primer. Apparently using an oil-based primer is very important to block the stain from coming through and so the real wood won't drink up all the paint. It's also very important to have some turpentine (or substitute) to clean up with as it wont wash up with soap and water!

Finally we are putting my Rustoleum "Heirloom White" paint on! Using nice neat brushstrokes and avoiding drips are apparently very important to getting the finish you want! We ended up needing two coats, but the sheen was really great -- almost pearly!

After all of our hard work, we loaded up and went to dinner and let our masterpiece dry! Just a little bit ago we carried up our restored & revived bed and tucked it in to its new home!

I really feel like this is how it was made to look!