I’ve been away for entirely too long guys! But I haven’t forgotten about you I swear…sometimes life just gets in the way and its hard to get back into the groove of things. At least for me. I can’t be the only one though!
I just finished up a refinishing project for a client and its currently my all time favorite refinishing project. My client inherited this sideboard (along with a table and chairs) from her grandfather when he passed away. It was just sitting in her dining room looking like an eyesore not being used. She hated the way it looked, but didn’t want to get rid of it. I totally get that! I’ve had a few pieces of furniture in our house that I got when my grandma passed that I just can’t part with.
She wanted something modern that would stand out in her dining room so I chose a bold color, some acrylic handles, and new legs for this guy. Now before I jump to the end, I’ll start with how I transformed this sideboard. First up, tearing it down to build it back up – I took off all of the molding, the base, the top and the doors. The molding on the top and base were actually part of those pieces – they weren’t removable – so I cut it all off using my table saw.
Once I reattached this square part of the base and the top, I realized 2 things: 1. the base wasn’t flush (and a little bowed in the middle) with the sideboard. 2. the top was made out of particle board so I would have to cover it.
Next up was making the new doors. I made the door backs out of 3/4″ baltic birch and the design out of 2″ scrap poplar I had – cutting the 2″ poplar into 1/4″ strips. I wasn’t quite sure what design I wanted on the doors so I laid them out and played around with the design. I used a pencil to mark everything out and my handy dandy white eraser that I got eons ago in college. For anyone that’s ever taken a college art class, you know what eraser I’m talking about. Its a staple for drawing!
After sanding down the plywood (lightly so I didn’t “erase” my design), I glued and nailed my 1/4″ strips to them. I laid out all of my strips, making sure to nail them in the right spots – I cut them all down so that they had just enough hang over to cut off, but not waste. I had to be careful not to use the wrong size in the wrong place or I would have been screwed! Well…maybe not screwed, but I didn’t want to cut more wood so I went slow and made sure to use the right pieces. I had a scrap piece of wood that I used as a spacer to make sure the pieces didn’t get cattywampus.
I let the glue dry about 30ish minutes before I started cutting the wood strips off on my table saw. I used the sled (I think that’s what that thing is called) that came with my saw to cut the strips…and I hated it. It didn’t work great! When I would cut the door on longways, it would start cutting at an angle (instead of straight)…no matter what I did. There were a lot of choice words coming out of my mouth when I cut these doors, but I ended up fixing them when it was all said and done. If I had to do it over again, I would just build a sled so that I wouldn’t have this problem…well at least future Amanda has something else to build now. LOL
With the doors made, it was time to figure out how to make the legs. Originally, I was planning on using dowels to attach everything, but it turns out – me and dowels ain’t friends! So I went with my tried and true method of making things – pocket holes! I was a little nervous that the pocket holes might not be the strongest choice, but I used a lot of glue and once the glue was dry (the next day), I tugged and tried to bend the base to see if the legs would wiggle. Nothing! They are strong as an ox! With the legs glued and screwed, I primed them and spray painted them gold. I love the way they turned out! I was going for a metal feel with these legs and I think I achieved that.
I sanded, cleaned, primed and painted the rest of the sideboard green to give it a nice pop of color. I always through a couple of coats of poly over my paint when I paint furniture. We live in the South so we have humidity for the majority of the year. I’ve found that poly not only gives a furniture piece a finished professional look, but it also keeps the paint from feeling tacky or sticking in the humid months. Its a game changer!
Once the paint and poly was cured, I installed the hardware and doors, then screwed in the legs. At this point in the project, I forgot my camera existed and stopped taking photos. Sorry!!! But I do have closeup shots…that makes up for it right??
Isn’t that hardware fantastic! I found it on Home Depot’s website (of all places!)
I entered this sideboard in a furniture flip challenge on Instagram that’s The Builder’s Challenge put on. The challenge was so much fun to do and its great to see what other people have created in this challenge.
I painted everything in Sherwin Williams 6926 Lucky Green and painted the legs with Rustoleum spray paint in Bright Gold. This is definitely my favorite refinishing piece! I really wish I could keep it and didn’t have to give it back to my client! Leave me a comment below and let me know whatcha think!