Easy Chevron

Ever since the Pinterest craze hit, I've been looking at pictures and blogs for creative inspiration. One blog I stumbled upon early in my furniture-painting hobby was Simple Redesign. While browsing Craigslist, I always came across these gorgeous painted pieces that were beautifully staged. I followed the blog link and found out that the writer's name is Julie, and she refinishes furniture for a living here in Grand Rapids. I started reading and didn't stop until I had read every single post. Not only is her work amazing, but the blog is full of fun tips, tricks and great inspiration.

When I first got this piece from a very nice lady off Craigslist, I envisioned adding paintable wallpaper to the bottom square part.

I have seen this done on other blogs and I love the texture it adds. (I have actually put paintable wallpaper on a filing cabinet... maybe that project will make an appearance on my blog someday!) However, I worried that the wallpaper would come loose where the drawers opened since it would have to go right up to the edge and is pretty thick. Enter some Simple Redesign inspiration.

(Courtesy of Simple Redesign)

Julie had done an awesome job creating this chevron look, and including step-by-step instructions on how to do it. I love chevron, but I am not a patient person and the thought of taping every precise zig-zag is not my idea of fun. (Although I do think I could make a lot of money inventing tape in the shape of chevron- genius, right?) This pattern only involves straight pieces of tape, and adds a little flair and fun.

I had some gray paint (Valspar Stone Mason Gray) leftover from my recent bathroom renovation, and since the stripes looked so great in yellow, I settled on a yellow, white and gray color palette. The yellow is Martha Stewart Yellow Magnolia and the white is Martha Stewart Tailor's Chalk.

If you want really good step-by-step instructions, be sure to head over to Simple Redesign.  Here's what I did:

First I sanded, primed and painted the white layer. Then I laid out all of the tape by laying down one piece of tape, then using another piece of tape as a spacer to make sure the stripes were even in size. I completed the top and bottom drawers first since those stripes go the same way. I then placed all three lower drawers back in the frame so that I could line up the lines on the middle drawer to the lines on the top and bottom drawers. I also taped around the edges to keep them really clean. Here it is all taped up:

Using a foam brush, I first painted a layer of white over the stripes, following Julie's great tip that this can help prevent yellow paint seepage later.

Then came the yellow. I painted three layers and then slowly began peeling away the tape. Look at those stripes!

I had to do a few touch-ups on the stripes and around the edges, but overall this technique worked awesome and it has an amazing effect!

I bought this dresser with no feet, but it clearly needed some. There were some holes in the bottom where feet must have been, but sadly they were nowhere to be found. Lowe's has a variety of cool furniture feet and these great little bases you just screw in and you're done! I used the bases as stands for drying after painting them.

Here is a base screwed in the bottom:

All done! So easy!

And here is the finished product:

Don't the feet add great character?

 

The second drawer has a cool divider in the middle:

I love how these awesome handles sit right in the wood:

Angle shot:

One thing I read in my new Furniture Makeovers book was how important it is to tape the sides of drawers because you don't want sloppy paint on the sides. It can really ruin the whole feel of the piece when a customer opens a drawer and sees splatters everywhere. It was something I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't taken the time to do before. But, it really doesn't take much time and is totally worth it! Here are my drawers all taped up:

Look how nice and clean!

I will be taping drawers from now on!

Although the Grand Rapids Desk is my favorite piece of furniture so far, I think this is my favorite makeover. Also speaking of the desk, I didn't even get a chance to post it for sale before someone saw it on my blog that was interested in buying it! I knew that one would go quickly... Feel free to like my page on Facebook and message me if you ever see something you are interested in!