Credenza Makeover

This week I was able to get some time off work to go visit my family. My sister has been taking singing lessons and landed her first part in her middle schools musical. She was very excited so I knew I needed to go see her perform. Since I had a couple days off, I was able to spend a few days with the family and had some good quality time with all of them. I even got to go see Divergent with my sister and we were both very happy with it. 

Since I had a couple of days I decided to tackle the credenza I talked about in one of my earliest posts. This massive piece of furniture was a huge eyesore but still a very functional piece. It was too heavy to move and provided valuable storage space for all of my mom's work files. My solution was to paint it with chalk paint and decorate the top to help it blend in more with the rest of the room. 

Before the makeover, this credenza did not fit with the decor at all and was just a catch-all for random items.

Supplies:

• Paint (I used Valspar Signiture paint & primer in one in the color "cake batter")
• Plaster of Paris
• Water
• Wood wax
• Cloths
• Paint brush
• Painters tape
• Razor

Directions:

1. First thing I did was put drop cloths around my entire project. I also covered the pool table since it was near where I was going to be painting. I then taped off all of the metal on the credenza that I did not want paint to get on. Remove all of the drawers and set those evenly spaced on a tarp.
2. Next, I mixed 1/3 cup plaster of paris with 1/3 cup water and mixed until there were no lumps. After the mixture is smooth, add 1 cup paint and mix again. 
3. Take that mixture and paint your piece of furniture. Go with the grain of the wood and coat evenly. This project took three coats of paint to get the finish I wanted. I did not wait very long in between coats. By the time I got everything painted with one coat I just started back over at the beginning for the second coat.
4. Let the paint dry overnight. Remove the painters tape and use the razor to remove any paint that got onto the metal.
5. Next step is to coat the entire thing with the wax. I used some plain scrap cotton cloths to apply the wax. I think I will buy an actual wax brush for my next project though since the cloths get pretty torn up in the process. You will use three or more depending on the size of your piece.
6. Let the wax dry a few hours.
7. Decorate and you are finished!

After painting the credenza, me and my mom went shopping for some decorative pieces to tie everything together. My mom wanted the room to have an elegant yet still masculine feel. Many of the items we found at Hobby Lobby. Many of the smaller pieces where items that had been in storage for a while but had special meaning to my parents. They had put many of these things away while me and my siblings were younger to prevent them from getting broken. Now they get their chance to be out in the open again!

This box is the perfect size to hold all of the accessories my dad uses for the pool table.

The picture on the right was a gift from my sisters soccer team to my dad to say thank you for being the coach. It deserved a prominent spot to be displayed.

The mice in the love boat is actually a music box that my dad gave to my mom when they first started dating. She has an entire collection of these but this one was my favorite.

I was really happy with how the credenza turned out and so was my family. There are still a few more things I would like to do to the room but it is definitely coming along nicely!