Writing Cabinet Renovation

New 2012 has started and my New Year resolution is to put more attention to this blog, find more ideas and create more handmade things.
I haven't posted anything about furniture restoration and renovation for a long time. Just haven't seen anything I would like to share. I found this writing cabinet renovation couple days ago. Just compare these pics.
Before

and after

This writing desk was born in USSR about 60 years ago but after renovation it looks like new. I like bright colors and fresh look. It's really good for children's room. 

The renovation was done by LiveJournal user asa_asa. Here you can find more details and how to. BTW it's not first asa_asa renovation I am writing about. This toys cabinet was renovated by her as well.

Kitchen Cabinet Renovation

I'm back. I was really busy last couple weeks and totally had no time for this blog. But now I have a lot of new materials, so...
Furniture renovating is infectious :) This cabinet renovation was made by my really good friend. And first of all I would like to say thanks to her. She spent a lot of time and efforts to make this great renovation, and share with me step by step instructions and pictures. Thank you, Nadiya. And I miss you!
When I first saw this piece of junk made from pressed wood it looked like old ugly cabinet. So here is "before" picture:

 

Next time when I met this cabinet it was like brand new and stylish, as we can see on "after" pictures

So how it was done...
First step in any renovation, remove all old finish and painting. So take the sand paper (start from using 60 and then use paper with higher numbers to make your sanded surface smoother)

Next step - covering cabinet with base color. In this case it was white acrylic water-based painting. 

When base coat is dried it's time to cover cabinet with couple nice layers of paint you would like your cabinet be. So take beige acrylic paint and put couple layers of it. 

Time to be an artist. Take pictures you like, for example these gorgeous peacocks, and print them out 

Take pencil and lead them where they suppose to be

Using acrylic paints add colors to your painting:

When your painting is completed cover all cabinet with water based finish. Don't buy a cheap brush or painting roller for it, because cheap ones can leave traces and hairs on your cabinet.  Put couple of layers of finish, one is not enough to protect painting from damages.
Last step - attach new cabinet handles and you are done. Instead of old cabinet you have brand new piece of art in your kitchen.

Cabinet for toys

One more furniture renovation that I really like. There was old and boring cabinet and there was no money for new one as well as no place for storing kid's toys. But if you have taste, some time and some painting skills, you can have perfect cabinet that looks better than new one. So here is "before" picture: 

 And here is "after" picture:

Looks way better, doesn't it?
This renovation was done by asa-asa and originally posted here

Graffiti cabinet

Graffiti and Shabby Chic...to be or not to be? As for me it looks at least strange. How do you think? Of course it's stylish and very creative but to be honest can you image interior where such piece will look good? I can't.

source http://community.livejournal.com/dezain/ 

Cabinet decorating

Do you have boring pale cabinet like this?

Do you like it? I suppose the answer is no, so let's create something magic and bright. We will need:

1. Decoupage cards
2. Acrylic finish
3. acrylic outliners
4. glitters
5. boring cabinet

Step 1. Take decoupage card and cut out picture. You can also use napkins instead of decoupage cards. Using acrylic finish attach pictures to the cabinet. Take brush with finish and smooth attached picture. 

Step 2. Take outliner and paint branches. Add leaves and flowers.

Step 3. Draw butterflies and fill up their wings using glitter.

Step 4. Take brown acrylic paint and draw tree trunk. Make some texture by adding outliner lines. 

 Thats it. Instead of ugly old cabinet you have magic one.

Good luck!
I want to say thanks for this tutorial to Tatiana Smirnova. She created this master class and shared it with us. You can find a lot of her other amazing artworks on her web-page: www.tsmirna.ru