You know how people talk about 80’s style being bad and I don’t mean bad as in good! (I know, I know everything 80’s is kind of back in style but my belief is if you did it once, you can’t go back and do it again. So leave it to the teens and pre-teens in your life) But what about the 90’s??? That decade didn’t do a lot of favors for style either. Big furniture, homes with cathedral ceilings. I mean really??? Who in the world can figure out where to start and stop painting a 20 foot wall in an open floor plan house from the 90’s? Exactly. So it is not unusual to find that old 90’s furniture in the resale shops right now. But how can you restyle it to make it chic? Take this UGLY ottoman I found with a free sign in someones drive. I am sure it was discarded not only because the dog ate the legs but it was just plain UUUUGGGGGLLLLLLYYYYYY! Time to give it some Chic California style!
A little wood filler is a miracle worker. It is hard for me to be patient enough to fill those dings, wait for it dry, sand smooth and repeat until it is level. But patience was key to this chewed up leg. While I was waiting for all that to happen, I did clean the piece with some TSP and also sanded the sides to rough it up for the paint to adhere. Next I used Kilz primer in White. And then a coat of Valspar Honeymilk paint. I used a paint sprayer to give it a smooth finish. Now for the really fun part. Glazing! Glazing can be kind of intimidating. But in reality you really can’t make a mistake with it. I had a beachy gray finish over the white in mind so I mixed up some gray paint (Valspar Stone Mason Gray) with some glazing medium (Valspar Clear Mixing Glaze). I just mixed equal parts in a disposable cup. Using a foam brush I painted the glaze right over the white and then wiped it off using an old shirt. I was loving the look but it wasn’t quite enough glaze. So I just glazed it again until I got the look I wanted. Some distressing around the edges added a little character and a coat of Poly to protect. Then the secret to a super smooth, factory finish….. buff your finish with a super fine piece of steel wool.
Now to deal with that ugly leather top. That leather had to go. So not Chic! I wanted something really durable that looked like linen without the cost. Hello Painter’s Cloth! Totally durable and inexpensive. So after wrestling with the hundreds of staples holding that leather on, I finally cut around the edges with a pocket knife. And with the help of my handy staple gun I had a new upholstered top. Just for extra measure I even gave the top a few coats of Scotchguard.
And finally the AFTER……
Ugly no More! So Chic California!