SHARING IS CARING

One thing I find really annoying about creative programmes on TV such as ‘Money For Nothing’ or ‘Changing Rooms’ is that no-one tells you exactly what stuff to use so you’re often left scratching your head in front of the paint shelf wondering what type of product you should buy for your project. 

I appreciate there are probably rules regarding product placement on these programmes that prevent them from promoting any particular brand but at least stick it on a blog or website somewhere so that all of us would-be upcyclers or DIYers can at least have some idea of what can be used. 

Since I have no qualms about sharing then here’s what I’ve used on my units: 

For priming all of the timber it’s over to my good old mate, Dulux.  Two 750 ml cans of white primer/undercoat for wood have been enough to give one good coat to most of the pineboard.  I say ‘most’ because thanks to the late realisation about paint expansion I’ve not fully primed or painted all of the surfaces, only the ones on show.

 

Primer/undercoat for wood

I realise that cutting this corner is pretty poor.  Hands up – my bad.  NJ would never have done that.  Under other circumstances then yes, I would have primed and painted all sides of each unit but is it really necessary I ask myself?  Only time will tell.

 

Only the visible bits primed

Sand/fill any defects before priming then afterwards sand off the raised grain with fine sandpaper so that you have a lovely smooth surface ready to paint.  I did find that using this primer still brought up a raised grain even though I’d thoroughly hand sanded the wood beforehand.

 

Never leave freshly primed bits where cats can step on them

To paint the timber, I’ve used a lovely black paint from B&Q called Good Home Durable Multi-Surface paint in a satin finish which can be used on lots of different materials including furniture/cabinets.

 

Available from B&Q

I wouldn’t consider it a cheap paint at £37 for a 2-litre tin but I feel it does the job of coating timber very well.  It’s thick, self-priming and leaves your wood beautifully silky after 2 coats applied with a small foam gloss roller.

 

Goes on smoothly with a gloss roller

The satin finish has a sheen to it that makes your painted surface almost look like a piece of melamine and you get good coverage too as so far, I’ve only had to buy one large tin to pretty much paint everything.

 

Painted shelves & panels

Some of the wall units will have a two-colour combo of black and oak.  Ultimately, I’m aiming to produce something that looks like this bookcase which means that to get this look, a few of the pineboard shelves will need staining or varnishing.

 

This is what I'd like my units to look like

After much deliberation, I’ve chosen a liquid wood stain called Natural Oak by Furniture Clinic.  This product can be easily painted on or applied with a soft cotton cloth onto clean, dry timber.

 

Purchased from Ebay

As with anything of colour, there are a million and one shades of ‘oak’.  It’s been quite difficult to find a stain that exactly colour matches to the pre-purchased English Oak coloured cabinets used at the bottom of our unit.  I’ve found that this particular shade of natural oak comes out more like antique pine, quite yellowish in tone so I’ve added a drop of medium oak to the final coat to slightly darken it.  Maybe the trick is to look at colour tones not colour names when deciding what stain to buy.

 

Does it match the cabinets?

Three thin coats later, a shelf that is similar in oakishness to the cabinets.  Leave to dry overnight. 

 

After one coat of natural oak stain

After 3 coats of stain

Finish off the stained shelf with a light application of beeswax. I’ve used this Colron natural wax – rub in with a soft cotton/lint cloth then when dry give it a jolly good buffing.  It leaves your stained timber as soft as a baby’s bum.  No poonami’s!

 

Leaves wood lovely and soft

Here's the first finished unit

Sharing is caring even in the world of DIY so if you find a great product then don’t keep it to your shelf – boy that pun is soooooo bad even Bertie could have come up with something better.

I could have done better if I could be bothered