One man's trash is another man's...
For the maximum effect of today's project, just go ahead and imagine that Macklemore song playing in the background. If you don't know what I'm talking about, view it here on youtube and maybe consider getting out from the rock under which you have clearly been living.
No, I kid. However, after splurging on the paint, the new couches, and the washer/dryer, we found our home improvement budget was seriously lacking this month. And that's how the thriftingobsession addiction hobby began.
It all started when Bob announced he was in need of a file cabinet or side table for the spare room. To understand why this was an issue, you have to understand that the spare room has been the bane of my existence, mainly due to it becoming the subject of many a strong disagreement... you know, whether we would be sharing the room, whether it is a man cave, and the appeal of green paint in the room. I wanted to share space and an office. He wanted a man cave. He was for lime green all over the walls. I was fine with an accent, but against the green wall. So very against. Bob also ended up spending an ungodly sum of money to frame his Comicon artwork in there too. So I'm on strike about spending any more money developing that room.
But I digress. After comparison shopping online, and finding that nightstands with drawers are stupid expensive to the tune of $60-170 from Ikea, Target, and Wayfair, I decided to try my hand at this whole fix and flip thing I've read a lot about.
We had just made $30 selling Bob's coffee table that didn't fit. In order to avoid a repeat of the green paint apocalypse, and to find something in our $30 budget (and just maybe because I've been reading too many DIY blogs lately) I decided I would visit some thrift stores in search of something I could fix and flip into something pretty. Something not Ikea, because a house only needs so many Kallax/Expedit shelving systems before you pretty much just are living in a showroom dupe.
So I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was when I found this:
Yeah, it might look at something from a Grandma's house, but the stuff on Pinterest always looked terrible in the before shots. I therefore immediately fell in love with this diamond in the rough. I carted it around the store for a half hour, and when I still loved it I took it to checkout. It had no price tag and caused a delay while a Goodwill associate came over and priced it, but oh well... the people giving me mean looks could suck it. It came to a grand total of $7.
The thing was made out of wood (likely pine, given how lightweight it is), and had clearly been stained that specific color by someone who also went through a DIY phase. I'm going to guess mid to late 80's, given the style, color, and hardware.
So I sent Bob to Home Depot to find some new drawer pulls he liked and prayed they were not lime green, pulled out the paint we'd used for the walls, and got to work.
After removing the old hardware, I started by sanding with a low-grit aluminium oxide paper (grit 80). I paid special attention to any dings, and then smoothed it all out with a fine grit paper (grit 220). After sanding was done, I wiped the whole thing down with a tack cloth, and it was ready for paint.
It took 4 coats to completely cover the white because I got lazy and skipped primer. The blue parts only took 2 coats. The hardest part was hand-sanding the whole thing enough that the lacquer and stain came off so that paint would cover it easily. After that, I just made sure to let the paint dry between coats, and to use the tack cloth on every coat after it dried.
It turned out looking kind of like a droid, so I named it R2-D2.
The project cost a little more than I planned because I had to buy a tack cloth and sand paper, but the breakdown is:
No, I kid. However, after splurging on the paint, the new couches, and the washer/dryer, we found our home improvement budget was seriously lacking this month. And that's how the thrifting
It all started when Bob announced he was in need of a file cabinet or side table for the spare room. To understand why this was an issue, you have to understand that the spare room has been the bane of my existence, mainly due to it becoming the subject of many a strong disagreement... you know, whether we would be sharing the room, whether it is a man cave, and the appeal of green paint in the room. I wanted to share space and an office. He wanted a man cave. He was for lime green all over the walls. I was fine with an accent, but against the green wall. So very against. Bob also ended up spending an ungodly sum of money to frame his Comicon artwork in there too. So I'm on strike about spending any more money developing that room.
 |
| We compromised by putting the paint on the wall but in the closet so I can pretend it never happened. I still feel like this counts as a win. |
We had just made $30 selling Bob's coffee table that didn't fit. In order to avoid a repeat of the green paint apocalypse, and to find something in our $30 budget (and just maybe because I've been reading too many DIY blogs lately) I decided I would visit some thrift stores in search of something I could fix and flip into something pretty. Something not Ikea, because a house only needs so many Kallax/Expedit shelving systems before you pretty much just are living in a showroom dupe.
So I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was when I found this:
 |
| I am not saying I did a happy dance, but I'm not not saying I did a happy dance. |
Yeah, it might look at something from a Grandma's house, but the stuff on Pinterest always looked terrible in the before shots. I therefore immediately fell in love with this diamond in the rough. I carted it around the store for a half hour, and when I still loved it I took it to checkout. It had no price tag and caused a delay while a Goodwill associate came over and priced it, but oh well... the people giving me mean looks could suck it. It came to a grand total of $7.
The thing was made out of wood (likely pine, given how lightweight it is), and had clearly been stained that specific color by someone who also went through a DIY phase. I'm going to guess mid to late 80's, given the style, color, and hardware.
So I sent Bob to Home Depot to find some new drawer pulls he liked and prayed they were not lime green, pulled out the paint we'd used for the walls, and got to work.
After removing the old hardware, I started by sanding with a low-grit aluminium oxide paper (grit 80). I paid special attention to any dings, and then smoothed it all out with a fine grit paper (grit 220). After sanding was done, I wiped the whole thing down with a tack cloth, and it was ready for paint.
 |
| All sanded up and ready for some paint. |
It took 4 coats to completely cover the white because I got lazy and skipped primer. The blue parts only took 2 coats. The hardest part was hand-sanding the whole thing enough that the lacquer and stain came off so that paint would cover it easily. After that, I just made sure to let the paint dry between coats, and to use the tack cloth on every coat after it dried.
It turned out looking kind of like a droid, so I named it R2-D2.
 |
| This is the droid you have been looking for. |
The project cost a little more than I planned because I had to buy a tack cloth and sand paper, but the breakdown is:
- Drawer: $7
- New pulls x3: $6
- Tack Cloth: $2
- Sand paper: $5
- Grand Total=$20
 |
| Finished product |
R2-D2 is now living happily in the man cave.
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