My husband is always telling me I make something out of nothing. I’m sure there’s a compliment in there somewhere .. ( I’m not sure he means it that way, butttt I’m happily oblivious!) .. In any case, this “blah” and dull magazine rack had been sitting around the house for absolute aaages, just begging for a makeover. Well, OK, maybe it wasn’t begging but it sure looked rather sorry for itself. So last week I couldn’t ignore it any longer and got stuck in to give it a fresh spring look!
What I used for this magazine rack makeover
- Sandpaper (medium / fine grain)
- Chalk paints in different colours (I used a teal colour and light blue)
- Paint brush for chalk painting
- Rustoleum Clear wax
- Brush for waxing – I love this brush!
- Lint free cloth
How to tackle this project
I decided to take the magazine rack apart for this makeover project. I figured the little spindles would be a nightmare to paint with all the awkward angles. Fortunately this particular magazine rack was easy to take apart by undoing a few screws.
(By the way, turns out I was right – the little spindles WERE a nightmare, even with the item taken apart! They seemed to go on FOREVER …!! I knew there was a reason I had avoided starting on this project!)
Next I gave the whole item a light rub with some sandpaper. Technically the paint I used says you don’t need to do this. However, this magazine rack was super shiny and I want to make sure the paint sticks. There is nothing more frustrating than putting in a load of work and time, only for the paint to peel off again (been there! .. )
After the rubbing down, I gave all the pieces a quick wipe with a damp cloth with soapy water and left them to dry before tackling the paint.
Painting and waxing
And then I painted .. yep, lots and LOTS of painting. In all I gave all items 3 coats of this gorgeous teal / blue paint, leaving the paint to dry in between coats.
For this particular project I tried B&Q’s new range of furniture paint, available in loads of different gorgeous colours. I have to say I hadn’t used it before, but really liked the finish of this paint for this project.
And here are all the pieces, all nice and blue and ready to be put back together. I decided that although I love the colour, I wanted to give a bit of contrast to the magazine rack. To get a bit of a “coastal feel” I added a white wash with a lighter colour. First I wiped the piece with a damp cloth and lightly loaded the paint brush with a lighter paint.
Guys, for those of you who have not used it before, chalk paint dries FAST .. I’m not kidding! Wiping the pieces with a damp cloth helped to move the paint around for longer. Use your brush and a lint free cloth to add the paint until you’re happy with the results. You may want to experiment a bit for different effects and find what works for you.
For a video on whitewashing techniques, check out this link here.
Ahem … the photo quality is not great in this pic (understatement!!) . The bright lights make the colour looks a bit greyish and doesn’t do the gorgeous blue colour any justice. In my defense, this was me at midnight in the kitchen, just finishing off the painting. This makeover stuff is kinda addictive once you get going!
Ta-dah!!
To seal the whole thing I covered every individual item with 2 layers of Rust-Oleum clear wax (buffing in between each layer) before putting the whole lot back together again. I really love this clear wax. It has a really lovely sheen to it and really finished the whole magazine rack makeover off beautifully! It’s all ready to find a new home.
I’m really pleased with how this has turned out. It has definitely motivated me to tackle loads of other painting and makeover projects I’ve got lined up. Do you have any makeover projects planned? I’d love to see what you get up to and what materials you use. Please leave your comments below, or find me on social media.
Happy painting!
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