February 3, 2014

Make It Monday: Painted Console {And My First Ever Linkup Party!}

painted console, electrohome phonograph, makeoverSometime in 1919, Mr. J. Harding placed the final screw in a new Electrohome Power Operated Phonograph Machine, never thinking that one day a mom of the twenty-first century would desecrate his art - this piece of Canadian history - with something so offensive as paint.

electrohome phonograph, makeover, j harding, kitchener, 1919The record player came to me through a friend of a friend and was delivered on the very same day I came home from Keady Market with a new Billy Idol record. (And if you don't like Billy Idol, we probably can't be friends anymore!)


At the end of my last post I had a little teaser about this 'Joy Project' and one of the comments was: "Do you ever run out of things to paint?"

Seriously?

Heavens no!

There is something magical about watching a piece breath new life - about bringing freshness - about putting a bit of myself into something that makes me fall in love with it all over again.

To be perfectly honest, there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS CONSOLE! The finish didn't bother me - I love vintage things. What did bother me is that the one place in the house it fits really well is right beside the piano and THEY WERE EXACTLY THE SAME COLOUR!

Boring!

Truth is, I would LOVE to paint the piano but it was my mother's and she would NEVER paint it. Next best thing? Paint the console!

It was almost unfortunate that it was in such good shape because a little piece of me felt guilty as I crept up with the sanding block - but then I squashed that fear and rolled up my sleeves - I mean, it wasn't that much fear!

Do you have a piece of tired old furniture begging for a make-over? Here's how I resurrected mine:

1. Sand it.  I used my trusty sanding block (that seems to last forever) to muss up that shiny finish. I was quick - not careful - and finished just as my daughter walked into the room and asked, "What Are You Doing, Mommy?" like I was breaking some cardinal house rule.  "You want a job?" I asked her.

electrohome phonograph, makeover, sanding,

2. Wipe it down. With the help of a pretty assistant, we wiped up the sanding dust with a damp cloth and then ran over the surface again with a dry rag.

electrohome phonograph, makeover, sanding, washing


3. Prime & Paint. I have a five gallon pail of self-priming Behr Premium Plus Ultra Pure White just for such important moments. I call my first coat a primer and my second coat the real deal.

electrohome phonograph, makeover, painting,

electrohome phonograph, makeover, painting,
I had some concerns about the speakers and toyed with the idea of leaving them natural. I googled instructions but found that other people were either not interested in keeping their consoles as functioning music player, or they had speakers with removable fabric which they simply had to change in order to freshen them up. Mine are of a thick weave - much like a woven basket - not removable unless I disassembled the entire piece. Seeing how ugly and dirty the natural finish looked against the white, I decided to paint directly on them - dry brushing - being careful not to go too thick over the actual speaker spaces so as not to seal the 'sound space'.  I regretted it as soon as I started. It looked messy and rough and just plain terrible. "I don't fink you should do dat!" Noa said.  BUT, I didn't give up.  By the end of the second coat I had dispelled my regret and celebrated my total awesomeness! (Most humbly, of course.)

I was pleased with the white finish. It was fresh. It was clean.

It was boring.

So I pulled out the leftover paint from the feature wall in Liam's room - Mosaic Blue, the prettiest blue in the universe - and laid that out on the top, as well as the underside of the lid that accesses the record player.

So much better!

electrohome phonograph, makeover, painting,

 4. Love it.  Because how could you not? It's just so darn pretty!!!

I found the hard thing was accessorizing because I needed to maintain access to the record player. (Billy Idol and I have some serious jamming to do!) The bare middle is WEIRD but what are you going to do? I still love it!

electrohome phonograph, makeover, painting, before and after

elecrtohome phonograph, makeover, painted, accessories

elecrtohome phonograph, makeover, painted, accessories

painted cat, painted ear



Not every project is without collateral damage.

I may or may not have painted the cat...

What about you?  What is your ideal Joy Project? I'd love to see it.  Add your project using the link below and let's share the inspiration!

All I ask is that you place my linkup button on your post and be sure to comment on a couple of the links - it's all about sharing the love.  I can't wait to see what you share!





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6 comments:

  1. So I totally missed the boat on this one. I love Billy Idol, and we could have totally rocked out at your party. I would have posted a link with a picture to a project that I did years ago. It is one of my favorite projects ever. See, I have a guest room. I had guests coming. I had zero furniture in said room. I bought a frame, box spring, and mattress - then painted a head board on the wall. It is sort of cool.

    I will say - I am super impressed at your willingness to just open up gallons of paint right on the wood floors! No drop cloths! Just jump right in and start painting!

    This impresses me because the very headboard that I spoke of previously - if you move that bed away from the wall - there is a huge green spot where I dropped a can of paint on the carpet. Totally ruined the carpet and the pair of sweats that I had been wearing since high school. The sweats were more than a little thread bare, but that is not the point. They were comfortable and I was still able to wear them!

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    1. I did have to scrub the floor with a wet cloth more than once and I don't know if you noticed but I did have cardboard under each leg at least. I'm not the more careful - I dive in and then think about that later ;)

      I'd love to see your project! Even more, I think I'd like to see the paint spot - that's hilarious!

      I remember when I got rid of my high school sweats - actually, they were the graduating class hospital scrub pants (because that was cheaper than jogging pants for some reason) they had the school mascot on them and were terribly ugly but I still just loved them...and then I poured paint on them! You and I may be cut from the same cloth :)

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    2. And wouldn't you know it? It would have to be Old Sweat Pant Cloth! Ha!

      Following you by email now!

      I may shoot a few pics of the project and send your way. Give me a day or so.

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    3. hehehe ;)

      Thanks for following and I would love to see your pictures! No rush but it would be fun

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  2. Oh, love the white and blue top! You did a beautiful job!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was definitely worth the effort in the end - I love it so much :)

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