Paint a Coffee Bar Yellow

 

I’m not crazy about this piece of furniture although it’s served its purpose several times. It’s one of the first pieces of furniture that I bought  (before I discovered Givits) when I moved out of my parents’ house a few years ago from Big Lots.  I’ve used it for shoes, crafts, sweaters and now as a coffee bar. I think it annoys me because it’s very cheaply made and tilts over. Now that I’ve been buying a lot of older, sturdier furniture from thrift stores, I can really tell the difference in quality. During my last move I almost gave this to my brother in law until my friend Shanie said she’d unpack the kitchen,  before I knew it she turned it into a coffee bar. One of my biggest pet peeves in my kitchen is having appliances on the counter because I love open spaces and surfaces, so having the coffee maker out of the way is just perfect. This is why you have awesome friends like Shanie help you unpack.

Now, about the painting. I have brown cabinets so I wanted to add a little color into the kitchen. I used this tablecloth as my color palette inspiration and decided on a bright yellow. Painting fake wood is the biggest paint in the butt. I’m not even gonna lie about it. After you’ve painted real wood, you realize how challenging fake wood can be.

{mmm coffee’s a brewin’ as I took this picture}

First, you absolutely can’t skip sanding. If you do, forget about getting a nice finish with fake wood. Second, use a primer. Third, don’t paint in humid temperatures. Also, use a sealant. These are all basic tips, but if you skip any of them, you’re wasting your time! 

{bird butts}

It was humid in my kitchen when I painted and the wood inside the cabinet was so unbelievably fake, it peeled right off the next day. At this point I was totally over the process so I peeled all of the paint inside and added shelf liners instead.

What I used:

A quart of Glidden yellow paint in Sunflower from Home Depot ($10)
Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel Spray 
Foam brush
Rustoleum white primer
Sand paper

What I did:

I guess after being slightly annoyed that the inside peeled and it took forever to dry, I’m happy with the results. It really brightened up the room. Because I have a lot of wall space, instead of adding a quote photo I made which reads my blog’s tag line “sharing the spice of life,”  I decided to add crafting birds from the Dollar Tree. I used double sided mounting tape to hang the birds.

{if I owned this house, my next project would be to replace this tile!}