TV Cabinet Makeover: Take 1 - How to Paint & Stain Laminated Wood

Hi Everyone!

As part of my quest to make over our living room I wanted to paint our TV cabinet. Today I'll show you how I did it  :-)

We bought this laminated wood cabinet just after we got married (read: we needed something cheap). Needless to say the color and style is all wrong for our new home. I'm fairly OK with painting wooden furniture, but laminated wood is a whole other story. I did TONS of research.

Here's the official BEFORE photos. It is a BIG piece and very heavy.

Ok so here goes my version of how to paint laminated wood (the cheap and easy way):

I started off by making sure the cabinet is dust free and then I took off the hardware (as you can see it's very modern and not at all the look I want). I also filled the holes with wood-filler

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Next I painted the cabinet with two coats of Plascon Multi-Surface primer and a sponge roller. That dried for a few hours and then the actual paint followed, I used Harlequin Paints Provencal Furniture Paint  in French White. Below you can see that it was quite the mission to get an even coverage.

I was happy with the overall look after three coats of the French White (no photos, I was too anxious to begin with the staining :-) ). For the staining I used Harlequin Paints Antiquing Liquid. It's very runny and easy to work with. I applied it with a paintbrush and did the rest with mutton-cloth.

If you never did staining before I'll explain a little how I do it. Make sure you only do small sections at a time. I apply the staining liquid with my paintbrush in rough strokes and then immediately use the mutton-cloth to lightly wipe off excess liquid. I tend to use circular motions as it leaves a more natural look. Here is an all-done drawer:

I chose not to distress the cabinet as the lines are very modern and there's not any detail on the surface.

Below is the new feet I got from here. I just adore them, it gives the cabinet a whole new 'vintage-y' vibe. WAY more in line with what we want! I followed the same steps to paint the feet as the cabinet.

Are you ready to see the final reveal? I was sooo excited about this...

Until I was NOT so excited... Can you tell from the bad quality photo? I don't have any real reasons, but I just did not LOVE the new look. My husband did, my mom did and my best friend did. But I was not feeling it... :-( I love the new hardware and the feet, though.

Hence the title, TV Cabinet Makeover: Take 1. Stay tuned for Take 2 later on. (Hint: I REALLY loved it!!!)

PS. Overall I found painting laminated wood very easy (the smoothness is so easy to paint!), and will certainly try it again on another piece.

I would love to hear YOUR opinion on the makeover!

Have a blessed week!

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