Meg vs. the Vanity: TileDOC Makeover

The vanity top in our bathroom has been the bane of my existence for some time. It was stained and yellowish and unattractive, but in a size that is no longer standard (aka expensive to replace). I finally found an affordable one, and it arrived all smashed to pieces (just like my dreams of an easy bathroom makeover).

Enter TileDOC. I actually found out about this product from the Giani Granite Paint website. I had considered using their products to re-do the vanity, but it can't be used in the sink, and I was short on time, so it didn't help me much. They recommended using TileDOC for the sink, so I thought, "Why not use it to spray the whole stinkin' thing?" And that is what I did. I sprayed and sprayed, coat after coat, two whole cans' worth of TileDOC.

Behold!

Here is the sink before; beige and stained.

After, in my makeshift spray booth.

Ta-da!

It is a little grainier than I would like, surely because I didn't do it right (I am too impatient for following instructions to the letter, though I tried), but it is much, much better than it was before. It doesn't clash with the tile anymore! And I am a happy camper.

Meg vs. The Bathroom: A new coat of paint.

I spent my last couple of days in Vallejo doing this, among other things. I wish I would have done this so much earlier! I think we bough the paint for it a year ago... I am so in love with this bathroom now; it makes me want to move back =).

Before: '80's peach. It almost came back in style, but not quite.

After: Cool grey. We used the same Behr Silver Drop that we used in the bedroom, but asked them to make it 50% darker than the original, so it is just a little bit more noticeably grey.

What a difference some paint makes! The only really annoying part of this job was that a little bit of the silicone caulking I did last year stayed on the wall around the shower (way to go, Meg), so of course the paint wouldn't stick and kept beading up. Finally I got desperate, and stood there and smeared the paint back and forth with my finger until it started getting tacky and dry, and what do you know? It mostly covered up the silicone. It was a small miracle, because I didn't have time to go hunt down some other product to remove or cover up the silicone.

Meg vs. the Stairs: Hiring it out!

Our friend took on the job of turning the back doors around (they used to open out over the stairs; not very safe!), framing them, and building new stairs for the sun room. They are amazing! So much better, so much safer. They even have a handrail =).

Meg vs. The Couch: My newest project.

What is under this sheet in our new living room?

John's grandmother's old couch! It is just the right color of gold to clash with the walls. Ideas are in the works...

Meg vs. The Dining Room: Chair Makeover

A while back my mom spotted these two chairs that had been abandoned in the parking lot of my sister's apartment complex. In that corner of the lot, there is a "No Dumping" sign, so of course everyone dumps their old furniture there.

They weren't the most stylish chairs to begin with, plus the seat cushions were fairly beaten up and there were several places where the finish had worn off. So my mom and I pulled off the seats and got to work staining them. We didn't have enough time to do gel stain like I used on the bathroom vanity and the bed, so after seeing this tutorial I decided to try out Minwax Polyshades. This lady uses this stuff on everything, with good results.

Like the General Finishes gel stain, Polyshades only requires minimal sanding, but unlike the gel stain it doesn't require a separate topcoat, so it really is convenient if you have a quick project. I have to say that I like the results of the gel stain a lot better--it is so much easier to apply (wipes on with a sock), while Polyshades is brushed on, and it is thin so it is very drippy if you're not really careful (particulalry on the details of these chairs). It also wouldn't dry in my mom's garage for over a day when it was kind of foggy out, so we had to put a space heater in there to get them to dry. Overall, I would recommend this product if you don't have time to do a gel stain + gel topcoat (which totals nearly 2 weeks of dry time in between coats), or if you are only going to do one piece of furniture and don't want to buy two different products.

I re-covered the chair seats with the same fabric I used for my entryway bench, and clear vinyl over that to make them easy to clean. I didn't take pictures of the process, but there are plenty of tutorials on Pinterest. It basically boils down to pulling the fabric over the seat and using a staple gun to secure it on the back.

Here they are all finished! Hopefully our renters will appreciate how much better they look.

And wanna see something kind of eerie? My mom recently saw this post on Pinterest. At first glance we both thought someone had gotten a hold of a picture of my chairs. 

I suppose great minds think alike!