Cot Upcycling: A Rough Tutorial...

Thanks to my Mum at The Blue Goose we're no strangers to furniture upcycling here. Admittedly, more often that not I get it sent up to the shop and have my very skilled Uncle do it for me... But on this occasion I wanted this particular piece to be my own work.

Here it is, my cot. Saved for almost 30 years in the back of my Mum's garage. Turned bars. Rich 80's chestnut stained wood. 

Complete with my own teeth marks.

So I began...

An-oh-so-rough-tutorial:

1) Sand with fine sandpaper. You want to sand enough to create a surface that paint can cling to but you don't want to sand too much that you lose detail in the wood.

2) Dust, wash with white spirit and allow to dry thoroughly. The idea is to rid the surface of the wood of any dirt, grease or other impurities that might cause the paint to lift.

3) Paint. Apply one coat of thin undercoat then gloss. The key with all the painting is thin thin thin! The paint will run and drip very easily, so to avoid losing details in the furniture's design make your coats thin and you can even lightly sand after each coat to get rid of any drips and/or brush marks. You will probably need a minimum of 3 coats.

The result? Well... That's in the final finished Nursery post! :D