Decor

On 01:00

We bought a fixer-upper, a miniature version! Something I've been wanting to do for at least three years. A fun project house with lots to do like new windows, doors, flooring, wallpaper, and the list goes on. Barbie and Ken are due to move into their repurposed IKEA Billy dollhouse bookcase later this year.

It all happened thanks to the inspiration found in Jen Crider's new book, Amazing Furniture Makeovers. Jen is a friend of mine who I've known for several years and she blogs over at Girl In The Garage. You may be familiar with her gorgeous makeovers, especially if you've been following our monthly Furniture Fixer Uppers group.

I'm so excited for her and genuinely think her book is so pretty that I have it on display with my other coffee table books! The book includes 25 stunning furniture makeovers complete with step-by-step tutorials with accompanying photos. If you've been itching to update an old piece of furniture but too afraid or don't know where to start, then Amazing Furniture Makeovers is for you!

I'm so inspired by many of the pieces in her book, including the one on the cover pictured above. I was shocked at how easy it is to get the look after she broke down the steps for us. But when I saw the makeover on page 119 where she transformed the top of this vintage hutch...

and turned it into this adorable dollhouse...

...she gave me just the inspiration and motivation I needed to FINALLY make the dollhouse I've been itching to do for several years now.

Repurposed IKEA Billy Dollhouse Bookcase - Phase One

Instead of a hutch, we found this IKEA Billy bookcase at our local Salvation Army store for $14.99. It is rather plain compared to the lovely curvy details on Jen's hutch but I have plans to pretty it up.

Two shelves were removed and sliced into room divider walls. I love how bright and fresh Jen's dollhouse looks painted white and so I painted mine white as well. I'm on the hunt for the perfect scrapbook paper for the walls and floors. I'll be referring back to Jen's dollhouse tutorial when it's time to decoupage them into my dollhouse.

The furniture pictured above is temporary. I plan on furnishing my dollhouse with repurposed thrift store finds.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get all the finishing touches done in time so this dollhouse will be a work in progress. I welcome you to join me on the first Thursday of every month to follow the latest updates to my project house.

Phase Two - Roof and Flooring
Phase Three - Front Door, Windows, Wallcoverings coming soon!

The Amazing Furniture Makeovers book is available for preorder on Amazon, or for my Canadian readers here on Amazon.ca, or Book Depository for free worldwide shipping for those residing outside of Canada or the United States.

You can find more information on Jen Crider's new book Amazing Furniture Makeovers: Easy DIY Projects To Transform Thrifted Finds Into Beautiful Custom Pieces at Girl In The Garage.

On 01:00

Sometimes just a wee bit of paint is all a piece of furniture needs to be transformed. Case in point, this beech wood cabinet with a Simmons Juvenile Furniture makers stamp suggests it is for a child's room. But with the two deep drawers and middle cupboard what I saw was a whitewashed media cabinet or white sideboard buffet with farmhouse style.

The light blonde wood in excellent condition is the perfect candidate for a whitewash paint finish. Think of pickling stain but with a lovely matte chalk paint patina. I chose a highly transparent finish with just one coat of paint but it can be as opaque as you like with layers of white paint wash and I show you how easy it is.

White Sideboard Buffet With Farmhouse Style

It is Furniture Fixer Upper Day where six talented furniture painting friends come together once a month to breath new life into a piece of furniture. You can find links to the other makeovers at the bottom of this post. Last month I shared a tutorial on how to paint Arborite with my Retro Dining Table Makeover.

We are saddened to announce that our sweet friend, Larissa has left the group to pursue other blogging ventures. She will be missed but this isn't goodbye because we can still catch all her DIY adventures at Prodigal Pieces.

We are pleased to welcome our newest member, the very talented Denise from Salvaged Inspirations. If you are not familiar with her blog, you are going to LOVE her furniture makeovers!

Back to the sideboard buffet makeover. This is what it looked like before...

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. At no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

I had a clear vision for this makeover going in. Paint the cabinet pure white with heavy distressing, stain the top a medium brown, add these awesome Farmhouse decor transfers on the knobs and part of this furniture transfer to the front of the cabinet door. Sadly, they couldn't be shipped on time so onto plan B.

I added a surprise pop of color to the interior by painting the cupboard Upper Canada green. I used a mineral chalk paint which has a built-in sealer so no clear coat is required and it'll cure rock hard within 21 days.

Part of plan B was to add pretty handpainted floral knobs to the top drawers that picked up the green of the painted interior. I decided not to use them because they took away from the simple farmhouse charm. Instead, I kept the original wood knobs and painted them white and distressed to match the whitewash finish.

Unfortunately, the beech veneer top was a lot worse for wear and couldn't be stained. There was some uneven coloring in the veneer so I couldn't give it a transparent whitewash like the rest of the cabinet either.

Onto plan C, an opaque whitewash with four coats of paint and distress the heck out of it with a mouse sander.

I added Farmhouse typography onto the top but instead of a furniture transfer, I went all old school. More about that further down in the post.

Handpainted Farmhouse White Sideboard Buffet

Here's a close up of what the transparent whitewash looks like on the lower cabinet and the opaque whitewash on the top.

Part of the deciding factor for giving this piece a farmhouse style makeover was the skirt. Even though I believe it would be considered a craftsman or mission style base to me it had farmhouse potential.

The chicken wire frame sitting on top of the farmhouse sideboard is another DIY project. You can see how I made it here in my repurposed window message board post.

The little girl holding a chicken was painted by my Mom several years ago and is one of my cherished possessions. She was a landscape artist and rarely painted portraits so this is one of just a few.

Here's how I did it...

Prep the cabinet for paint

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is the most dreaded step (at least for me) when doing furniture makeovers BUT it is one of the most important for a long-lasting paint finish. You'll find many helpful tips in my How To Prep Furniture For Chalk Paint A-Z tutorial.

How to whitewash with paint

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Old White that I had on hand. When doing a paint wash the more water to paint, the lighter the wash. Typically a 1:1 ratio is used but I thinned mine to the consistency of milk. Sorry, I didn't measure but probably closer to a 2:1 ratio.

You can apply it with a lint-free rag (old t-shirt) or brush it on like I did. Wipe the excess with a lint-free rag before the paint dries. For larger pieces, work in sections. In spots where I got more paint, I used a fine mist spray bottle and just moved the paint with the brush to thin it out.

Like I mentioned earlier in the post, I only applied one coat of whitewash but on the top, I applied four coats.