Old farm table; verge-side cane chairs; parents’ original pine chairs all given a new lease on life

A year and half ago we moved into a super cute but very dated railway cottage in a beachside suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The house was old.  An original workers cottage with a cheap 1970s mini extension. Whilst the house had all the usual character features of Australian cottage it was small, run down and the little work that had been done to ‘spruce’ it up consisted of purple feature walls, a salmon coloured kitchen and a sage green themed bathroom. It was what real estate agents refer to as a ‘Premium Land Holding’. We too feel in love with the location and initially considered the house as a temporary feature. Given that we weren’t sure what we were going to do with the house (renovate/ knock it down and rebuild/ sell after a few years) there was a number of minor alteration that I considered crucial to our enjoyment of the house. I used all my negotiating skills to convince my husband that my plan was brilliant. Not only would it only cost a few hundred dollars it would simultaneously transform the feeling of the house. Needless to say a few days later he was the first to aglee that my plan was indeed brilliant.

What did we do? Paint!

Paint! Paint! and Paint!

Nothing structural. No machinery required. Just a few pots of 3-1 primer, a tin of aqua enamel top coat, a couple of rollers and we transformed our house from what the real estate agent advertised as either ‘a good rental’ or ‘knock down and build your dream home’ to a super cute beachside bungalo that is loved by all as soon as the venture in.

The kitchen was pink. Salmon pink. The bathroom was green. (I have all but forgotten the purple feature walls.) The solution was staring me in the face. I had read that you could paint melamine cupboards/ tiles/ wood/ anything. So I set off to Bunnings to source the goods and it just kept getting better. You can buy a 3 and 1 primer which can be used on practically ALL surfaces from wood to tiles to most definetly kitchen and bathroom cupboards without (and this is the kicker) WITHOUT having to sand or polish or prep the original surface first. You just paint on the primer as instructed on the tin. Let it dry and then add the top coat of your choice. We were advised to go for a aqua enamel (we took the water based- easier on our painting gear) and it can be tinted ANY colour that you wish. We went for the tried and tested Half Hog Bristle.

The other thing that resulted from the successful experiment is that I started painting everything I could to fit into the natural beach theme:

• I painted old shelving units.

•  I painted blanket boxes, chests and mirror frames.

• I painted furniture!! Lots of it.

(see pictures below)

I knew I wanted the old table at the farm (which was turfed in the corner of the machinery shed) and I knew painting the legs would give it a new lease on life but it wasn’t until I was strolling around a high end home decor shop that I spotted these cane chairs painted in a vivid ocean blue. I thought they were beautiful until I saw the price tag…..$550 EACH!! I was at our farm again a few weeks later and remembered that we had a pair of cane chairs that someone found on the side of the road (during kerbside garbage collection) and brought up to the farm for extra seating at our annual Christmas in July party. The intension was to throw them onto the fire at the end of the night. At the appointed time of their fate my husband decided that they were too good to burn but then they were stashed in the corner, all but forgotten about, until this moment. Back to Bunnings and a couple of sample pots of all purpose paint tinted to my colours of choice and bam….. What could have cost us $1100 for a pair (NB. I would never have bought these) cost me around $10 in paint. A lot of the other furniture was found at parents’ and friends’ houses and workplaces. These pieces were collected and “upcycled” to filled our home with unique pieces which definitely goes with our chosen relaxed natural beachy vibe.

It was never about the money (although saving is always nice) it was about being resourceful, not wasteful. I wanted beautiful and homely things and I learnt that this often comes with furniture that has seen a bit of life. With just a little bit of loving restoration these pieces can be brought into the modern world. Our home doesn’t feel full of new things, but feels like a warm cosy home and I have no doubt a lot of that feeling comes from the having all these preloved pieces celebrated again.

Equipment:

• Rollers, brushes, old sheets/drop cloths (rollers allow for a more consistent application of paint but you will still need brushes to paint the edges/ corners etc. You can also pick up plastic drop cloths at your hardware store for a couple of dollars if you don’t have old sheets etc)

• A primer (we got a great 3 and 1 which could be used on any surface- we even used it to cover up the purple feature wall)

• A top coat (For the cupboards: we asked the store for the one they recommended. We got the Aqua Enamel and were able to tint it any colour we chose. For the coloured chairs: I just got sample pots of outdoor paint and had it tinted in a range of pastel colours. I also purchased a gloss finishing coat which I never used. If I was going to paint outside furniture I definitely would apply this coat. [I am going to do a bench soon will use this then.])

• A few good men and women 

Old brown wood shelving unit updated to house my white crockery

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  Priming the old pine chairs

  

  Stage two of updating verge collected cane chairs

  

  Original ad for our house

  

  Kitchen cupboards painted white (house still empty)

  If you have any questions on how and what to do- please feel free to ask me or post a comment.