Changing Furniture Hardware For A Modern Look

Changing Furniture Hardware Is Easy

Did you know painting and changing furniture hardware can really modernize an outdated piece of furniture? Once I finished the makeover on this nightstand it looked nothing like it’s former self.

You might remember the “French Inspired” furniture theme tour from last month. I promised a tutorial on the nightstand. Let’s get started.

Tres Chic nightstand, The tutorial is rather lengthy and I have a lot of photos for you that show the process. That’s one reason for the delay in getting the tutorial to you guys.

This is the before of the nightstand.

The nightstand was in pretty rough condition. You can see the stained top has a lot of issues.

And man was it dirty. I sanded the loose finish from the top of the nightstand then grabbed the shop vac to get rid of the cobwebs and dust balls. Then I washed it down with Simple Green.

The first order of business was to drill new holes for hardware and fill the old holes with putty. I wanted the nightstand to have a modern up to date look so I decided to change hardware style. A big wood knob is much more up to date than the batwing pulls. I used this handy dandy hardware template thingy to mark for the new knob.

The template has different sets of holes for different drawer pulls. Drawer pulls have varying lengths between the screws called center to center. The template also has the hole in the center which helped me a lot. I lined up the template with the original pull holes and marked the place for my new knob using the center hole!

I used a drill to make the new hole. The drill is one of my favorite power tools.

Then I filled the old holes with Elmer’s Wood Filler. I usually let the first application of filler dry then add another layer because the wood filler shrinks as it dries. After the filler is set I sand it down even with the wood. I sand it by hand because I have more control than using an electric sander.

Now for the secret of the paint. I primed the nightstand and I liked the look of the primer so much I just went with that. I was going to paint the piece pink but thought that might be overkill with the pink girly fabric.

The primer is one of my favorite brands….Glidden. I always have the primer tinted at Home Depot to a gray color. Gray works great under any top coat. I like it much better than white primer.

Moving on to the decoupage part of the post. I cut the “Tres Chic” fabric to the size of the sides of the nightstand.

I laid the fabric face down on plastic sheeting and covered it liberally with Mod-Podge using a foam brush.

I laid the nightstand on it’s side and applied the Mod Podge coated fabric. I rubbed it from the center out with a soft cloth to remove all the bubbles….well…almost all.

Before the fabric was completely dry I trimmed off the excess with a razor.

When the fabric was dry I brushed on two coats of the Mod-Podge as a sealer. It dries clear so no worries!

And that was it! Not hard…just takes a little time….and patience.

The primer has a flat finish and I like it! What about you?

Have you decoupaged anything? I like using paper to decoupage too. It works great if it’s not too thin.

One time I decoupaged wallpaper onto a chest of drawers. You can see it here…Modern Makeover Art Deco Flair.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I have my Fall mantel to share with you. I’m going to tell you….the mantel décor includes pink flamingos, really!

Thanks for being here and see you tomorrow, Kathy

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