I will have to apologise ahead for my writing skills.. I’ve got none. I have been bullied, ok maybe that’s bit of a exaggeration, I have been asked, begged, told to and yes, even bribed, to start a blog. I actually had to go and google what blog and blogging means. I always see that this and that person is a blogger but I was never curious enough nor have enough patience for computers and being online for other than checking my social media. Anyway, here I am and probably make complete fool of myself but sure anything to get them (No, I’m not going to name names) off my back.

I found this IKEA set as most of my project starters in someones unwanted “pile”. After taking it home I got to work on sanding down/off all the old wax (oh my word how tough it was) and general grease and dirt. I used 80 grit sanding paper at first and when I had most of the badness gone I switched it up to 120 grit sanding paper. I went through meters of sanding paper as the wax just clogged it up…literally! After overcoming few urges to just light the whole thing on fire I finished the sanding and washed it all with sugar soap. Then I hosed everything down, rinsing away all the dust particles and leaving to dry overnight.

The following day I started priming. Chairs, bench and table frame and legs all got covered in Zinsser red Bin primer. I don’t trust anything else, this is the créme de la créme of the primers available in Ireland. I’m an old school girl and I don’t take any shortcuts when it comes to prepping the pieces, the better the prep the longer you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour I believe.

When it was all bone dry I hand sanded (120 grit) to smooth away any roughness. Hoovered up all the dust and wiped down with a cloth damp dipped in white spirits. And then the painting started, I always do 3 coats to get an even finish and no dark shadows peeking through. And I hand sand in between the first and second coat with 180 grit paper to make sure the finish looks very smooth and professional. I used Danish company, Crown paint in Aged White, eggshell finish.

While the framework was drying I moved on to the tops. I had previously sanded them all alongside the framework and I wanted to create grey stained finish. So I dipped an old piece of rag into General Finishes Dark Chocolate Milk, available here and covered the whole surface rubbing it in with the grain. In between I also dipped the cloth into water just to make it easier to get an even dark finish. When it all dried I did the very same with GF Snow White and after drying put on a coat of clear matt varnish by Ronseal. When the finish was lovely and dry I moved on the cutting the lines/grooves in to the top parts of the chairs and the table. I measured the “boards” marked lines and set up barrier with clamps (I don’t trust myself to cut lovely straight lines with a big heavy saw) and plugged in my circular saw.

After the lines were cut I used hack saw to create the board look on the edges and folded 120 grit sandpaper in 2 and sanded inside the freshly cut lines. After hoovering away all the dust I started staining the lines. I used skinny art brush and brushed the same paint I painted the frames with into the caps and wiped with wet cloth so the paint is only in the caps and not in the “boards”. That is the reason why I cut the lines after I had it all stained and one coat varnish done, I would not had been able just to wipe away any overspill if it wasn’t already varnished.

I tested if I should go for white or dark caps as you see on this picture. White won this time.

I did 3 coats of white in the grooves. And then put additional 3 clear coats of varnish over and sanded between each coat with 240 grit sandpaper.

Next step was assembling it all and delivering it to my client.

Thank you for reading,

Ally

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