Refurbished Magazine Rack

Remember in my welcome post I told you I’d be sharing past projects? Well this is one of them. We refurbished this little gem, a magazine rack, in March 2013 and it still looks great! That’s almost four years ago. Now, I don’t have a good memory but when it comes to my vintage and antique pieces, my memory magically works. We picked up this little guy at the Rose Bowl Flea Market for ten dollars! I was looking at vintage rugs and spied him in the corner of the booth. It obviously was not apart of the vendors usual wears, so a deal was made.

This was one the the easiest, and I mean EASIEST DIY furniture projects we’ve done. Here’s the game plan: keep the black paint but sand it down to create a more worn look and paint the orange panels to a beige-y white. That means it was just a matter of basic sanding and a quick paint job. Here’s a glimpse of the original orange paint. BONUS – the rack folds up!

We needed to give the orange panels a good sanding, ensuring it’s nice and smooth for the paint. So we started with a 120-grit, medium, sandpaper sanding both by hand and using an electric sander. The goal with the 120-grit sandpaper is to get the large chunks of paint off, as well as a good overall sanding. We finished the sanding by switching to a 220-grit, very fine, sandpaper, to achieve a smooth finish.

Sandpaper 101. The smaller numbered sandpaper, say a 120, the rougher and gritty it’ll be. The rough sandpaper is good for tough jobs and pieces with a lot of paint on them. Now increase the number, say 220, and the sandpaper gets finer. This is a gentler, smaller grained sandpaper good for delicate items. I hate to use this analogy, but it works and I can relate. Think of it like a nail file. One side of the nail file has rougher side, that’s what you use to file the nail down or to tackle a broken nail. The flip side of the nail file is smoother, finer and what you use to finish your nails off to make them nice and smooth.

Next up – the black legs. We liked the black paint but wanted a rustic, antiqued look. So we went in with the rougher, larger grit sandpaper, the 120, to dig into the paint creating the look of a well-worn piece of furniture. Then we went over it again with the 220, smaller, finer sandpaper to ensure the legs were smooth. If you’re going for that roughed-up look, it’s best to sand like a toddler. Kind of abstractly sanding here and there and being gentle in this place and rough over here. It’s a guessing game for me and what I thought would look best.

Now we paint, and then we’re done! We purchased a beige-white paint that suited our fancy because we didn’t want this piece to be anything flashy, just a nice basic, versatile piece.  Two coats ended up being enough to cover the orange panels. Make sure to let the paint thoroughly dry in between the two coats.

That’s it guys. A refurbished project can’t get any simpler than sanding and painting! This really is a great beginners project. If you’re looking to dip your toes into refurbishing furniture, with a piece already in your house or something you pick up, start here. Start with an inexpensive simple piece, that means little to no detail. That’s one of the reasons this project was so easy. We painted two flat boards. The more detailed the piece the more time consuming it’ll be.

How to refurbish a simple piece of furniture:

1. Simple piece of furniture. For me it was $10
2. Sandpaper. Approximately $4 a package, total cost $8
3. Electric sander, optional, to speed things up.  $16+
4. Paint. We purchased an 8 oz. size can for $3
5. Paint brush. $2
6. Work your magic!

So for a simple furniture piece it can cost you anywhere from $13 – $39 dollars, depending on what you have at your home. We only had to purchase the furniture and paint. That’s $13 for a new magazine rack. Affordable and easy. Now it’s your turn!