Coronavirus Projects - Conservatory

This has been a bit of a mission and I have now run out of paint to finish it. I've ordered some but have no idea if and when it will arrive. Plus we cannot buy any roofing as all the builders are closed. Hopefully we will be able to get the roof done before the Winter as our leaks seem to be getting worse.

I've managed so far to do most of the decorating with paint that I've already got but I ordered all purpose paint for the conservatory as there is a lot of wood beams and panelling and it is all varnished. It would be an absolute nightmare to rub everything down. The woodwork is still in very good condition so it is worth spending some time on it. I ran out of paint because it is a little thin and needed 2 coats. I'd rather paint 2 coats than rub down varnish though!

So here's the progress so far. The bottom half is not painted as we are going to insulate and panel it with PVC panelling so that it is easy to keep clean and isn't home to cellar spiders.

The colour is a bit of a shock. I was hoping it would be a dark blue but NO it has come out like a bright royal blue when the sun shines. The joys of buying paint. However, it does make me smile when I walk in there.

Blue painted woodwork

Rosewood Varnished Doors

Lovely Blue Interior Doors

I would love our conservatory to be like another room, but it really is the entrance to our house as most people in Wales use the back door around here. Our dog goes in and out and it is used a lot. I mainly use it for exercising, well that's the plan anyway, when my rowing machine isn't being used as a coat rack.

I've also painted an old cupboard that we bought for £5! at an auction. I call it the Moon cupboard and it is home to my art materials. I have painted the moon phases inside the 9 little circles at the top. The dresser, another project is just waiting for the handles to dry and then that will be complete too. Both are shabby chic as I wanted to try that out.

£5 cupboard BEFORE

£5 cupboard AFTER

Shabby Chic Dresser with Stencilling

Moon Cupboard

I will post some finished photos when we've managed to get supplies.

1920's Welsh Dresser Makeover

I was in two minds whether to actually paint this dresser, but on closer inspection decided it needed some tlc. It looked like some of it had been repaired at some time and also there were little splatters of paint on it. A couple of the drawer handles were broken so I decided to go ahead.

1920's Welsh Dresser 

Front View

Dusty cabinets with spider webs

Lovely detail on cupboard doors

Old glass detail on middle cupboard

Broken handle and paint splatters

I really had a bit of a game with the primer/undercoat. Was supposed to be one coat but ended up painting 2 coats on the parts to be painted. Admittedly, I didn't rub it down first because it was pretty rough with most of the varnish worn off so I thought it would be okay. Big mistake, but still, too late to go back now.

In the end, I did 2 coats of primer/undercoat and 3 coats of gloss paint which was supposed to be one-coat. Not impressed. The day was quite rainy but not cold so I'm not sure what was going on with this project and when I took the masking tape off, it peeled some of the paint off. Oh well, shabby chic it is. I followed on from this with some grey chalk paint and luckily this took great. Only one coat needed. We'll see how it all wears with use but at least I know that the chalk paint will work just fine.

I wallpapered the back of the 2 little cupboards with some leftover wallpaper from the lounge and also lined the drawers and cupboards.

2 coats of primer/undercoat

 

One coat gloss, too streaky

Streaky one coat gloss, 2nd coat!

Finished Dresser

Definitely looking different

Almost Finished, just need to wax

Shabby chic detail on flowers

It's quite light in our conservatory, so the grey looks a lot lighter than I would have liked but I'm hoping when I wax it, it will turn a little darker.

Lee replaced the drawer handles with some old handles he had in the garage. I'm just waiting for some door magnets so that the cupboard doors don't keep flying open, but on the whole I think it has worked out okay. I'm a little tempted to do some stencilling above the mirror. Let's see how I feel tomorrow 😋.

Before and After Photo