For those of you following my shenanigans on Facebook, you already know how grateful I was earlier this week. A neighbor was kind enough to drop off not one – but two gorgeous Mid-Century-Modern (MCM) pieces right to my front door!
Whooohooo and win-win!
My neighbour avoided the hassel of balancing these heavy pieces on a 3 foot snow bank for bulk-pick-up… or loading them in -20° weather to drive them to a donation center. I’m feeling like a winner for scoring these soon-to-be-beauties. Thank-you!
Tip ~ For those of you starting in this business; it’s a good idea to let family, friends, neighbours, co-workers and your pizza delivery guy know that you restyle and upcycle furniture. People are constantly getting rid of pieces. Tastes change, they downsize, or a piece needs TLC and they just want to get rid of it. Whatever the reason, let everyone know you’re available for pick-up or drop-off.
I don’t usually search out mid-century-modern furniture but I’ve had fun restyling MCM pieces …and it’s always a fun change.
This MCM piece has great lines.
The top and sides were scratched but this was easy to fix and fill with Elmers Wood Putty. An all purpose wood putty works great when painting. But if I were to stain, it would have required a stainable wood filler.
What I really like about this piece is the stained black detail running right under the top and the mirroring black detail on the legs.
Masking off the small details was easy to do with these cheap and cheerful tools I purchsed from the Dollar Store.
After I masked everything off and all the scratches were filled, I primed the areas to be painted with Zinnser B-I-N Primer Sealer with shellac. This primer costs more, but it does an amazing job at blocking bleed-through, stains and odors. It can be recoated in 45 minutes but usually one coat is enough. Great stuff!
Rather than use my spray-gun or a paint brush for this piece, I used a roller. The secret for smooth paint results using a roller – use a high density foam roller (not the fuzzy ones!) and roll with a light hand. Also, watering down the paint a little bit is helpful to eliminate any roller marks.
The paint I used was Sherwin Williams All Surface Enamel in “SW 7010 White Duck”.
The stained drawers and sliding doors were in very good shape so no sanding or restaining was necessary. Instead I used a product called ‘Trade Secret Scratch Remover’ to recondition them. This masked any small scratches and brought the wood back to life again.
The original hardware was painted to match and voila…
I LOVE the end result! And the black detailing really makes this piece stand out!
And here’s hoping spring is on the way!!!!!
So what do you think of this MCM before and after? Are you a fan of the Mid Century Modern retro look? Do you have any MCM pieces in your home? You can find more MCM inspiration on Pinterest!
Have an amazing day and relaxing weekend!
Denise x
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Love this piece! Does the SW All surface enamel require a top coat? I just painted a MCM desk (my first project !) with a normal white latex egg-shell paint and I’m wondering what top-coat to use. Or if I should just get some of the SW enamel paint to give it a final coat since I loooveee the way it turned out on this piece. Thanks for all your awesome content!
I like MCM furniture but don’t own any as it doesn’t fit in with my traditional decor. I love the finish you chose for this piece. It works so well with this style of furniture.
Thank you Patricia. And I’m with you… my taste is more traditional & elclectic I guess. I really like the look and style of MCM furniture (and I’ve seen some aahhh-mazing MCM make-overs!) but I don’t have any pieces in my home either.
You did a GREAT job on this piece! Love the black details, and what you did on the legs. Beautiful
Thank you Julie! x