PANDEMIC PROJECT - DOGGY WARDROBE

I have 2 beautiful nieces and they come with a lot of baggage and by baggage, I mean enough toys to stock a small shop for at least a month or two. As they are moving home they decided to part with some of their belongings, giving some to charity and my sister selling the rest and putting the proceeds into there piggy banks, most probably for them to buy more toys. 🤭

They had a lovely wooden dolls wardrobe which caught my attention as normally you find them as thin coloured plastic or even thick cardboard nowadays. As I had already upcycled Arlo a toy box I thought this would be a great project for me to re-vamp and store the dog's clothes. My sister and my nieces gladly parted with the wardrobe happy knowing that it would be put to good use for our furry friends. Although Arlo and Dylan did not appreciate the blush pink colour (they are fussy mutts) I thought I would paint it a nice grey to match my wardrobe at home. Anyway, the wardrobe sat in the spare bedroom of my mum and dads house for a good 3-4 months waiting to be injected with life. That was the case until the Covid-19 pandemic decided to rear its ugly head and seal us away in our houses for weeks and months on end.

After the lockdown measures were lifted in the UK and we were all allowed to see our family and friends, in an outside space or garden whilst remaining 2 meters apart which was hard as all I wanted to do was give my mum and dad a big hug and kiss. I had a wander in my parent's house finding any books I had owned that I could take home to help pass the time in quarantine and found the pink doll's wardrobe in the spare room, still left in the exact place but with an added cobweb and spider threw in for good measure.

I took the wardrobe home and got to work looking on Pinterest for ideas, It didn't take me long to decide to revamp it using chalk paint. I mainly came to this conclusion because I was lazy and not great at DIY. I had heard that a benefit of using chalk paint was that you didn't need to prime the material surface, it was thick paint so would require fewer coats and I also liked the distressed style you could get from sanding after painting. I ordered some "Rust-Oleum" grey chalk paint and finishing wax (like a varnish to seal the paint and give it a sheen) I also borrowed some brushes and sandpaper from dad.

FYI - chalk paint can be quite expensive especially when you factor in the finishing wax you need however, you can get quality alternatives from Wilkos, B&M or the internet.

I took the wardrobe in the garden to lower the risk of me destroying anything other than the doll's wardrobe haha. I gave it a quick wipe with kitchen roll to get rid of any dirt and cobwebs, then I began to apply the first layer of chalk paint. At first, I thought it was strange to paint with as it felt far thicker than your conventional satin or matte paint. A little tip - as you cover your subject in the first layer of chalk paint, brush back and forth to get an even layer then on the second coat paint only in one direction (if you paint back and forth on the second coat it can produce grainy bits on the surface). Once all was covered and as it was outside on a hot day the paint dried extremely quickly (10 minutes), I then began to sand the sides and random parts of the exterior to try to get the distressed look. I should warn you I would highly recommend doing this part outside as it is very messy. I began with grade 100 sandpaper and did some light rubbing to smooth any bumpy surfaces of the paint and create lite distressing. I then went in with grade 60 paper for the more intense sanding reaching the original wood in some places.

I gave the whole wardrobe a wipe with a kitchen towel again to remove any of the chalk dust and the odd blow to remove stubborn gatherings of dirt in corners and grooves. The fun part was about to begin, "Wax on, wax off".

A small amount of the wax goes a long way wiping in circular motions I massaged it into the wood and left it to dry for 10 minutes then giving it a buff with a clean lint-free cloth. I did give it a second coat of wax even more finely than the first to make it shine in the light and seal it.

I was really happy with the outcome and think the dogs were happy with it!

Would encourage anyone to have a go at revamping any piece of furniture even if it is a little battered, not only is it fun but it can completely reinvigorate a piece of furniture with life.

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Thank you for reading, and please post any pictures of your craft projects for your pooches or pets.

#dogs #craft #upcycle #dogcraft #instadog