Tips - www.lovesissy.com

Basic Tools

There are the basics like sharpie markers, pencils, rubber gloves, foam brushes, good scissors, etc. Other helpful items include: painters' tape (use for painting, but can be used to make patterns, measure things, label things, hold things in place), chalk (make marks that easily erase on walls, fabric, metal, wood, etc.), tissue paper (works well w/ the painters' (masking) tape to make patterns for reupholstering chairs. You can bend the tissue paper around the curves & secure/reinforce it with painters tape (or masking tape). A drill is a wonderful tool & worth investing in. I LOVE the NEXTEC series of Craftsman tools (at Sears). The battery charges super quickly, lasts a long time, & the tools work great! The drill is super compact, easy to get into small spaces, & light weight. (No one is paying me to say this--I promise!) We got a package that included a flashlight, drill, extra battery, circular saw, & palm sander. Later we bought an impact driver & oscillating multi-tool. LOVE it all!

Scissors

Dull scissors are the most frustrating thing & are the quickest way to ruin your project. It's well worth it to invest in good scissors & a variety of different types of scissors (for cutting different materials, different sizes, etc.). Some of my favorite scissors are Clauss Extreme Edge Titanium.

Scissor Sharpener

Fiskars actually makes a really inexpensive, but awesome & easy to use scissors sharpener. Makes your scissors work better than new! Stick yours scissors in there & "scissor" (cut) about 4 times. That's it. So easy. When I got this little thing & tried it I was so impressed I ran around my house sharpening all my old scissors. Works on the cheapest scissors to my most expensive pair.

Hot glue gun

Hot glue guns are the best invention ever--especially for this girl who hates to sew! Invest in a quality high heat glue gun. Don't bother with the different types of glue sticks--the plain old clear craft glue ones work best for every type of material. Do be careful. The glue gun is my best friend & worst enemy--those burns are awful! I use one of the extra glue sticks to poke things into place & to roll over things I've just glued. You can also use an old, small paint roller (but for tight spaces a left over glue stick works well). *Those rubbery gardening gloves work well for protecting yourself from hot glue gun burns (& from protecting your neighbors from hearing obscenities being shouted from your house/work space)! :)

Painting Tips

Frog tape is my favorite & multiple light coats does work best. Primer is always a good idea. If you're painting furniture with a lot of curves & hard to paint crevices, adding water to your water-based primer works really well. It goes on quickly, gets in all the cracks, & for some reason it even seems to make the next coat of paint stick better. One note though--it's messy & you'll definitely want to wipe up drips before they harden. A slightly damp sponge brush works well for wiping up drips.
There are some who prefer hand painting & some who prefer spray painting. There are great arguments for both sides. Me--it depends on the application. And why can't you combine the two? I often do & the results are really great! I'll do a spray painted base (spray primer & a light layer of the real color) & then will hand paint over that. I've found this to be the best in terms of durability. You will see brush strokes, but I think that adds to the character of most items. If there is a piece where I do not want brush strokes--then spray paint works best, but multiple light layers (including primer) are the way to go. And there will be drips. You just have to deal with them as best you can. I sometimes lightly sand them away or I'll spray a brush with the spray paint & VERY lightly go over the drip to get it to "disappear." For spray painting Rustoleum is my favorite for most jobs. DO buy spray paint at bigger retailers such as Menards or Walmart & DON'T buy it at craft stores such as Hobby Lobby or Michael's--it's twice as much at craft stores versus big general retailers.
As far as air compressor paint sprayers or self contained paint sprayers I'm not the girl to ask on this one as I've never found one that I like. (There are the systems that cost thousands, but I've not tried those. I'm a DIY, at my house, real person--most of us don't have $2k & the space to invest in a professional paint sprayer/paint room.) If I find one I like I will post it here. So far they all clog, don't cover well, & are difficult to set up, clean up, & put away.

Brushes

For chalkboard paint or specialized paints I use fancy schmancy brushes, but for everything else I use cheap foam brushes. They don't leave streaks & they are cheap enough to be disposable. Also, you can pull the stick out of the foam brush & use a gloved hand & the foamy sponge top of the brush to paint things with many twists, turns, nooks, & crannies. (Don't throw the stick away--it makes a great paint stirrer.) For nearly every project, foam brushes work better for me than the bristled kind. TIP--I wear rubber gloves when I'm painting & in between coats I stick the brush in the rubber glove so it doesn't dry out & you can use it again. (This works for all brushes, rollers, etc. Just use a plastic bag for larger brushes/rollers.)

White & Grey (& metallic)

Painting anything white or grey nearly always makes it look awesome. Grey hides imperfections much better than white. Tip--If you really need to hide imperfections, stripes work well (but many faux finishes usually do not because the various colors actually get into the dents/imperfections & can make them more noticeable). Rustoleum makes a spray paint that looks like stone. It hides imperfections REALLY well & is super durable (let it dry for at least a day before using). Metallics also work well to give things a modern update. There are great metallic spray paints in nearly every color/tone.

Rolling Tool Box = Scrapbook cart

I've found the best travelling scrapbooking cart ever! It was under $40 at Menards. It's a rolling tool box & can often be found on sale for $40, but you can get it for even less if you use your Menard's card (2% back) & go during one of their 11% sales (you get 11% back on everything regardless of how you pay). My cart was $35! It has a tip out large bottom compartment that is exactly the right size for 12 x12 paper & pages. It has three middle drawers for things like markers, scissors, punches, etc. And it has a top "catch all" compartment that is deep enough for my paper cutters, bigger punches, general things of odd sizes. Best of all--it's very durable & has sturdy wheels. This makes it ideal for rolling it to other locations to scrapbook with your friends. Love this!

Outdated Lamps

Spray paint! This lamp had a great shape, but the colors were dated. The bright green gives it a modern twist.

Picture Frames

There are stacks of frame at resale/thrift stores & garage sales for next to nothing & picture frames are the easiest thing in the world to paint. No need to ever pay retail. I snap photos of frames I like & then recreate those using found frames w/ a similar shape & paint. (Oh & have you noticed retailers love to put the price tag on the glass of the picture frame. Rubbing alcohol or alcohol prep pads work incredibly well to get these stickers off.)

Easy, You Probably Already Have Them, Work Surfaces

Toss an old folding table (legs folded in) on a dolly. This works SO well for painting larger items (furniture) because you can spin the whole contraption around. An ironing board makes a great work surface for working on chairs. You can flip them upside down on top of an ironing board--especially works well for dining chairs w/ arms (those suckers don't fit well on any surface). I put a garbage bag over my ironing board to keep it clean & put a canvas drop cloth over that. (The garbage bag keeps paint/glue/liquids off the ironing board, but the drop cloth is a better overall work surface--absorbs, lays flat, not slippery.)

Pegboard

What can't you do with peg board? Cheap, light weight, comes in a variety of sizes, has holes in it--so no need to predrill. Have used this as the "insides" inbetween layers of foam for upholstering the back of dining chairs & have used it to make bottoms for ottomans, headboards, shelves. Also very handy to have scrap pieces of this laying around if you're painting hardware. You screw your knobs/pulls right into the peg board & it holds them upright for you to paint. I have some heavy duty scissors (there should be a better word for these monsters) that will cut through this.

Painting drawer pulls, hardware, knobs, etc.

Spray paint works best. I especially love the "hammered metal" Rustoleum spray paint. It's in various shades & is very durable. (I realize I've mentioned Rustoleum a lot. I promise I'm not being paid by them. Their products just generally do what they say they will do & are easy to use.
You can use a nail gun (or a hammer & nails) & pop a few nails through a piece of hardboard (or cardboard). Use the nails to hold your hardware or knobs up so that you can spray paint evenly & from all angles. A bonus is that the hardboard is heavy enough that when you lay it on a drop cloth it will keep the wind from blowing your drop cloth around onto your freshly painted items (hate that!).
I have not figured out any way to keep ants & insects out of your painting space. You would think the toxic chemicals that will most likely end their tiny lives would be a natural deterrent, but nope.

Dixie Cups

Dixie Cups are super helpful to have around. Use them to keep screws/pieces of the project you're working on handy, from running away, & from getting mixed up with hardware. You can label the cups w/ a Sharpie.

Dry Wall Screws

Dry wall screws will always be my favorite type of screws. Love! They are coarse so they hold onto the material (to avoid that run away drill, I just drilled my hand scenario) & they don't strip very easily. They aren't good for outdoor applications because they may rust although I've used them outdoors & haven't had that happen yet. I mention farther down on this page that multi purpose screws are a waste of time. Dry wall screws should be called multi purpose screws--they've worked for all of my purposes.

Stain removal Goo Gone & Magic Eraser & Rubbing alcohol

If you can't get a stain off of something w/ one of these products, then it's probably impossible to get the stain out. Goo Gone will get paint off your cell phone, but don't get it in the charging port or on the lens of the camera. If you do, use an alcohol prep pad to clean it out. Magic eraser works really well to get old stains off vintage furniture. It's great on walls, but always start gently because it can take the paint off of walls/furniture pretty easily. Rubbing alcohol is fantastic too. Gets stickers off, marker, crayon, etc. I wouldn't use it on fabric--stick to hard surfaces & with all products do a little test spot in an area you can't see first.

Padding & Stuffing

This stuff can be expensive if purchased at a craft store, but look around you--padding & stuffing are everywhere. Major retailers like Target or Walmart have pillows full of stuffing for $2-$4. Try carpet padding covered in a clearance or thrift store comforter or to make your own upholstered bench. Garage sales are a great place to get pillows & comforters that can be used for stuffing/padding too! *If you buy at garage sales or thrift stores, just make sure to wash the items in very hot water (with any soap--but adding a cup of vinegar too will get the items extra clean & even eliminates fuzzies).

Fabric

Think outside of the box w/ fabric too. Fabric is everywhere--shower curtains, curtains, long/flowy dresses. The great thing about using a fabric shower curtain to upholster a chair or bench is that it is super durable & resistant to stains/tears/spills.

Creative Drawer Hardware

Get creative to make unique drawer pulls. You can use round objects, found objects, objects w/ a hole of any type to make a unique drawer or cabinet knob by securing them with zip ties. Zip ties come in a variety of colors so you can find some (at the hardware store) that will blend right in with your hardware.

DIY drawer pulls (step by step)

Sticky Drawers

Old furniture & furniture that has been painted often have sticky drawers. An easy fix is to take some wax (wood finishing wax, bees wax, any type of wax will do) & rub it along the bottoms of the drawers & the track the drawers slide on. If you don't have wax, PAM cooking spray or Olive Oil works pretty well too. Be careful with the oils though because they can stain upholstery.

IKEA HACK: Add hanging file folder drawers to a vintage desk

Make Your Own Headboard

Making a headboard is easy!

Need an appraiser?

www.AuctionWally.com is the best. He's super knowledgeable & gives you a detailed, honest appraisal (for super cheap) in a few days. I've used his online service for multiple items & he never fails to deliver.

Dry Erase Markers

DON'Ts!

I usually share things that DO work, but I also often come across things that are awful. I'll post them here & hopefully save someone a bit of frustration.

Rustoleum front door paint (in a can)--I normally love Rustoleum's products, but the smell of this one could knock out a moose. The chemical smell is over-powering & saturated my entire house after using this paint only in the garage (& I don't mean for a few hours--we're going on days now & the smell is still upsetting our stomachs & giving us headaches). The other hard part is that the paint turns sticky & rubbery really quickly so it ruins brushes. The only positive is that the paint, once dry, is fairly durable, but I've used plenty of paints that are durable & have never had this much of a problem with the chemical stink.
$20 Rustoleum counter top "resurfacing" paint--Seems like I'm picking on Rustoleum here, but I'm not! I love their spray paints. This product just isn't practical though. It's hard to apply, looks bumpy/uneven, takes FOREVER to dry (took 2 weeks for it to fully set in our house) & items that we put on the counter (like a soap dispenser) have left permanent marks in the finish. It's a quick solution for a horrible counter top & I appreciate that--that is a definite positive, but I wouldn't use it as any type of permanent solution or on any kind of counter top that is at all bearable.
Multi-purpose screws--These are a waste of time. It's better to buy wood screws or sheet metal screws or the specific screws for the material you're working with. If you don't know, it's still smarter to buy a few smaller packages (one of each of the types of screws) than it is to buy those multi-purpose ones which don't seem to work well on any surface so I'm not entirely sure which purposes (multiple or otherwise) they serve. Dry wall screws (coarse) will always be my favorite type of screws!
Cheap Scissors--Way too frustrating & can ruin your projects. It's worth it to spend the money on some items--scissors are definitely one of them!

How to Reupholster

There is a great blog called www.allthingsthrifty.com that has some great "HOW TOs." Here is one on how to reupholster http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2009/11/reupholstering-101-how-to-reupholster.html