DIY: Refinishing Headboards

If you'll remember, I bought a pair of twin headboards a few weeks back from a local consignment shop. I immediately knew these little fellas would need a facelift because that ivory paint just wasn't doing it for me. 

No matter which way I decided to take these guys (repaint or stain), first things first: Stripping!

Another blogger (don't remember who... shame on me!!) swore by Citristrip. And well, now I swear by it. Stuff is magic. MAGIC! Although, one piece of advice- buy the spray can. You'll also need a paintbrush (if you buy the jug), a scraper & some patience. Oh, & maybe a cocktail or 2 while you're waiting.

Now, be generous. Very generous. I soaked these headboards in this Pepto Bismal-ish goodness, and it still wasn't enough. So I smothered on more. And more. Then I waited. And waited. The directions say to wait 30 minutes... I waited about and hour and a half until it looked like this

Then, you scrape. 

 This is post scraping, where I decided that I like the wood. And thank God. Painting is not my forte!

 Since I decided to stain, I needed to condition the wood first. Don't skip this step. Imagine shampooing, blow drying & styling your hair without conditioner. EEEK!!!

Miniwax pre-stain wood conditioner, some gloves & a cloth are what you need for this step. Then, wipe it all ova.

Post conditioning

Finally, I chose 'Special Walnut' for my stain color. Still, all you need is the stain, gloves & 2 rags (one to stain & one to wipe away what the wood didn't soak in).

Once the conditioner dried (I waited about 20 minutes), I stained. I stuck my rag in the can, wiped it all over in the direction of the wood, waited about 5-10 minutes, then wiped off excess stain.

And viola!

I just love 'em. They look like a faux tortoise stain in person. Pretty awesome. Here they sit in our other unfinished guest room.

And that's my attempt at something crafty. Waddoyathink?

Xo Lindsay