DIY Credenza Makeover
with Molly Madfis
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I'm Molly.
I used to spend my days working freelance as a designer and TV editor and am now a work-at-home mom. My husband Gideon and I moved into our first house in the valley with our three cats, bodhi, lucy and rocky (yes three…), and then we had arlo!
I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts but moved to Los Angeles during high school.
I love lobster rolls, horror movies and the Beach Boys. I would have my proverbial hypothetical dinner with John Lennon, Howard Stern & Larry David, and we would eat fish tacos and margaritas and we'd become best friends forever. I named this blog because i could never do anything perfectly. EVER. It's always been frustrating but i've learned to accept it, and learned that it's part of the process. I'm too impatient to prime or let the paint dry all the way. I TRY to be super good at crafting. cooking. decorating. Try being the operative word. I mess stuff up. You'll see. But if you scroll way back to the beginning of the blog, I am clear proof that if you get your 10,000 hours in - you will get better! You'll get frustrated, you might swear a bit and want to punch something, but you'll get better.
It has been so long since I've redone furniture - but I used to do it constantly!
I had this one little side table I bought from the Fairfax flea market that I painted a new color almost every year as my taste was evolving. (it finally evolved into my taste today and the table has now found a new home… I think. it might actually be deep in the garage.)
When Ace Hardware reached out to have me paint a piece of furniture in need of an update - I immediately thought of this cabinet in my brother and sister in laws house. It's right in the front when you walk into their home, and while it obviously provides a lot of storage, the large size and the dark color were making it feel really heavy, and ultimately making the room feel darker as a whole. It also had a bunch of damaged spots from their dogs, so basically it was in desperate need of a makeover.
I feel like blush has basically become a neutral color these days, and I was leaning towards blush right away to give the room a subtle little pop of color, without being so crazy that they would get sick of it. After scouring my color board on pinterest, I felt pretty confident in what I was looking for before going by my local Ace to pick my paint.
Once I got to The Paint Studio, I narrowed down my favorites to a half dozen. I texted gid, all of my friends, and pretty much every employee before ultimately making
my choice: peanut butter from Clark+Kensington in a satin finish (Color 11A-3.) They have a baby too, so Clark+Kensington paint was perfect for this high-traffic piece because it's durable, stain resistant and stays cleaner, longer. It's super easy to wash (for when my nephew inevitably attempts to destroy it).
I was able to get everything I needed when I picked up the paint, but if you forget something or something is missing, with Ace's Extra Mile Promise you can contact the store to purchase all missing items over the phone and have them delivered for free, which is amazing. We got some wood filler and glue to fix up the problem areas, but the paint also helped hide them all so well.
First we sanded down the entire credenza, and then wiped it clean. This part took quite a while, but is crucial because otherwise the paint is more likely to peel off.
All of Clark+Kensington paints are paint and primer in one, which is so nice to skip that step.
Then we actually let it dry for 12 hours before I got to come back and style it back up for photos. Thank god I don't live there because I've never waited that long for anything to dry.
I am so happy with how it turned out, and so are my brother and sister in law. It totally brightens up the room and feels so fresh, almost like an entirely different piece of furniture. I honestly never saw the shape of it until it was painted.
The room feels so much happier now!
