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My wife had this tallboy sitting around for years and it was looking abit dated. It had abit of damage around the base so I decided to cut off the damage and then using my kreg pocket hole jig made a pine wood base and attached it to the tallboy. After filling in all dents and cracks with wood filler (I like using builders wood filler as I find it doesn't strink later) I then gave everything a rough sand I like a smooth finish so I went from 80grit to 320grit sand paper.
After sanding I got some white paint and mixed it with a 50-50 ratio with water and the paint I used this to white wash all the pine wood that wasn't getting painted. You simply brush it on and wipe it off with rag and it will tone the yellow of the timber down abit but still leave it looking natural.
Then I used porter's original - yacht race colour, I used the chalk paint version of porter's original, using chalk paint means you don't need an under coat, (quick tip fill in your knots with wood filler and use BIN primer you can buy it in a spray can and just give them a light coat and paint straight over them later you will never know they were there).
I used a high density foam roller to apply the paint make sure you soak your roller in water for 30mins before paint it will help give a smoother finish, after I painted the first coat I gave the whole piece a light sand with 320grit (if you only sand to 240grit just use that) I applied the second coat and gave that coat 1 more light sand and then waxed the whole piece using a natural wax.
Using the natural wax again I used this on the original finish on the inside of the draws this gives the draws a clean look making the timber look revived and not so dried out.
Finally my favourite part of the make over the handles I purchased some T handles off Etsy (they only supply the brass parts) so I then bought 13mm dowel and gave them the same white wash treatment cut them to size and this is the finished product.
Pretty much everything I used for materials minus the T brass handles were purchased from Bunnings so I hope you like it I'm super happy with the outcome and only took 3 days to complete so not a huge project.
Hi @Pauly86,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community! It is wonderful you have decided to join and share your tallboy makeover with us. You'll find Workshop to be a great source of inspiration and advice for all things DIY and garden. Some of our members' projects get featured in our Top Ideas section, you might find yours there one day.
You have done such a stunning job on this upcycle project. You have given some amazing tips on using spray primer on filled-in knots and also soaking your roller for 30min gives you a smooth finish. I am going to have to try these on my next project! I'll make sure to tag you when I do. Would you say that a project like this saves money because it is cheaper than buying new?
Katie
