Just A Little Spray Paint...

I've been so bogged down with all the random repairs we've had to do on our house lately that my enthusiasm was really beginning to wane. I decided I needed to switch things up (much to the dismay of my mom), plus my garage was starting to look like a thrift store with all the furniture in there; so I thought I would try my hand at spray painting a few items I had acquired that needed some sprucing. Here are the items before:

I got these two thread holders from my sister-in-law's husband's grandmother when she had to move. The serger cone holder was even full of thread! I just had to take it all off for painting. These have been hanging out in my junk room closet for, oh, 3 years or so? You can't rush these things, you know...

The little orange basket was a thrift store find a few months ago and it has been holding my pressing hams :) The green baskets were from the Target dollar spot and I snagged them for $1.25 each.

This baby was given to me by my friend Brenna when she left the country. It's just a basic laminate computer desk, but I have plans to use it for my sewing machine, so it needs a makeover.

So, last Sunday I started priming everything. I wanted to be very thorough so I used different types of paint for different materials. The thread holders I sprayed with Valspar Paint & Primer in White. The metal baskets and metal legs of the desk I sprayed with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer in White. The desk also had plastic caps on the legs and a black plastic edging around the top and little raised section so I lightly sanded the plastic parts and then sprayed them with Valspar's Plastic Primer in Clear. 

This is what everything looked like last Sunday when I had to leave. I didn't have another chance to work on them more until yesterday.

Yesterday was officially "The Day of the Desk" and I made sure to get it as far as I could in between my other projects inside the house. I did 3 more coats of Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer on the legs (I coated until it looked even and 4 coats total seemed to do the job). Following the recommendation of my lovely friend Tara (my spray paint guru), I lightly sanded the laminate parts next. Then I covered all the laminate and plastic with 3 coats of Kilz Spray Primer. I went with the Kilz because I was told to get something that gave a sandy finish so the other paint would be able to grab hold better. By the time I had finished all my priming, the desk looked like this:

Ah, lovely and clean white :) I'm really happy with how all the finishes came out. I had heard others complain about the Kilz leaving a rough texture afterwards, but I just took a medium grit sanding block and lightly rubbed off the gritty pieces - worked like a charm! I really wanted to go the extra mile on this desk because I know it will get a beating with my sewing machine on top of it. I did get a smidge further on it last night, but I want to save the rest of the progress for a big reveal :) I should finish it in the next few days and have it up in my sewing room (and have a desk sized space cleared in the garage)! I can't wait!