I’m trying to live a more sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle. Here’s some hacks and tips I’ve pick up along the way to reduce your footprint!

Painting and refinishing old furniture is a new trend, and it’s also eco friendly. I’m sure you’ve seen chalk paint refinished furniture on Instagram, but what if I told you that you can do it yourself? It’s easy to do, and is great for the environment because it recycles, repurposes, and reduces the need for more lumber to make furniture.

The first step is finding the perfect piece. This can be found for free on the side of the road, at a yard sale, at a thrift shop, or even as a hand me down from a family member! Go for real wood if you can. It’s amazing how much wooden furniture you can get for free or low cost because it’s beat or old: that’s part of the magic or restoring.

Figuring out what color to paint is hard, but a great start is to go to Home Depot (or another supply store), and look at the Oops Paint. These are highly marked down paints that are slightly messed up, but make great paints for furniture painting! I got a $50 gallon of paint that was only $10, and it was this stunning, high quality dusty lilac!

Another useful tool is an electric sander. Alternatively, you can use sandpaper, but it may be harder. We used three different grits to remove all old paint and make it as smooth as a baby’s bottom. This is a prime base step to make sure the paint goes on great (it’s like exfoliating your skin before makeup). Make sure to wipe off extra grit before starting to paint.

Then, it’s time to paint. Use a soft fiber brush, paint the piece, and make sure to do 3 coats with drying time in between. I find this to be the fun part, just make sure it looks opaque and smooth! It’s really not challenging, and fun to do with music and a friend.

Finally, to seal everything in, you need a good sealant. We used Polycrylic, a challenging but worthwhile sealant that makes sure the piece doesn’t yellow, while locking in the paint. This also requires 3, very patient coats (with sanding in between), but it gives the longevity of a store bought piece of furniture.

Finishing the piece up with design elements is the best part. I am really a fan of Anthropologie knobs, so I added a mix matched, vintage inspired knob situation that I think really pulled it all together. We also lined the drawers with simple contact paper. This is where you can really be creative, think stencils, paper, patterns, knobs, the works!

Recycling and refinishing furniture is not only eco-friendly, it is also a fun activity to do, and really allows you to customize the piece to your personal style. This will save money, allow you to be creative, and contribute to more sustainable living!

All thoughts and opinions are my own.