Furniture updates do not need a magic wand: a paint and brush is enough

Savings – usual

A recent resident of old furniture, who has recently flown out of Egypt, laughs that the rest is really deserved, as renovating hard furniture is physically hard work.

« It may seem that I just repaint the cabinet doors and I take money for it. If anyone see how much the painting still needs to do the preparatory work – removing the door, rubbing, scrubbing, etc., otherwise thinking.

Born and raised in the village, Marijampolė district, Vainora was never afraid of work. « My parents are farmers, the house is big, so until you are renovating one end, look, the other is getting wandering. Save, not buy a new one, and the old one is in my blood.

The doors, the windows were painted from a young age, only in those days, they say the paint was not that good – it had a pungent smell. And the color palette was more modest: brown, cherry, yellow. Not as it is now. The only inconvenience is to choose what is right for your work and what is not. This, according to Vainora, takes time.

« I am currently working with odorless, water -based, paint. Although there is no smell, I still do the respirator because before that with an electric scrub I have to polish the entire surface of the furniture to make the paint better, » explains V. Blaškevičiūtė.

What gave the girl a freshwater for furniture renovation? Vainora says she gradually discovered everything – she tried, experimented, learned from the Internet, listened to her parents’ advice, so it took so long – even eight years.

Metamorphosis: Refurbishing a kitchen furniture set cost around 200 euros when a new set would have cost several thousand. V. Blaškevičiūtė chose the most popular – green – color this year. / Photo by V. Blaškevičiūtė’s personal archive

Work in the office did not satisfy

The girl who studied international business in Finland worked for a while after graduation. He then returned to his homeland to farm under the young farmers’ program, but it was determined that this was only a temporary phase.

« I started with the fact that I attached the wheels to the upper part of the section, repainted it and turned it into a chest of drawers. Then I repainted the kitchen cabinet. I liked it. I bought my first grinder in 2017, » says Vainora.

Initially, Marijampolė wanted to just save old furniture. They were found in the attic of their parents’ homes, and others were given by friends, finding out what she was doing.

« When the residents were collected from the coarse waste, they were bound by the road before being transported. Then I could choose what could be resurrected for a second life, » explains V. Blaškevičiūtė.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Vainora took only the renovation of smaller furniture – giving the second chance to tables, tables, chests. « I wanted to reveal the beauty of the tree, so I scrubbed the surface of the furniture until the pure tree was applied, » she explains, saying that the task was not light. « Sometimes I scored the furniture all the way to the tree, anointed with oil,

Eventually, he decided to confine himself to furniture painting only. A major breakthrough happened a few years ago when the girl realized the big change in the kitchen furniture set up a set of kitchen furniture it could bring to all homes, and the work itself liked it.

« Now the new furniture is expensive, it takes a long time to order and make, » explains Vainora, who starts to refresh the kitchens and share their ‘before and after’ on Instagram.

Orders lost long wait. The biggest initiators of change were women. After calculating how much the new kitchen furniture set would cost, they were called by Vainorai and asked for help. The most popular color of the kitchens is green. « Of all the colors, it’s the best, suitable for all kinds of home environments, » she says. According to her, men who are afraid of change are the most opposed to changes at home and say they are good as they are.

Growth: Beginning its business with small furniture – cabinets, chests of drawers, tables – currently only works with larger projects – kitchens, sections, cabinets. / Photo by V. Blaškevičiūtė’s personal archive

Renovated the apartment itself

After seeing what changes to the home can bring to the kitchen furniture, Vainora is determined to renovate her home in Vilnius. « The apartment had furniture, but very old, because the apartment itself was about 20 years ago, » says V. Blaškevičiūtė, who started to update and repaint a little bit of her home.

« When I got into the apartment, it was black and white and cold. I didn’t like it because the cold just scolded the eye and wanted warm colors, » she says. « Everything looks different now. »

The bathroom turned into coral with black and green details. The walls of the room also got more colors. The dining table is black, the shoe box is pink, a pair of cabinets – brown, wardrobe – green.

After renovating all the furniture in the apartment, Vainora noticed that the kitchen furniture set simply falls out of the overall interior context – he took up nothing.

Usually it takes about five days to renovate kitchen furniture, but then the project took much more time to take much more time because the work had to be done in his spare time. The interlocutor estimates that the renovation of her kitchen furniture kit cost around € 200, when a new kit would have cost several thousand.

Save, not buy a new one, and the old one is in my blood from childhood.

Long preparation process

Vainora explains that the door and other front parts of the furniture turn and take them to the workshop. The lateral parts of the housing of the housing. The inner parts of the furniture, if not very ugly, recommend that they leave as they are, as they still scratch it quickly. A great job is to degrease all cabinet facades and then polish their surfaces.

Some customers admit they wanted to make the kitchen furniture themselves, but when they see how much work they have already removed the door, they are happy to entrust the renovation. « They don’t even need to move the kitchen. I take the door and the contents of the cabinets stay in their place, » smiles the furniture renovator.

After completing the preparatory work, the furniture details are covered with a special adhesive tape. « Preparing for painting takes the longest time, » she explains.

When preparing everything, then priming, and when the soil dries, it applies several layers of paint. The painted furniture details are covered with wax. Then they take everything to the customer’s house and install it back to places. The final highlight is new knobs.

Although at first Vainora did everything herself, it can now afford to have reinforcement. Her sister has joined the hard furniture renovation team and has a helper when repainting the kitchen furniture or section door must be returned to places. « It used to be, with one hand, I hold the door, the other is trying to screw it with a screwdriver. It takes both strength and dexter. The next day, all the back muscles hurt, » the master explains.

Currently, the priorities of Vainora are kitchen sets, sections, cabinets during the Soviet era or later. It no longer takes the refurbishment of fine furniture. He says a lot of ducks, and the result does not always make the expected impression. It does not repair and severely damaged, highly balanced, decayed furniture. They recommend changing such hosts with new ones.

« I like to work with kitchen kits. I have renewed them about 40 so far. Furniture made 10-20 years ago is usually good, only for people they look morally outdated, » explains Vainora.

The image at home immediately changes. In addition, when the color gets tired, they can be repainted again without much financial investment.

Growth: Beginning its business with small furniture – cabinets, chests of drawers, tables – currently only works with larger projects – kitchens, sections, cabinets. / Photo by V. Blaškevičiūtė’s personal archive

The upholstered furniture is not interested

Often people in Vainora ask if she is not working with upholstered furniture. The answer is always one: « No ».

« I have a girlfriend who is engaged in it. I have attended a chair renovation workshop. Many people, I know, just shoot a new tapestry on top and that’s it, but if you want to refurbish the whole chair from the shoulder, I have to get out of my shoulder.

The girl recently added to the home door of the home, and after renovating kitchen furniture, the girl often receives a request to beautify the walls. « Older generation kitchens are often carved with such ancient wooden tables. They are firm, but morally outdated, out of fashion. After cutting and painting them in today’s colors, the interior of the home changes fundamentally, » she explains.

When asked if he was not suffering from the nails while doing such a job, Vainora smiles and says that the manicure did not do at first. However, in the long run, he realized that gel nails even help work. « Before I start painting the door, I stuck it with adhesive tape. When it comes to removing it, then those gel nails are indispensable, serving me as a tool, » the goldsmith laughs.

Photo by V. Blaškevičiūtė Personal Archive

The heart is stroked by gratitude

What challenges does a girl experience at work? Initially, it was physically difficult to fasten the door back to place until they had help. Currently, the main problem is that old furniture is not always placed in place – old mechanisms, and getting the same is a big problem.

« You have to drive around the furniture stores and look. Or, sometimes, you pick up the whole kitchen, and one drawer closes somehow crooked. While the furniture was old – no one even pays attention to it, and when the image changed the defect just starving, » explains V. Blaškevičiūtė.

Before removing the cabinet door, she takes a thorough photo to know what to do later. The funniest thing is when you turn new handles for cabinets. People who see the final image are happy, thankful. « It’s the most pleasant part of the job, » confesses the furniture renovant.

Maybe Vainoras don’t need to go to the gym if they are so physically tired? The girl responds to this replies that she has not yet removed the sports club from her spare time. Because of its high height, it often hurts her back due to constant work. The exercises must strengthen it. Also, entertaining dances for their pleasure.

When asked if she is interested in not only old furniture, but also clothes, Vainora agrees that the wearable clothing stores have undiscovered treasures. In addition, she likes to look for new combinations with furniture and clothes. The effect of surprise is a true driving force. « Especially for women, that creativity is very health, » she smiles and wishes as many interesting projects as possible.