Guest Bedroom Furniture Updates

So. This happened.

And then this.

Wait, didn't I already make a board and batten headboard months ago?

Yes, yes I did. But it ended up needing to be redone.


Sadly, after I built the headboard, I just kind of left it propped there, leaning up against the wall, and never got around to mounting it on the wall. That's partly because we were working on other things, and partly because of poor planning on my part--there was an electrical outlet and old phone jack in the way of mounting the old headboard on the wall.

But then recently, when I went to actually figure out what to do about it, I found that leaving a heavy wood headboard leaning up against a wall for 6 months wasn't good for wood filler. Wood filler works a whole lot better for filling nail and screw holes, and not so good for filling cracks that might shift over time, say, if left leaning up on a wall, instead of mounted flush with the wall.

It was ugly. I tried to sand it, so I could repaint it, but it just wasn't looking very good. So I tossed it in our pile to take to the dump, and then promptly lost the photos. But trust me, cracked paint over cracked wood filler was not pretty.

So I made the headboard again, but this time I just straight attached the wood slats to the wall, with a combination of screws into studs and drywall anchors for the vertical slats that would miss the studs. I omitted the back panel of wood this time, and just used the wall. So much easier than all of the steps I went through last time, and to prevent the wood filler cracking issues, this time around I used paintable caulk in the cracks between the slats instead.

Plus, as an added bonus, now that we own a miter saw, I was able to make the crown moulding along the top look a lot cleaner. You know, actually attach it like normal crown moulding, and not just glue it on flat!

So. Hooray for a non-cracked guest room headboard!

In other guest room news, I finally have been able to move forward on some of the other furniture pieces I was having difficulty painting. The bedside apothecary table is now done, and ready to be moved into place once the headboard has a chance to dry.

I've had this little table since I was in high school. I think I probably intended to paint it back when I got it, but then never did. It followed me to college, and has served as a little front hall table to pile mail on, lived in our bedroom at one point with a TV on it, and was next to my vanity area in our last house, as a storage place for my hair products and hot rollers. But now it is being returned to its original purpose, to serve as a bedside table again.



Because it was raw wood, and had been used in so many ways over the years, I had to do quite a bit of resurfacing on the top side of it to fill in the scratches and divots. But after several coats of primer, followed by several coats of semi gloss paint, and adding pretty blue knobs that I found at World Market (although they were sold individually in the store, for about half the price they are online), and it was like a brand new table!



I'm still working on the back panels for the other shelves that I've been painting for the guest room, and am going to be making some art for the walls on my day off on Monday. This guest room needs to be done, or close enough by next Friday though, since we will have our first real guests staying with us. Hopefully it will all come together quickly!

Have you ever had issues with wood filler before? Or had to toss something you made, and just start over again? It's hard to give up and start over, but at least in the case of this headboard, the second take is a whole lot better than the first!