That’s right, Karl‘s legs are pale no more. After some thought we decided to give all 12 of our sectional’s cheap looking birch legs a coat of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint to deepen them and give them a subtle sheen and dimension that brown paint just wouldn’t offer. It was pretty easy except it necessitated a bit of Karl disassembly. Poor guy.
But once we got all of those legs off it was as simple as sanding each of them with low grit paper by hand (I used 60 grit stuff I had around).
Although the legs looked pale and stain-less, they actually had some sort of clear finish on them (here’s one before sanding):
So in order to get the best adhesion for long-term durability, we wanted to make sure to create the most gritty (and grippy) wood surface that we could. Hence the quick sanding step (here’s the same leg after sanding):
It’s subtle in the pics, but hopefully you can see how the sandpaper stripped off that shine and left the wood looking raw and ready for paint (which always sticks a lot better to non-glossy surfaces).
And before I sprayed them, I also removed the little furry floor-protecting pads on the bottom since I didn’t want them to get all gunked up with paint. They peeled off pretty easily and still had enough sticky stuff left to go back on nice and securely afterwards.
So after each leg was un-padded it was time for their little makeover. Here’s what I went with: Rustoelum Universal Metallic spray paint in “oil-rubbed bronze” with a trigger spray nozzle (here’s an affiliate link to it on Amazon for anyone looking for it). It’s pretty fumey stuff so I laid out some cardboard and did all the spraying outside while wearing a mask that I’m sure freaked out all of the neighborhood squirrels.
Here are all of Karl’s legs after being doused with coat one of their new “spray tan” (I actually applied three thin coats for super even and non-drippy coverage):
Oh and for those of you looking for a few quick spray painting tips, here ya go:
- Skip the cheap $2 stuff in favor of the $7+ quality stuff (I like Rustoleum’s trigger spray nozzle because it goes on thin and even and doesn’t get all over your fingers).
- Always keep the can moving. If you’re a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin’.
- Keep the nozzle about 8-10″ away from whatever you’re spray painting.
- You really want a mist, not a heavy wet coating.
- Three thin and even coats are better than one thick and drippy one.
- Spray paint has yet to go no-VOC, so apply it outside with a mask, and let it fully cure as long as the can recommends outside whenever you can (usually 24 hours, we try to double that just to be even safer).
- You can “seal” any spray paint (to limit any off-gassing at all once you bring it inside) by applying two thin coats of Safecoat Acrylacq, which is low-VOC and non-toxic.
So once I applied my three supa thin coats of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, I just let them “cure” outside for 48 hours (12 of them were spent in the sun and the next 36 were spent in the carport because I worried it might rain) while our living room looked like this:
Yup, for two days that was the look. It was actually kind of fun to sit on our super low sofa. And Clara had a ball climbing on and off of it like she never could when it was up on legs. It was almost a shame to put them back on. Except for the fact that our living room looked crazy and getting off of such a low sofa while holding a 20 pound baby girl wasn’t exactly enjoyable.
Thanks to two days of outdoor drying time, by the time I brought in our newly bronzed legs they were nice and hard. Almost coin-like thanks to the oil-rubbed bronze paint that created a sleek finish. It’s hard to depict that in photos, but it has a nice metal-like sheen when you see it from different angles. And when the light hits it, it sort of bounces off and reflects like glass. Thankfully they didn’t smell all nasty and spray-paint-y after 48 hours of drying time outside (even when I stuck my nose right up against them like a weirdo). If they had I definitely would have applied two thin coats of Safecoat Acrylacq as I mentioned in the last bullet above though.
Then all that was left to do was to stick those furry floor-protecting pads back onto the bottom of each leg and cheer John on as he screwed them back into place (he’s the allen wrench ninja of our house). Bam, Karl was back to his old self. Only slightly more handsome and dapper. And can I just say that it felt inordinately awesome to have the living room put back together again?
See how the side of this leg seems to glimmer in the pic above? That’s the difference between choosing a metallic oil-rubbed spray paint and a deep brown paint or stain. That smidge of glitz just does it for me. But of course stain or paint could have totally worked too, it just depends what tickles your fancy.
Actually from certain angles and in lower lighting situations (like at night) it reads a bit more like a rich chocolate wood stain, which we definitely don’t mind.
So just for kicks, let’s flash back to Karl’s legs when they were all pale and birch-y:
And here’s the man of the house now. The difference isn’t heart-stoppingly amazing or anything, but as far as details go, it’s definitely a bit less “look at my squat little birch legs” than the original look. Most of all, look how happy Beansie is about the change. Just kidding, she’s just psyched to be on her favorite rug ever with a few toys. Oh to be a baby again.
And it’ll probably feel even more cohesive in there when we add oil-rubbed bronze curtain rods to the window and sliders (along with all the other stuff we’re craving, like a big console table behind Karl and a larger entertainment unit to add balance). But for now we’re just loving how our giant $1,248 sectional looks even more like the too-rich-for-our-blood $4,496 version from Room & Board that we fell in love with a while back:
Yay for a little sectional elevating sandpaper & spray paint adventure. If only my blindingly pale leg problem was that easy to solve…
Psst- Check out the weirdest baby toy that we’ve ever seen (p.s. Clara adores it) right here on BabyCenter.
Cindy says
Detail question- you said three thin coats are better than one thick one. Did you let any time lapse between coats or did you just rotate through the legs continuously until you did each of them lightly three times?
PS your legs look great, btw! ; )
YoungHouseLove says
I waited about ten to twenty minutes between coats. The can will tell you what to do when it comes to that (ex: don’t let more than an hour pass between coats unless you’re planning to wait 24 full hours until spraying again, etc). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amy says
did you make a pillow out of Sue the napkin? did I spy it on Karl? really love your blog…wish I could’ve had you with me at the resale shop today…considering chairs to paint and recover in new fabric…
YoungHouseLove says
Nope those are still faux pillows (we mentioned them here) but we promise to share details when we make them for real!
xo,
s
Sara says
Karl’s got some gorgeous gams =) What a huge difference that little change made. I have looked at Karl before at Ikea and couldn’t get around the birch legs. It never even occurred to me to paint or stain them. Of course you two thought of it., The living room is looking awesome. Did you make Sue the napkin into a real pillow or is that still a faux pillow?
YoungHouseLove says
They’re still 100% faux. Haha. Details when we make Sue pillows for realsies.
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Did you make sure to note which leg came from which part of the sectional? They look to be a little different.
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, they were all interchangeable (they came in one big bag from Ikea when we assembled them and it didn’t seem to matter when we put Karl back together either).
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Cool…I guess the bolts were just at different lengths when you got around to painting them.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, they slipped in and out so some look longer than others! Sorry not to explain that.
xo,
s
Wendy says
This is off-topic, but I know you guys recommend posting on your facebook page for advice from readers. Are there any other options or have you considered a forum on the blog? I have this very strong anti-facebook stance and I refuse to use it (probably sounds crazy, I know, but I just really don’t want to do it). But I want some advice from your readers…
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve definitely toyed with the idea of forums but due to spamming it can be an incredibly hard thing to code, maintain, and support when it comes to keeping a site from crashing and not spending every waking moment patrolling the threads for spammers and malicious code. We’d love to figure them out, but for now FB is free and those who use it seem to enjoy that quick and easy exchange of ideas (and of course we love that it can’t crash our site or help hackers get in)!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
I am with you on the anti-Facebook stance! Be strong! LOL
Brigid says
I thought I was the last remaining anti-facebooker out there! Glad to see there are others :)
YoungHouseLove says
You guys definitely aren’t alone! We know at least ten anti FB friends!
xo,
s
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
I’ve been meaning to ask you guys this as well. My husband and I were talking about how you guys should start a community ala Dooce. But I figure it’s a lot of work and you guys are very hands on with your comments. I can see it becoming a huge undertaking!
YoungHouseLove says
Someday we’d love to make it happen if we can balance it all!
xo,
s
Wendy says
Ha – thanks for the support! I’m the only one I know, so it’s good to hear of others! I admit I was toying with the idea of a new generic email address and a facebook account that can’t in any way be traced back to me just for the YHL posting (and never admitting it to anyone). But I just don’t think I can do it.
mike @ the lil house that could says
Hi — just chiming in with some experience.
I also manage a successful music community. Much of our comments and forum threads are moderated through volunteers. It’s been easy to find quality candidates to help out where needed. Sure, some do fall through the cracks, but that is expected.
Additionally, there are many pre-scripted anti-spam applications free of use. You might be using one already with Akismet within WordPress.
And then! I’d be more than willing to join the YHL family and code+moderate this bad boy!
Ok, enough tech talk — now back to trying to comment-on-your-site-before-my-wife-does!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw you’re sweet Mike! We’d love to make it work someday!
xo,
s
Amanda says
Wendy, from your comment, you seem to be anti-facebook because of a security thing? If not completely disgreguard this comment.
FB has strong security in their website and you can basically be on there, but no one find you; You are able to add people but people can’t “find” you to add you.
I have all my securities set high, so if someone were to search my name, they’d find little information on myself and only a “request to add” button, but there are ways to take that button off. You can hide your email and such so that no one will even know what it is. And you don’t need to put a picture if you don’t want to.
Just a thought if so you could get on the YHL FB page band-wagon. :)
Ted says
I was a long-time hold out about FB, because I work in IT security and I know about a lot of the security issues. And for that reason, my wife did not trust it either. I wouldn’t use FB on any system that I would connect to work on. But last fall when I upgraded my desktop computer, the old computer became our “Facebook” server. This is the only computer in our house that we use for Facebook and now we both use FB. We get on about 1-3 times per week each.
Erika says
I don’t like facebook either! So glad others are anti-FB. I also considered making a false identity, just for coupons, deals, and the blogs I read…but it felt too dishonest!
Desiree says
Count me among the anti-FB troop! I grudgingly have one because my cousin regularly posts pictures of her daughters, but the drama is way too much for me!
gk says
hello, other anti-facebook people! i only have two friends who aren’t on it (heck, even my parents are on there) so it’s always nice to see that i’m not alone :)
Wendy says
Love all the support here! It’s not for security reasons actually. I am a private person, and while I tell and share lots with my friends, I am very uncomfortable with putting stuff out there and not knowing who has seen what. And even the things I do share, I like to do that personally. My boyfriend is on facebook and he’s not as crazy about it as a lot of people are, but I still find it creepy when my best friend knows things he’s done or asks me if I did XX with him. I just think it’s creepy. And I want to avoid all the drama. And I think some people live on facebook instead of in real life. So it’s just not right for me. It’s good to hear there are others…
Wendy says
Ha, I just re-read my comment and I didn’t mean “did XX” to sound scandalous. Just whatever it is that he did that particular day.
Julie says
I love it!! I wish I’d thought of spray painting – I decided to stain the legs on my own Karl, but the wood did not take the stain very well. It turned out fine, but took for-ev-er to dry.
To Kristen – We’ve had the corner sofa in Korndal brown for about a year now and really like it. The couch itself has held up well – the back cushions tend to sag/smush a little but they can be fluffed back up. I’m not 100% in love with the Korndal brown cover. It’s definitely not horrible, but since it’s dry clean only it’s tough to clean (I wash it anyway but feel guilty when I do). That said, it’s held up remarkably well considering we have two crazy mutts and I’m super clumsy – I once spilled an entire bowl of Indian food on a cushion and it came out just fine. I think I’ll eventually switch to dark gray, the option to change up your whole couch look for $200 is great.
Rachael says
I like the new legs! They definitely don’t draw your attention anymore – beautiful!
Ana Silva says
My favorite line today “If you’re a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin’.” That was just too funny, I actually lol a bit. It looks a lot better. It doesnt stick out like a sore thumb anymore, great job!
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co says
What a HUGE difference! I loved the oil-rubbed-bronze choice instead of just a plain brown or black!
Laura says
Have you ever spray painted anything brass? I inherited a brass headboard and bed from my aunt when she moved but I am not a brass fan. It’s been in our garage this winter (so as not to offend me in the house) but I want to spray paint it this spring. We’ve spray painted a wood table and planters before but never anything with a brass texture. Think it can be done?
YoungHouseLove says
Brass takes awesomely well to spray paint! We’ve done a brass chandelier and a brass fireplace screen. Worked like a charm!
xo,
s
heather j. says
saw the babycenter post. my kids don’t have those, but every time we hit Target, they ask to go see “squeaky”, and they carry these toys around the store the whole time. three kids under four squeezing sing-a-ma-jigs. the other customers must love me :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, hilarious. They must hit some nice harmonies.
xo,
s
Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says
I love the way that paint works on the wood, looks awesome! We used similar stuff (same brand, no awesome trigger) on a stove hood/fan a few years ago and LOVED the way it looked exactly like the stainless appliances.
Just emailed my MIL to suggest Karl for their basement den that they’re adding to their summer house. I’m totally in love and wishing even more that we had a huge house with space for Karl!
tracy says
Looks great!! What a difference that paint makes!!
Ashley @ 7HL says
It’s so cool how such a little project can make such a BIG difference! It looks great!
We just purchased the same spray paint last night to transform a few planters. Love the color!
Pattie says
“SPRING CLEAN ME…”
I can’t wait to clean ALL of my windows! Nothing shouts springtime like clean windows.
Kathy says
Looks great! Such a small change made a big difference! I have a question for you about Ikea furniture- is it relatively easy to disassemble if you need to? We’re contemplating a sofa bed for our den but it won’t fit through the door. I knew we could assemble it IN the room, but wondered about disassembly (unless we were just going to leave it in there for the next folks!)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we disassembled Karl in about thirty minutes. I mean he was in pieces. Then we put him back together in the same amount of time. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rosa @ flutterflutter says
Looks less Ikea (not that there is anything wrong with that!) now for sure!
Eileen says
love it! looks much improved over the birch legs.
And thanks for those great spray painting tips. I just moved to Virginia (Charlottesville ~ will likely be making use of some of those Richmond recommendations you posted earlier for a weekend trip!) and am so excited to have some outdoor space to take on projects like this. In our Chicago condo we would frequently do things indoors – not ideal (and always made a big mess!). We did occasionally do painting outside on the porch, but found that leaving items outdoors to dry could result in little dust/pollen/leafy particles adhering and screwing up the finish. Do you have any issues like this when leaving items outside for so long? Maybe there’s less wind and dirt in Virginia so it’s not such a problem.
YoungHouseLove says
As long as you choose a clear not-too-windy day you should be a-ok! I haven’t had any issues. Good luck and welcome to VA!
xo,
s
linda says
that’s the very first thing we did when we brought our karlstad home: paint the legs! we had gotten some black brown colormatched to ikea’s black brown and used that… we have the light beige (lanyard beige i think it’s called)… they didn’t have the gorgeous grey yet! if they had… the whole color scheme of our house probably would have been different!
if it were me, though… i would have gone brushed nickel… just a personal preference… i like brushed nickle and grey together (and i prefer it for our hardware!)
but either way… the painted legs are a definite improvement!
Renee says
I miss our sectional couch!!! It took up too much space on the moving truck, so it stayed behind in Virginia. It wasn’t sleek and sexy like Keri. It was big and old and a gross beige type color… but that bad boy was so comfortable and big enough for Jon and Kate Plus 8… One day we’ll own a couch big enough for the whole family again. For now, we’re rocking our “normal” 3 seater
Jen S. says
“If you’re a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin’.”- Almost spit coffee on my screen at that one! LOL!
Karl is strapping. Hot legs for sure!
Anna says
Ohhh I like it.
And I didn’t think I would. Love it when that happens!
Here’s to taking a risk and trying something new :-)
Sasha says
I didn’t realize before just how big Karl is until I saw the picture with Clara in it. That is one big sofa!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh yes. He’s a monster! 140″ long!
xo,
s
carolinaheartstrings says
Wow big difference. Darker is definitely better. Cute Clara!!!!!!
Lara says
That’s one of my favorite spray paint colors – glad to see it highlighted on here! Now I need to bust out my house-number-planters I decorated using it last spring and fill them with some colorful fresh plants.
Love how something so simple made such a nice impact in your family room!
Nadia says
We actually just got some of the Hemnes media pieces from Ikea and LOVE it!! Two bookcases, a tv console and a bridge to make it all look like one big piece….totally transformed our wall and our living room. I loved that it’s actually made of real wood and not the usual laminate stuff, plus it’s got tons of storage. I’m thinking something like that would look awesome in your room…just a thought:)
Abby C. says
Karl is awesome, love the leg change. Is he comfortable to loll about on?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, quite. We love him.
xo,
s
Tiffany says
Great job as usual. I really wish you guys had a design show.
Joy says
That’s my favorite color of spray paint! We painted a chandelier with it in our last house & we recently painted a baker’s rack with it. The baker’s rack is over 10 years old & has lived outside for at least 3 of those years so the dark green paint was struggling. A coat of spray paint & some fresh stain on the wood shelf improved it 100% so it’s ready to hold a container garden this year!
adrienne gilliam says
It is amazing how small little details do make a total difference in a room! Looks great!
http://www.pickfair.etsy.com
Janet says
Does anyone else have “Hot Legs” by Rod Stewart running through their heads after reading this post?
(Or am I the only crazy 28-year-old who loves the Rod?)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha at The Rod. That’s what she said.
xo,
s
Jen S. says
Yes!
Lindsay says
I love the Rod!!! Danced to Forever Young (piano version) with my daddy at my wedding!
Elizabeth says
I was leaning more towards “She’s Got Legs” by ZZTopp…even though Karl is clearly a “he”!
Jen @ Domesticated Nomad says
Totally crushing on Karl now!
The Orchard says
Fabulous! Your living room is fantastic!
Robin says
I’m sure it’s just the photo… but do these new colored legs make the fabric look more ‘denim-y’?! Anyone think that?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s actually a lot like dark gray denim. So durable and good with kids and dogs!
xo,
s
Jenny @ DIY Newlyweds says
I think this is Sherry’s Jersey side coming out in full force. Not even Snooki spray tans her furniture! Maybe Karl needs a new nickname like the SITuation (you know, cause he’s a couch!) Haha! Sorry, I’m a Jersey girl too so I’m filled with these terrible jokes!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha. Comment of the week fo sho.
xo,
s
Jessica says
bwahahahaha HILARIOUS
Hilary @ My So-Called Home says
Oh spraypaint, you are amazing. The new look is fantastic and works well with your circles mirror too.
Landy says
Looks good! Much more cohesive than the pale wood legs…
Quick question: no primer? Is that not necessary with spray paint like it would be with regular paint? And on that note, I might as well ask about spray-painting metal, since you guys have WAY more experience with this kind of stuff than I do. I have a couple of old “black” metal lanterns that we picked up at ReStore. I’d like to spray paint them so that they’re ACTUALLY black; any thoughts on whether to use metal primer before the spray paint? I guess it can’t hurt… (except that then I have to go back to the store…)
YoungHouseLove says
Metal usually takes spray paint really well (especially if the label mentions metal as a material it’s meant for). As for primer, we would use some sort of spray primer like Kilz if we worried about wood bleed (ex: if we wanted the legs glossy white and worried the birch still had dark stain in it) but since we were going dark and we knew the birch wasn’t stained we didn’t need to worry about bleed through. Hope that makes sense!
xo,
s
Anne says
I like the new look, too, but am wondering if you’re at all concerned about the paint on the legs marking up the rug at all (since it’s a pretty deep pile). Maybe that’s one benefit of using the pricier paint (no bleeding).
YoungHouseLove says
Nope we have no worries with thin coats of spray paint. They cure even faster than primer plus paint (which can’t be applied as thinly as spray paint). It’s actually one of the reasons we chose spray paint, since it has such a hard coin-like finish. It won’t ever “run” on the carpet once it’s cured (which takes 24 hours according to the can but we waited 48 hours just in case). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Two Dogs & A House says
How do you notice all of these tiny details, that make such a difference? I never noticed Karl’s legs until you did the before and after, and wow! Great job! I love simple fixes that make a huge difference in the end.
Leah says
Now that you’ve had Karl for awhile and broken him in… how would you rate his comfort level?
I bought an Ikea couch a few years ago and it was ridiculously uncomfortable. Just wonderin’!
YoungHouseLove says
We couldn’t love snuggling up to Karl more. Very comfy indeed!
xo,
s
LARY says
It looks awesome! What a big difference for such a little tweak! Love it!
Can’t wait for when we get our new sectional… We’re waiting for our puppy to grow up hehe :)
barbie says
Wow, that makes your sectional look so much more stately! Seeing the before & afters side by side, I think it had a great impact on the room for little $$. I love anything that makes an Ikea piece look less Ikea-ish.
lifebeginsatthirtyright says
Looks so great! Do you know how tall the Karlstad is without the legs? I’m having issues finding a sofa that will fit down my 25″ stairs to the basement :-( This one looks promising though since it comes unassembled…
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure but I bet if you call ikea they can measure it for you right from the showroom. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Ted says
From the Ikea web-site, Karl is 31.5″ high and the legs are 3″ high, so it should be 28.5″ high without the legs.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Ted!!
xo,
s
lifebeginsatthirtyright says
Thanks Sherry and Ted for the reply!!
Mary Ann says
It’s amazing what a huge difference such a small change can make in the room!
Amy @ This DIY Life says
Love the look of the new legs. It makes Karl look a little less Ikea-y :) I’m totally going to steal the color for our new Ikea curtain rods that are, of course, hung high and wide…still waiting for the bumper sticker on that one BTW :)
Central-Portugal says
Thanks a lot!!
I’ve been thinking about doing something to my Karl’s legs and this is it!
Cheryl says
I’m loving how all the little touches are making the living room come together! And may I express my jealously of your wall color? I’ve been really campaigning to paint our living room gray, but Husband is having none if it. I make arguments like, “Not a stark gray, but a really pretty gray with dimension”… I get the same counter argument every time (referring to his Navy days), “I spent eight years of my life on a gray ship in the middle of the ocean. You paint this room gray and I will hang myself.” Who knew a color could evoke such emotion?!
Elizabeth says
Oh my! Never thought of it that way before.
hollyG says
I’ve always been one of those “it’s the little things that make me happy” and this is just one of those things. Such a small improvement but looks awesome! I’m a fairly new lover of spraypaint – now I have another idea to keep in mind for the future.
Rebecca says
Bahahah, love the “blindingly pale legs” part. SUCH a pain!
Grits & Glitter says
Karl looks great! I just bought a house with brass door knobs and other hardware (eek!). I wonder if this would work well for that issue…. It HAS to be less costly than buying new hardware, and I love the look of rubbed bronze!