Easy Update for an 80s Style Lazy Susan

Do you guys remember last year when wood slices were “it?” There were gorgeous wood slice projects all over the internet. They were everywhere! I was lucky enough to find this lazy susan when I was giving a woodlands themed party last year. We used it off and on when entertaining for a few months but the orange tint/tannin always bothered me. It was really functional though and for that reason I’ve been holding on to it. I rediscovered the piece when my mom and I were cleaning out the inventory closet and immediately thought about updating the lazy susan for summer.

At first, I thought I could sand the stain off and restain it. But a good sanding with 80 grit sandpaper barely touched the orange. When that didn’t work I tried to coat it several times with a vinegar and steel wool solution but that didn’t work either. Finally, I resigned myself to the fact it was probably some sort of cedar and the color wasn’t going to change no matter how many times I sanded it.

I felt pretty confident with painting the piece after reading how Brenda from Unique Juntique gave her lazy susan a vintage Florida makeover a few months ago. I decided to paint this one with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a mix of Country Grey and Old White. It’s no longer food safe but I’m totally ok with that. Here’s a look at the lazy susan after two thin coats of the custom mix.

Way better than the orange but still kind of plain.

One of my favorite things about summer is visiting our local farmers market. There are so many farmers and farm families that work really hard to bring us fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants and cheese products all season long. It’s always exciting to purchase something homemade with a special label that says, “From the kitchen of…” or “From my kitchen to yours…” or “Made especially for you…” I love those kinds of details and thought they would be perfect for the lazy susan.

I created this graphic in word using my home computer but you could also use design feature in Pic Monkey and printed it out at home.

A super easy way to transfer the image onto the lazy susan without any special equipment or tracing paper use a pencil to first shade the back of the image covering the image well.

Then flip the paper back over placing it where you want to transfer the image. Using an ink pen outline each letter. Just a tip, if you have a lot of letters to trace or even a picture you may want to consider using painters tape to help hold the paper in place while you’re tracing.

After the letters/image has been transferred

use craft paints (I’m using black) and a fine tip art brush to fill in each letter/image.

If you want a more distressed look, lightly sand with 320-grit sandpaper or a piece of steel wool.

Seal with a top coat that best suits your needs. For example, this one is sealed with polycrylic.

I know we’re going to use this lazy susan for everything from impromptu porch visits to family barbeques to an ice cream social for the littles this summer.

This is an easy way to give a fresh look to a kitchen staple. It would be a cute hostess gift too so be on the lookout at your local antique malls, charity shops, thrift stores and yard sales.

See you guys back here tomorrow. In the middle of final push for the One Room Challenge, I sold one of the biggest pieces of furniture in my booth so I’ll share how I updated a metal patio set with you.

Many blessings,

CoCo