Skip to Search Skip to Live Player Skip to Content Skip to Footer
Primary Menu

Lifestyle

TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY: Jenny’s Heirloom D.I.Y. Project

Jenny Bender | Kicks Wake Up Krew Jenny Bender | Kicks Wake Up Krew July 28th

This popped up in my Facebook memories today, and I thought I’d share with my fellow DI.Y.’ers!

I’m SUPER sentimental when it comes to family heirlooms, so when Chris and I got married and combined all of our furniture, we knew that each of us would have to get rid of some things.

But, this was one piece that I wasn’t willing to part with: the grandfather clock that my Dad’s mom passed down to me.

This clock is so special–my MeMe, as I called her, bought this clock when I was little, and handwrote each address that they had lived–and before MeMe passed away, she wrote my name & address underneath hers.

I was nine years old when we lost MeMe, so my parents brought her clock to our house, where it stayed until I grew up and moved into my own apartment.

In 2017, Chris and I moved into our new house, and although I knew that I wanted to keep my Meme’s clock, the dark brown didn’t fit in with our color scheme of bright, airy colors.

So, I hit up Pinterest for ideas on how to breathe some new life into this old treasure…

  • Grandfather Clock: Before

    The clock was beautiful--but the dark mahogany & gold fixtures didn't fit in with my color scheme.

  • Clock: During

    The first step was to remove the "guts" of the clock. Then, many, many, MANY hours of sanding to remove the finish and get to the bare wood.

  • Clock: During

    After all of that sanding, it was time to paint! I used a satin finish off-white spray paint.

  • Clock: During

    ...more coats of spray paint! (You can use brush paint, but I chose spray for a smoother finish with no brush strokes.)

  • Clock: After

    The finished product! The gold weights & fixtures inside just hook onto the base of the clock, so they're easily removable, and I used textured bronze spray paint for those. The back panel inside the clock was originally dark brown like the rest of the clock, but I removed that panel (it's just screwed in) and spray painted it a pistachio green to contrast the ivory & dark bronze. Then, I just screwed the timepiece itself back into the clock (the actual clock isn't very big; it's about the size of a small saucer plate, so removing and replacing it was super simple.)

  • Transformation Tuesday: Grandfather Clock

    Start to finish, this project took me about 4 days to complete, and was so much fun!

  • Grandfather Clock: The Finished Product

    My MeMe was very crafty and loved D.I.Y. projects, and I know she would be proud of her clock's new look! It's the perfect addition to our dining room.

Jenny Bender is one third of the Kicks Wake Up Krew on Kicks 99 in Augusta, Georgia, along with Cash & Dub. She's married to Chris Bender and is doting dog mom to their two rescue fur babies, Mary Poppins Bender & Truly Scrumptious Bender. Jenny is a karaoke queen who loves Jesus, country music, cheese, the color pink, and the smell of new books.
Tags
,,,,,