My son and I found this weathered and worn easel on the curb of a neighbor’s house. They had put it out for the trash pick-up. My sweet little guy has compassion for discarded furniture (wonder where he gets that from), and asked if we could rescue the piece. He envisioned transforming it into a chalkboard to practice writing his letters.
As you can see in the before pics, the easel had been sitting outside for a long, long time. The wood had mildew in some places and the whole thing was d-i-r-t-y.
I used Windex to clean it, filled in some of the cracks with caulk, and sanded away. My l’il guy helped every step of the way.
Windex works great on removing dirt and grime from wood, and the drying time is super short.
I then taped off the whiteboard surface. I knew I’d be transforming it into a chalkboard, and wanted to keep it free from any primer grit.
I typically use small, square bricks wrapped in wax paper as furniture risers. They’re sturdy, re-usable, and paint doesn’t stick to the wax paper.