My Mom’s Dresser

I have been wanting to do some blog posts but it just hasn’t been happening lately.  I feel like I am treading water these days and am constantly behind and trying to catch up.  My health isn’t great and I’ve been dragging lately energy-wise.  It stinks, but that is life for me, I guess.

Anyway, it is Saturday morning and I am in bed with my laptop and a headache.  So I thought maybe I could get a quick post up about my mom’s Christmas present.

You may remember THIS post where I asked for advice on what to do with this piece of antique furniture someone had put out for the trash.

Well, a few people threw some ideas out but I still didn’t really have a clue how to fix this thing.  I finally decided what I needed to do.  I wanted to leave some of that beautiful wood grain showing on the front but that door was sooooo thrashed and the top was bad too.  So, here is what I came up with:

The blue color does not read well in the photos but it was a really pretty greyish blue.  I created vinyl sticker stencils with my Silhouette for the door and the top.  I put them on and then painted over them and then removed them.  My parent’s last name starts with “E”, thus the monogram.

It took a lot of work to fix this thing.  I used regular wood filler to fill the corners on the top and all the places on the door.  On the door, the place where the hinges were attached were so worn down hinges couldn’t work there.  I tried filling those up with wood filler but when I went to sand it it all crumbled out.  SO I had to chip that out and then used an epoxy wood filler to fill those in.  After that I had to use a file to get them down to the right height for the hinges to fit in correctly.  Same with the little door pull hole. 

I sanded down the drawer fronts and top and then stained them.  After that I used a spray shellac to seal them and the inside of the dresser and drawers.  Remember, this had a very bad smell to it.  You can still smell it if you put your nose inside the drawers but the smell does not permeate the house, which is good.

I went for a chippy paint finish, done by chipping off paint with a putty knife.  Very easy was to distress.  I finished the piece with an antiquing glaze and a clear wax. 

Honestly, it think it looks AMAZING!  I wanted to keep it for me.  But my parents really like it, I think.  It looks great in their house. 

Here are some more pictures for you.

Had to cut a new shelf for this cubby. 

Lined the drawers with scrapbook paper.

What do you think?  I am amazed that something destined for the dump could look this good!

If you want to “pin” this I won’t be upset at all!

SOFA TABLE RE-DO {Furniture}

Well, I think it is time to show you all a furniture transformation I did recently.  I went up to Utah to visit my sister that moved there.  I helped her do some decorating and re-arranging of furniture in her new home.  It was a lot of work but fun and I was glad I could help her get a little more settled in her new space.

Her family room is a great space, but when I got there everything was brown or tan.  Brown couches, brown woodwork, brown buffet, brown ottoman, and tan walls and carpet.  So, needless to say it needed some COLOR!  I decided we needed to bring in some turquoise.  So, out we went to shop for turquoise accessories.  We found a few things.  Then we happened upon an upholstered chair that I just loved.  I talked her into getting it (luckily the store said we could bring it back if it didn’t work) and we took it home.  It totally brightened up the space!  The next day we found some pillows for the couch that had brown and turquoise, as well as yellow, green, and orange. 

Well, the chair looked great, but it was this huge pop of color in the corner of the room and it needed to be balanced out a bit.  She had an old sofa table that she has never liked sitting in her garage.  I decided it needed a face lift.  After a trip to Home Depot for some sandpaper, spray paint, paint and glaze, and a drop cloth, I was ready to give it new life!  It is on the opposite side of the room and balances the color out nicely.  I was THRILLED with how well it turned out!  I think my sister likes it too.  I hope so anyway. 

I wish I had taken some pics of the whole room, but you can kinda see the chair over in the corner.

Here is the before (almost).  I removed the knobs already and started sanding.  But you get the idea.

So, here is what I did.  I sanded the whole piece just enough to rough it up and help the paint stick.

I did not use primer.  I just sprayed Rustoleum Lagoon in Satin on it.  It took 3 cans to cover this baby and honestly I should have used a fourth but since I was going to distress and glaze it I figured it was ok that there were some parts that were a little less covered than I would have liked.  If I had had more time I would have gotten more paint but we were in a major rush!

After the paint dried a used a course grit sanding block to distress the edges.  I have never used a block before and was surprised how easy it was.

Then I mixed a clear glaze with some dark brown paint (I bought one of those sample pots).  It was about 3 parts glaze to one part paint.  Working on one section at a time, I used one of those cheap dollar brushes to paint the glaze on, getting in the nooks and crannies.  Then I quickly wiped it off with a damp rag.  I used cut up t-shirts for rags.

After letting the glaze dry I used Minwax Finishing Paste to give it a protective coating.  I really liked it!  I used cheese cloth to apply it like it says on the can.  It was easy to apply and buff to a dull shine. 

We then added the new knobs and cleaned the glass for the top and moved it into the room.  I just love how it looks!  Here are some more pictures.

This is how it looked after painting but before distressing and glazing.

 

Flickr Tags: furniture,refinish,distressing,antiquing,table,paint,spray paint,turquoise

CHANDELIER MAKEOVER {Paint}

I have a candle chandelier in my kitchen.  I love it.  I think it brings a lot of character to the space.  We recently took it down to put up streamers for a party we were having.  Having it down for awhile made me realize how much it closes in the room.  I feel like my downstairs is so dark.  I am always trying to lighten it up.  I used to feel like it was light enough, but then I think our trees got big and now we get too much shade.  I am a person who needs sunlight…I think I am addicted to it actually.  So, I really dislike when any part of my house feels dark.

Anyway, I love my chandelier but I didn’t want to put it back up and make the room feel darker again.  I left it down for a long time.  But I finally decided to paint it and see how it would feel.

Here it is before.  I LOVED the rusty finish on it.  But it just wasn’t working in my house anymore. (The ribbon was part of a party decoration for my son’s milk and cookies party)

So, I hung it up from the swing set out back and started spray painting away.  I used a white color.  I finished it, brought it in and hung it up and didn’t love it.  It was just sooooo WHITE!

So, I took it down and glazed it.  It looks a little better now and I am getting used to it.  I may have to take it out back and spray it with some off-white paint.  We shall see.

Here it is now.

Don’t mind my messy table.  Ignore that I STILL haven’t painted those mirrors and hung them up.

Here you can see the glaze a bit.

What do you think?

 

TIN STAR RE-DO {Craft}

Are you sick of my recipe posts yet?  I am!  It was time for me to get a craft done.  Here is a super easy, super fast re-do of an orange tin star I had laying around.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I simply spray painted the star white and added blue vinyl stars and red vinyl stripes.  I cut the stars with my Silhouette, but you could just use some cute stickers if you don’t have one.  I hand cut the stripes from a piece of red vinyl, but you could also just use some red tape which would be easier. 

Here is that hutch I was telling you about that my neighbor gave me.  Isn’t it cute?  I don’t have a lot of 4th of July decorations, but I am trying to get some things together to make it look cuter.  But this is how it is for now:

I want to paint this thing white and give it an old chippy finish.  Hopefully soon!!

Dumpster Dive Buffet: Need Ideas

Can you believe someone put this out for the trash?

I drove by this in someone’s trash one Sunday morning on our way to church.  I think the house had been foreclosed on and this got left behind….probably because it is HUGE!  I wanted my husband to let me take it home, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea.  We didn’t know where we would put it.  AND we were late to church and were in our Sunday best!  So, we left it there.  I was sad but figured someone else would pick it up.  We went off to church and when we came home it was STILL there!  But still, we didn’t pick it up.  I thought about it the rest of the day.  I just felt awful that it might actually get taken to the dump.  The next morning I drove by again thinking it would for sure be gone and it was STILL there.  So, I called my husband and told him I had to have it.  So, he brought over the truck and somehow I assisted him in getting it into his truck.  It is HEAVY!

I forgot to take a picture of the REAL before picture.  Those 12 squares on the doors had some ugly transparent tiles with flowers etched on.  It had some hardware which I think we will put back on.  But a couple of the pieces of hardware were bent.  In this picture my husband has already spent several hours sanding it down.  I broke the tiles out of the squares into a garbage bag. I also hammered the bent pieces back into shape.

Since this picture I have stained the top a VERY dark stain called Ebony.  It is nearly black.  I was intending to paint the piece a very light greyish blue.  And then I was going to glaze it with the ebony stain.  But now I am scared.  I am not sure what I should paint it. I am afraid I will pick the wrong color. I did buy some wood appliques to go in the squares.  This will give it some more detail and will be a part that will take a glaze very nicely.

Anyway, I am just wondering if anyone has any fun ideas for painting this piece.  I think we are going to use it in our loft under a flat screen.  I will put all our photo albums on the top.  The drawers will hold movies and one of the drawers is missing behind the door so we will put the DVD player there.

I need to get this thing finished and out of my garage.  It is taking up valuable space in there!

If this was your piece, what would YOU do to it???