Radio Cabinet Redo

 

I saw this antique radio cabinet on Craigslist and discovered it was at my local Habitat for Humanity.  Of course, I got down there as quickly as I could to snatch it up.  But, guess what?  I didn't take it right away.  Can you imagine?  It had a lot of veneer damage, so I walked away the first time.

 

Of course, it just kept eating at me so I went to take a second look and totally talked myself into it.  Whenever I have to talk myself into something I almost immediately have buyer's remorse when I get it home.  And, boy did I.  This poor thing has been sitting in my garage, collecting dust and who knows what else for the past year.  I kept walking by it saying maaaybe I'll do something with it this week.  But, just kept putting it off and putting off because I didn't want to mess with the peeling veneer on it.

 

Well, my garage is almost completely cleaned out and guess what was left?  Yep. 

So, I decided it was time.

 

 

 

 

BEFORE

 

The original metal tag was still attached to the bottom.  It was made by Majestic Electronics in the 1930's.  I love that it had the info inside!  The previous owner had already gutted it so I didn't feel guilty at all about messing with it. :)

 

 

 

 AFTER

 

I knew I wanted to keep it simple and draw attention to the inlay on the doors.  I originally painted the whole piece the gray and was going to pick out the details in white, but I just wasn't feeling it. 

 

 

 I decided to paint the whole thing white and then just do the recessed part of the door the color to let the details pop.

 

 

 

 I absolutely adore the arch, which is mimicked on the inside of the doors as well, and this beautiful wood applique that draws attention to it.

 

 

 

 More sweet details on the bottom.  Notice the crack?  I love stuff like that, just another part of her incredible story!

 

 

 

 

 I ended up custom mixing both colors to get rid of some of my paint.  I believe the white is half Antique White from Sherwin Williams and half Linen from General Finishes.  The gray is actually about half Basil from General Finishes and a light/medium gray I had from Sherwin Williams.  I was surprised it didn't turn out more green.

 

 

 

 I peeled the first layer of veneer off and the sub layer was really bad as well, so I ended up taking it off, too.  I was so happy to find solid wood with such nice grain underneath.  It looks like oak to me, but took the stain a lot better than oak normally does, so I'm not sure what it is.

 

I ended up doing two coats of Java Gel and 3 coats of Varathane in satin.

 

 The inside is just as sweet as the outside!  I had to replace the back, so lined it with this paisley fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 I still walk into my garage and can't believe it's the same piece! 

 

Merry Christmas! :) 

Coffee Table in Linen

This coffee table was another "rescue".  Hubby was going to take it to the dump and asked me if I wanted it.  Sometimes even I have a hard time seeing the potential in a piece, and I almost said no!

 What's funny about this piece is that the worst part of it ended up being the focal point. There's not much to this table and the base is pretty standard, so the oak ended up taking center stage. 

 Before 

Yowzas!  I think somebody used it for a work bench and spray painted something on the top of it. It had lots of scratches and some were too deep to get out, but I think they just ended up adding character. :)

 After

Thanks to a grinder with 80 grit paper I was able to get all of that hideousness off.  

I then smoothed it out with 150 grit.  Here's a little tip.  Even using finer grit paper on wood can leave tiny scratches.  If you notice swirlies or little scratches just sand in the direction of the grain and it will take them right off (even using the same grit paper that put them there).

Then I used two coats of Java Gel, letting the first coat dry for a couple of hours before doing the second coat. Followed by 3 coats of Varathane in satin. 

I absolutely love that wood can take such abuse and be restored to its former glory!

 The body got two coats of Linen from General Finishes then was lightly distressed and sealed with Varathane. 

Antique Pedestal Table in Linen

This table was another piece destined for the dump,  It had been sitting in a storage unit for a while and it was pretty rough.  It's quarter sawn oak and was really dry, so the grain was really open.  I don't like oak to begin with and when it's dry it's even worse!  The drawer was stuck tight and took some major muscles (not mine!) to open it.  Once open I had to sand down the top edges and sides so it would slide freely again.

I had a vision for this piece and when I was part way through was not liking it at all.  I finished it, stared at it, hemmed and hawed about it, fretted about it,  and then decided to undo what I had done.  I was so much happier when I did and new inspiration struck.  Love when that happens.  

I haven't distressed anything too heavily in a while and got a little carried away on this one and had to go back and repaint parts of it. Lol.  It's still more distressed than I normally do, but I like it that way. Especially with all that dark wood showing underneath the light paint.  Still makes my heart go pitter patter. 

I love how it is soft, but still has presence.  I'm loving the pedestals and chunky feet.  But, my favorite part is THE KNOB!  It's amazing!  It was the only one.  If any of you shop at Hobby Lobby you know they have their knobs in bins and on the front of the bin there is a little hole drilled with the knob (that's in the bin) attached to the front of it so you know what's in the bin (did any of that make sense?).  Well, there were no knobs in the bin, but I just could not walk out of there without that knob, so I unscrewed the one from the front of the bin and away I went.  I was looking around like a ninja because I felt guilty.  I don't know why, it was a sale for them that they wouldn't have had otherwise! :)

BEFORE

You can see the damage on the wood of the base (icky spots) and the top looked the same. My sweet hubby started sanding on it with the grinder (I normally do my own sanding but this table happened to be in his shop so maybe he was feeling a little possessive or maybe he just wanted to see what was under that nasty stain or maybe he was just being a super nice guy!) and stopped about 30 seconds in and says, "We didn't get a before pic!"  Awww...love that guy!

 AFTER

I can't believe how good it turned out!

 I had originally painted the drawer front, the feet, and the trim at the bottom of the pedestal a deep greige and heavily distressed them.  It just didn't look right.  The dark drawer messed with the slim profile of the table skirt (visually chopped it in half) and the dark trim at the bottom of the pedestal made the legs look short.  Kinda reminded me of the rules of What Not to Wear. Lol  I decided to use paper on the drawer front instead and found one in my stash that just happened to be the color of the table!  I love how there is a balance of the green and cream so it draws the eye right across the front without making it look like a block in the middle.  Know what I mean?

 The. Knob.

.  It draws the eye down from the dark top to the intricate bronze inlay, and the rustic cream edge allows it to pop against the green paper.  I would sleep with it under my pillow if that didn't make me the biggest weirdo ever!

Chunky feet! 

 Thank you Sausha from Sweet Pickens for making me aware of chunky feet!

One of my most favorite things is light paint over dark wood.  

*sigh*

The top actually wasn't too bad once we sanded the bejeebers out of it.  We started with 80 on the grinder and then I smoothed it out with 150 on the orbital.  I hardly ever use two coats of Java Gel from General Finishes but this puppy needed it.  There were a few dark spots, but now they're hardly notiecable.  It's pretty Tiger Oak and the little hole in the top (see it on the left side?) just adds character. I didn't want to fill it because I wasn't sure how it was going to stain and with all the grain it would have just looked like a dark spot anyway, so I left it. 

 I'm happy. ;)

Bookcase in GF Basil

This is the final bookcase from the set of 3 I finished this week.

  

Roxanne from The Rustic Shed was nice enough to let me do what I wanted with this one.  The first was finished in Linen from General Finishes, the second in stock black from Sherwin Williams, and this one is done in Basil and Linen from GF.  

I've never been able to do the same piece of furniture 3 different ways before and had so much fun with it!  I  normally try to picture a piece in several colors before deciding and doing these made those visions come to life!

 Before

*This one actually did not have the drawers in the bottom.  I believe it was probably the middle piece in the set as they were all attached at one time. 

 After

I do believe this is my favorite one of all three.  It's a little less formal and so my style. :)

 I decided to pick out the details in Linen and then distress to let the Basil peek through. 

 Normally I don't like "buttons" on furniture, but I did like these.  Thought they just added a little something. 

And here it is from beginning to end...to end...to end! 

Bookcase update part II

This is round II of project bookcase makeover this week.

Many times when I get a piece of furniture I can see it in more than one color and have to make a choice.  I always wonder what it would look like if I had chosen the "other" color.  Well, this time I have 3 to work with so I do get to see it the other way! :)  

Roxanne, at The Rustic Shed, did want to keep these pieces neutral because she is selling them at her store (which is fabulous, btw).  So, the first we did in Linen and the second in black.  You can see them together at the end of the post.

*pssst, she agreed to let me do the third in Basil, so be watching for that one too! :)

 Before

 After

Here are the two together.  Preference?

Bookcase in Linen

Hello!  I'm still alive! :)

My client, and I'm happy to say, new friend, brought me 3 of these pine bookcases.  They're pretty blah, but I thought they had so much potential!  Cute details and a nice shape.  

I just recently started using General Finishes milk paint line (which is an acrylic not a true milk paint) and absolutely love it.  It has great adherence and levels so nicely.  I've used Tuscan Red and knew there were more yummy colors out there to choose from.  I was lucky enough to find a retailer within 45 minutes from me and picked up a can of Linen and Basil Green.  

My friend owns the cutest little store in Bonduel, WI called The Rustic Shed and these bookshelves are going to be for sale (and used to display all of her wonderful merchandise) so she wanted to keep them fairly neutral.  I thought Linen would be perfect. 

 Before

After

I love how soft and pretty this one is now.  Linen is more of a light beige than a cream.  It's not yellowy or pinky, so it's the perfect neutral.

 Aren't these drawer fronts adorable?  And I'm crushing on these knobs, too!  So pretty!

Here's a better pic of the bottom.  I'm of the opinion that a cup pull can update any piece of furniture, so I happen to be minorly (if that's not a word, it is now!) obsessed with them.  This piece has definitely come a long way since the 80's!

I didn't tell her that I want to keep this for myself....yet. :)