Antique Chest of Drawers in Parchment

Believe it or not, this dresser was another candidate for the dump.  I'm telling you men some people just have no vision! ;)

Of course, I had to rescue it.  I'm just so grateful the same man that wanted to throw it in the dumpster is also the same man that is super handy in his shop!  It had some major issues that I could not have fixed by myself. In comes Superman (I am talking about my husband, and, no, he does not wear nor even own a pair of tights or a cape,..that I know of). 

Diane over at The Paint Factory (do you know her? If not, you are seriously missing out!) posted about a couple of pieces she did in French Lime Paint from Maison Blanche.  I fell in love with how they turned out.  So, here's a little peek into my double personality...

I absolutely love (I mean it does funny things to my insides) the look and feel of paint that is unblemished,  A smooth surface that feels like glass and looks flawless gets me every time.  BUT, I also love the look of textured paint, like Old World style.  It makes my heart go pitter patter, too.  So, I am always at war with myself over what kind of finish I want.

Well, let me tell you, this paint gave me both!  There's a lot of movement, depth, and texture to the way the paint looks (more so than even chalk paint in my opinion), but to the touch it's like silk (after sanding and waxing, of course).

I recently redid my kitchen and had tile done for the backsplash.  It makes me happy and it was the inspiration for how I wanted this dresser to look.  So, I just wanted to say

THANK YOU!

to Maison Blanche for making my fantasies dreams come true!

BEFORE

This isn't the true before, meaning this is not how I found it. When I found it it had 6 small drawers on the top, but half the drawer faces were busted in half and the drawers were in terrible condition.  I did not want to ask my better half to fix them (there's just so much he can take, ya know), so I decided to ditch them and turn it into an open space for components or baskets or whatever suits whoever buys it. 

The veneer was also peeling and cracked on one side and on the bottom drawer front, so I had to remove it all. I then sanded most of the old, flaky finish off and that is what you're looking at in the pic. I love how raw it looks...perfect for a new finish. 

AFTER

You'll have to trust me when I tell you these pictures do not do justice to the finish.  I used their color called Parchment and it really is the color of old paper.  It reminds me of Italy and I adore it.  Because I sanded the drawer fronts down to the bare wood when I painted and waxed it it left the paint in the grain of the wood a lighter color than the other paint, so you can still see the grain up close. 

The finish is smooth as a baby's bottom. :)

I love the look of a dark finish under light colored paint, but since I sanded all the old, dark finish off I had to improvise.  I ended up using a can of Rustoleum's paint and primer in one in Espresso Satin for the first coat, then went over it with Shellac so there was a barrier between it and the lime paint.  Then I did two coats of paint and distressed.  It came off so easy I was a little surprised! It looks like dark wood underneath. 

Since I had to remove the top drawers I wanted to add a little detail.  I attached this wood applique using a pinner. It looks like it's been there all along. 

Thankfully it had a gorgeous mahogany top.  Again, I carefully sanded it down, did one coat of Java Gel, and three coats of Varathane in Satin. 

Same deal with the wood piece that separates the top from the bottom. 

I usually try not to paint drawers so there's no issues with sticking, but these were absolutely horrible.  They were filthy dirty, banged up, and had some kind of orange finish on them.  I sanded them down (including a little of the top edge and the runners to compensate for the layers of paint I would be adding), did two coats of shellac, and then painted and waxed them. They slide like a dream now and look about a thousand times better! 

This picture shows the variation in the paint color a little better.  This paint distresses so easily it was hard to control myself! 

I'm telling you, I need a bigger house!!  I want to keep this one, but no room so she's

FOR SALE!

Vintage Server in (almost) Linen

I came across this little, vintage server by someone tagging me on my local FB classifieds page.  I just love that people are so thoughtful. Thank you! :)

The girl who had listed it did list the dimensions, but when I saw it in person it was a tad smaller than I had envisioned it.  It's such a sweet table.  I had a vision for it prior to seeing it, but upon seeing it in person that all changed. 

Because it is a smaller piece I wanted to keep it light and soft, but unique and maybe just a little bit fun. I am so drawn to soft turquoises (like Stefan to Elena, does anybody get that reference?) and I realized I've been doing it a lot lately!  Maybe I will finally have it out of my system. Ha! 

 Before

Cute, but a little ho-hum (ok, maybe a lot ho-hum!)

 After

When I finished it hubby came in the garage and I told him I wanted to keep it.  He had his back to me, but I could just hear the words he was trying so hard to contain and the look on his face.  He said, "Funny, cuz I think you should sell it." ;)

 I am still in love with Linen from General Finishes, and just lightened it a tad with some white paint I already had.  I wanted the drawer to compliment the paint, but to be different and stand out. I was a big scrapbooker before I started painting and have a ton of paper left over.  But, wouldn't you know in those drawers full of paper I couldn't find just the right one and had to make a HL trip. 

I'm glad I did!  

I also tried a couple different knobs, but liked the presence this pull had against these muted colors. 

Someone had previously refinished this piece.  When they did the stain they didn't wipe it all the way off and it hid the grain in the wood.  I sanded the top down with 150 and stained it with two coats of Java Gel (because I am completely, totally, and irrationally obsessed with it!).  I finished it off with 3 coats of Varathane in satin.

 I had this wooden applique left over from a different project and thought it would be a nice addition to the blank space on the back piece. I just did a wash of French Blue from Old Towne Paint and wiped off the excess.  Craig said, "It's subtle and ties the back in with the drawer. I like it. "

Who knew? ;)

 I also did the top edge of the drawer with the paper and I think it's my favorite part of the whole piece. It's the finishing touches I like the most!  It's so stinking cute! :)

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! :) 

Cottage Cream Desk Redo

This was a quick custom redo yesterday.  My friend found the perfect computer desk, but wanted to give it a little facelift.  I know I've said it before, but it's so nice to work on a piece that doesn't need anything but a paint job! :)  We actually ended up just leaving the top (after giving it a good cleaning) because she wanted a wood top, but this wasn't actually wood (they make the fake stuff so good anymore sometimes it's hard to tell!).  I couldn't refinish it (no sanding!!) and it was really in very good shape so we left it as is. 

Before

 After

She loved these cup pulls (me too!) so we left them as is.  I just love how they pop against the cream now.

I've been waiting three years to cut my hydrangeas and I finally had enough guts to do it (I can't stand not leaving them on the bush because I love how they look outside too!).

Aren't the GooooRgEouS!! 

 Hello pretty ladies!!

Happy weekend everyone!

color = Cottage Cream SW