My Gossip Buddy

So this "gossip bench", as it has been called, or phone bench, came to live with me.  It's kinda funny because at the time I had another one that I didn't know what to do with.  Then I got this one and knew just what I wanted to do with it.  I wanted to try out my Annie Sloan dark wax.  Like I said in an earlier post, I'm not sold on waxes yet but am keeping an open mind.  So this was the project that would either convert me to wax, or not.

I decided to paint it Louis Blue and then use the dark wax to age it.  I really liked the chalk paint once I added a little water to it.  It's really thick and hard to get it to go on smoothly unless I do that.  Have any of you had to do the same thing?  I loved the paint color and hated to darken it but I really wanted to try the dark wax out.  First I had to tighten all the legs up.  I had to completely take them off and then add a washer to the screw because they never would tighten all the way.

I finally got to the waxing and it seemed the more I did, the more I liked it.  I kind of thought that might happen to me because most of you love it.  I put more on the further along I got, because I discovered it was a lot darker at the end of the project then where I started.  I just went back and darkened it a bit.  I'm not a pro at this, but I'm happy to report that I did like doing it and would have no problem using the dark wax on other projects to age them.

It's really growing on me the more I look at it.  The brown pillow looks great with the color of the dark wax and I felt they belonged together.  It was a fun, and fast project to do, which is nice to do once and a while.

A Vanity of Many Colors

And so there I was, yes, at a yard sale, when I saw the home owner taking money and using this vanity for her desk.  It didn't have the mirror attached, in fact, I didn't know it came with a mirror.  I quickly asked her if it was for sale, not only was it for sale for a great price but it also had the original mirror that came with it.  The owner of the vanity told me she got this from her mother thirty years back and that her mother had had it for at least fifty years that she knew of.  It had been in their family for a long time but she had so much stuff that she needed to part with some of it.  The shape is really pretty on this piece, and I loved the knobs. 

I didn't care for the stenciling that was done on it originally.  It almost looked like a marker was used to out line the stencil work, it had to go.  So finally it was my turn to use the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Just like everyone else, I was so excited I couldn't wait.  The person who wanted this vanity asked that it be painted in just a slight, slight hue of blue, almost unseen.  So when I got my Louis Blue and Old White Chalk Paint I knew I'd have to mix them to get the right color.  Since this paint costs so much I didn't want to mix too much and waste any, so guess what?  Your right, you've done it too, right.  I didn't have enough of the same color, and I never could match the colors again.  I probably had three different hue's of  light blue on it.  It really kind of looked cool, but I needed it the same color.  Here it is with different colors.

I had to really sand the top to get below the stains and dings in the wood.  I used my favorite stain, Rustoleum, in Early American color.  Then I sealed the top with Min Wax brush on satin poly.  I finally bit the bullet and mixed up enough paint to make sure I had enough to paint the whole vanity twice if I needed to. I got it all painted and then used the poly satin rub on, on all of it.  I like the control I have with the rub on poly verses the paint brush application when it's not a flat surface..  I then glazed it with Modern Modern Masters  glaze (in dark).  The paint specialist  highly recommended it to me because she liked it so much and had used it repeatedly.  She demonstrated it for me in the store on a white cupboard and I was sold.  I really liked the consistency of it, and the color is great.

The pictures don't show the glaze very well, but it really looks great in contrast to the light blue.  I'm not fond of waxes yet, I still prefer the rub on poly, you know, "the old tried and true".  Also, once the poly is on then you can glaze with ease, then reseal it.

I really love how the satin finish on the top looks, she turned out so pretty, it will look great in any room.  I didn't clean up the knob's because they have so much character with the aging on them.  I might change my mind, but for now she'll stay this way.

My 1st Curbside Find!

I've been so jealous reading all the great before and afters that all of you have done from a great find that was thrown to the curb.  I haven't ever seen anything that was worth fixing up, in fact rarely do I ever see furniture of any kind.  So the other day I was yard saleing (it is a real word to me, I do it all the time) and not having very good luck at all.  I thought I saw another yard sale and went to check it out and it was a house where someone had moved and left several things in the yard with a sign that said "FREE".  I was so excited when I saw this desk, (pretty sad that such a pathetic looking thing can make me so happy) I was determined to make it look great, no matter the cost,  okay,not really.

The leg was broken off and the top drawer was missing.  The top had really deep scratches in it, in fact I finally had to use wood filler on them because I didn't want to go any deeper with the sander.  I did sand the top though and it wasn't a pretty wood grain finish so I opted to paint it.  I had to wood fill just about every where though.  I love my Elmer's wood filler, it has just the right consistency so you can work with it for awhile and yet it also drys pretty fast too

After sanding all the places that I filled and knew it would paint up really nice, it was time to paint.  I had decided on a two tone grey pallet.  So I headed to Lowe's to get two of the sample size can's, just the right size for my project.  I knew I wanted different knobs on it, some that were a little less decorative.  I didn't want to spend much on them though, because after all this is my "1st Curbside Find".  So I went to the restore and found these three, for fifty cents each.  They were a shiny brass color but I sanded them and sprayed them with Rustoleum bronzed spray.  This is the first time I used it (the bronzed spray) and I love it.

 

 This has become my favorite piece that I've done so far.  And I'm sure it's because no one wanted it and I saved it and turned it into something that I'm sure I will be able to find a good home for.  What do you think?

                                         Simple but elegant handles, they fit the piece so well. 

I sure had fun with this one and hope I find more curb side finds.  For some reason it's so gratifying to restore something that has been given up on.

Very Unique Buffet

I know I start most of my blogs off by saying, "I was at this yard sale", but really that's where I find most of my great buys and in this case a "unique find".  Inside of drawer there is a metal button like thing that has the trademark of the maker of this buffet.  It was made in England by a furniture company called, Harris Lebus.  As far as I could tell the value on a piece like this isn't great money wise, but boy is it a great conversation piece.  My hubby and I liked it one moment and then didn't the next.  I think one of the reasons we didn't care for it was the running board on the bottom.

I really like the scrolling on the front and the old handles.  The lacquer on the top was crackled so I decided that was where I would start.  I wanted to use my new chalk paint and this was the perfect test for it.  I sanded and stripped the top.  I came across a new wood stripper that I really like, Motsenbocker's Lift Off.  There wasn't any odor and it cleaned off so well.  The best part is that it didn't leave a sticky residue afterwards.  I recently did a project that I thought I had cleaned all the stripper off but I had missed some.  I went ahead and painted it and to this day, a month later, it is still tacky.  I am going to have to start all over again with that project.  So I really appreciate a stripper that will wash off easily. To make sure it was all off I rubbed the freshly stripped top with a product that I also love called Citristrip Paint Stripper Afer Wash.  It completely takes any of the left over stripper off, and does it so easily.

I was ready to stain the top and the running board and legs.  I also found a new stain that I really love.  I used it on another piece that I will be showing in a few days.  The stain is Rustoleum walnut.  I have been using the "other guys", stuff for along time now but I needed a new color and Rustoleum had it.  This project really doesn't do the color justice (oak doesn't stain very pretty in my opinion).

 

 I'm so excited to get this part out of the way so I can try my new chalk paint.  So far I'm loving it. I did some distressing and it sanded so easy, love that.  I finished it off by putting a satin poly on the top and Annie Sloan's clear wax on the rest.

The "unique buffet table", is still unique, but I really love it now.  The chalk paint is great to work with and wonderful to sand.  I still have to buff the wax tomorrow and that will be the finishing touch to a very interesting piece. Didn't She turn out pretty?