Lighten Up!

I found this cute buffet on Craigslist and scrambled to call for it first because I knew it would go fast.  And lucky me, I got it.   I left it black for the last couple of years, which I'm really not crazy about. For one thing you don't notice how cool the pulls are because everything is so dark.

The pulls are like giant brads.  You push the two metal parts through the dresser drawer hole and then separate the metal strips, just like a brad.

I painted the drawers a homemade off white chalk paint (Swiss Coffee) and the body is an "oops" paint I picked up.  I then used Val spar glaze to give it depth.  Then I sealed it with rub on poly.

Before

After

It's so much  lighter and prettier.  You can easily see the pulls and the wicker backing on the drawers.  I'm quit happy with it and use it daily to store DVD's in.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I love your comments and new follower's as well

Sandi

Who Scratches their Name in Wood?

I found this pretty desk at a second hand store and knew all it needed to restore it to it's beauty was some TLC. 

When I started sanding it I couldn't help but wonder, "who, and why, do people carve their names into furniture, really are they that bored"?  A cat had also done a real number on the base of the desk with it's claws.

Because of the deep engravings I had to sand really deep to smooth it out.

Once I did the wood on the top looked beautiful.  I stained it in ebony, my favorite stain color lately.

I then painted the rest in ASCP Paris Gray.  I love this color, and then I glazed it with Val spar glaze and finished off with spray on poly.

I love how it turned out, a face lift for a beautiful desk, and the fresh lilac's were the finishing touch.

Thank you for stopping by, I love your comments and new followers as well

Sandi

Was I blind, (yes I was)

Before I start my post can anyone tell me about blogger?  I lined all my pictures up and when I post it it doesn't line up right, and it changed my wall paper, which I can't seem to get back and I really don't like what's on it now, at all,  so frustrating!!!  Okay, okay, onto the post.

Do you guys remember a while back when I posted a dresser that had a huge crack down the middle of the top and down both sides?  Well when I bought that one I saw the crack and knew that I would be able to fix it with clamps and glue.  So I was at an  auction and I bid on this antique buffet because I loved how it looked and when I gave it the "once over", I didn't even notice the crack across the top and down both sides.  Not only was it separated, but it actually looked like it had fallen off a truck.  Every joint and all the molding was loose or had shifted terribly.  Take a look for yourself.

                                    

                                                                I know, totally blind

Really, how do you miss something like that?  I think I was so excited about the whole look of the buffet and that I had a chance to get it that I just didn't look close enough.  Anyway, because it was so cracked and all shifted I knew that it would be a two person job getting it back together again, and boy was it ever!

                                     

The top had to be taken off, then those two planks had to go through the table saw so they would match again.  Then the hubby made new dowel holes and put new dowels in it and glued it, clamped it, nailed it, and then set it aside to start work on the body.  We pretty much had to do that with the rest of it too.  We pulled out the pipe clamps and the brad nailer and a lot of glue and started a two day repair job.  Finally we were done with repairs and I could start the make over.  I stained the top in dark ebony because there was a liquid ink stain that had been spilt on it ages ago, it was too deep to sand off so I matched the stain with stain.

                                              

The wood is oak and wasn't very pretty, the back splash was a plain oak plywood so I decided to put an applique on it.  I stained it too so that when I distressed it it would have some dark color show through.

                                                

Thank goodness for wood filler, right?

So I decided to use ASCP Old White on the body and then glaze it.  Even though I sealed the whole thing before glazing so that it would glaze evenly, well it still didn't.  The back is where the plywood is at and as you can see the wood grain really stood out when I glazed it, and I didn't like it.  I loved how it made the applique look but not the rest of the back.

So what I had to do for about a week is leave it alone and look at it off and on.  It really grew on me too.  I now love it and am going to keep it.  I started out with the intention of selling this one but I am so attached to it and have the perfect place for it that it is offically mine.  Wasn't it worth all that work?

                         Thanks so much for stopping by I love your comments and followers as well.
                                                                         Sandi

A Little Dresser, A lot of Work

It's been such a long time since I have entered a post and I have missed doing it.  You know all of the things that keep you from getting to your projects, like family, work, health of family members and the list goes on.  But I'm now back on track and it felt so good today to get this little dresser done.

I thought it was such a cute dresser and got it at Goodwill for a really good price.  Well it turned out to be a little more work, no, a lot more work then I thought it would be.  I decided to paint her ASCP Old White and stain the top a dark walnut.

When I sanded it down it looked like it would stain up pretty but it had a deep hole in it on the left front corner.  So I used the stainable wood filler, which did not stain the same color at all.  Does anyone else have problems with that?  So finally I ended up painting it because it looked so obvious.

Then I had another problem, I was running really short on Old White paint, infact I didn't have enough.  So I decided to paint the front of the drawers in Paris Gray, which turned out to be a better choice anyway.  I did the top twice and the drawers twice, no problem.....but how do I get rid of the old smell that this little dresser had?  Really, it's the worst I've ever smelt and seemed to be getting stronger.  I pulled out some yellow latex paint I already had and gave the inside of the drawers several coats of paint.  It helped some but there is still an old wood smell to this little thing.


                                                

But it turned out so cute, I love it.  When I was distressing it the old white paint color on the drawers showed through before the wood did and I liked how it almost looked like I had white washed it.  The knobs had been a dirty gold color so I washed them and spray painted them satin nickel.  When you open the drawers they look so clean and bright.  The whole things just looks fresh, doesn't it?

She is ready to go home with someone and be useful for many more years.  Isn't it fun to be able to do that to old worn out furniture?

                                  Thanks so much for stopping by, I love your comments as well.
                                                                         Sandi

Look what I am working on next, this buffet that will turn out so beautiful.  Boy does it have a story, come back and find out what it is.

Everyone Should have a Secretary

First I want to start off by thanking everyone for their kind comments on my last project, and yes I  love the dresser in my bedroom and she fits right in.  Okay onto the secretary/ desk, what are they called anyway?  I picked this little gem up on craigslist for twenty bucks, I know, who would sell it for that?  The thing about the original owner is that she had this piece in her bedroom since she was a little girl and didn't have a place for it anymore, ohhh.  Oh well, I do! 

Most of the hardware was broken off and one of the hinges was broken too.  The hole drilled in the back was for electrical cords, I'm guessing.

So I took off the hardware and had to scrub her down pretty good.  The paint was bubbled in places so I had to sand and then prime her.

I decided to cover the hole up on the back with some old wall paper that I picked up at a second hand store for a dollar.  It's a huge roll and will last me forever.  I used modge podge to stick it to the back,  and it completely changed the look of the desk.  I then drilled a hole on the desk front for a hardware pull.  It looked kind of naked without it.

I really love the paris grey with the old white color scheme.  This is the first time I have used paris grey and like so many of you guys, it's my favorite AS color, anyway until I get another one.

      And there you have it, a fully clothed secretary.  I think everyone should have a secretary, don't you?

                                                       Thanks so much for stopping by,
                                            I love your comments and new followers as well.

Cracked but Beautiful

I've had this dresser for about five months now, I usually don't hold onto a piece of furniture for that long but this one I wanted to keep.  This piece had the biggest crack in it but I thought I could easily pull it back together with some clamps, that wasn't the case!

I twisted the clamps so hard that they were bending and I was getting blisters on my hands.  I never did get it closed all the way, but close enough.  Nothing some wood filler wouldn't fix, right?

After I glued the inside rails back in place I was ready to start priming.  I gave her two coats of Kilz oil based primer because the stain on the dresser came through the water based primer.  The primer revealed that I needed to sand the wood filler that I put on the crack better.

I stained the top with Min wax dark walnut and then sealed it with rub on poly.  I love my ASCP so I pulled out the old white and painted it.  She's looking good so far.  I sprayed the brassy handles with oil rubbed bronze spray on.  For the last step I distressed her and then used a wax that I've never used before but have heard a lot about lately.  It's Howard's Feed-N-Wax and I love it.  I've finally found the wax that I will be using all the time now.  It's in gel form and goes on so easy and wipes down great.  I was very impressed with it.  Here's the final result...

I love the detailing on it, perfect for distressing.

Can you see why I want this one to stay in my bedroom?

                                                                              
                                         Thanks so much for stopping by, I love your comments
                                                               and followers as well.   
                                                                             
                                                                              
                                                                           
                                                                         

From White to Tuscan Russet

I was browsing through craigslist the other day and came across this little white dresser for $10.  I couldn't get them called fast enough and luckily I was the who called first.  I have read several blogs lately where bloggers feel just like I do, tired of painting with white.  I love white but am ready to change it up a bit.  White is the best seller for me so I will always use it 99.9% of the time, but what the hey..... it's 2012, time to shake it up a bit (I'm so wild aren't I?)  Here's the before picture, pretty tired and sad isn't she?

I gave it a good washing then lightly sanded and primed it.  I sanded the top all the way down to the wood because I was hoping to stain the top.  Unfortunately the top had deep marks in it because there was a lot of wood filler on it. 

Instead of staining it I decided to paint it with ASCP in graphite so I could keep it dark.  I then did the body in Behr's Tuscan Russet.  After painting it I glazed it with Valspar's glaze, which I love.  It was fun painting with such a dark color, but now we'll see how fast it sells.  Doesn't it look so much better?

To finish it off I lined the drawers with fabric, and what a nice surprise for who ever opens the drawers.

  Have a great day.

Thanks for stopping by, I love your comments and followers as well!