A two-tone and a UFC review

I am a tired girl today.  I stayed up with a group of friends and Mr. Chuckles watching a UFC fight until 2 am.  Normal bedtime for me is between 10:30 and 11:30, so I have been drooling my way through the day. And naturally I couldn't sleep in; up making coffee and donuts for the cat at 6:30. She gave up the 'nip a year ago, but fell paws deep into the Maxwell house. Lesser of two evils? Who can be sure.

 
As for the UFC?  No thank you. I shan't be repeating that.  The final 5-minute round was pretty much a hug fest between the two fighters.  Nary a punch was hurled. I couldn't be sure if they were fighting or getting a mating ritual underway. It was really adrenaline pinching. But then again, maybe my lady-brain just doesn't get it. The fellas sure seemed to fancy it, they were calling out all sorts of things I didn't understand.
 

 
On to furniture?  I naturally forgot to snap a picture of the 'before' in my haste to get the brushes stroking on this beauty.   But her drawer facings are original ( a nice dark walnut), so it does give you an idea of what the before would have looked like.
 

 
The wrap was in pretty good condition, but it did need some puttying here and there where some dings marred the surface.  After, I sanded primed and painted with several coats of Benjamin Moore Aura in an off-white.

 
I love the way this piece turned out and I am currently teeter tottering on switching out the turquoise piece in the living room for this one to be used under our tv and to store our media gear.  Hmm. We'll see how it pans out.

 

I like how the drawer handles don't span the entire length of the facings like a lot of MCMs do.  I also really like how they are off-centre on the drawers.  Ive not had a piece like that before.  Something new, always fun.

Notice the cute little teapot perched on the top?  I was picking up another piece just before Christmas off an older gentleman who just lost his wife to cancer a couple of weeks prior.  He walked me through his apartment and pointed at his China cabinet and said 'take what you like'. It was really sad.  He had lots of cute things in there (that I hope his children will keep as mementos of their mother).  But I admit that my eyes fell on the curious looking teapot with an MCM feel to it.  I told him that it was really unique and he explained it was a wedding gift and then thrusted it in my hands, insisting I take it.  I was very grateful and will always remember him when I look at it.  I can imagine this Christmas was really hard for him having just lost his 40-year friend.  Hopefully it gets easier for him.  So thanks John, Im sure you will never read this blog, but I appreciate your little gift and shall always keep it.

 

Right, In the words of Miss Bridget Jones, I am off to Bedfordshire.

For the set of the MARILYN MONROE film !

So as I have mentioned previously, I am having a love affair with a particular shade of deep blue combined with gold hardware.  In fact, I currently have two dressers in the shop being fitted out with the exact look.  I just love it, simply love it.  I realize it isn't the most creative to keep recreating the same look over and over again.  But, well, I don't really have an excuse.

 
 
This beauty here was such a good find.  I paid more for her than I usually would because I just loved that oversized hardware.  I picked her up in our November 'Polar-Vortex' blizzard and nearly skidded off the road getting her home. 
 

 
I actually finished her about a month and a bit ago, I am a little behind on blogging about some of my posts.  Im proud to say she will be gracing the set of an upcoming MARILYN MONROE film being shot in Toronto.  I will definitely be watching that film (I think its release date is 2016) to see if I can catch a glimpse of my handiwork.  Pretty exciting for ol' Rae Bond!
 

 
I had Mr. Chuckles help me add the legs custom to give the grandeur of extra height.  I used rub n buff on her hardware, it came out so beautifully.  The piece itself was finished in Dulux Diamond with POP and finished with Satin sheen polyurethane.  I think its lovely that the oak grain is still visible.

 
I toyed with the idea of accenting some of the raised detailing with gold as well, but I was concerned that it would compete with the beauty of the hardware so I just let it be.

 

And the before

Linking up to Miss Mustard Seeds final furniture feature party of 2014!

Triplets working a two-tone

The Christmas countdown is officially on.  I'm not sure how many more viewings of ELF I will be able to squeeze in, but at this point - and I don't mean to brag - but I just may be about to break a personal record.  In fact, its on TV in the background right now.  I just love that movie.  'Singing's my favorite.'

 
I have been busy shopping for all the nieces and nephews as well as Mr Chuckles, and I have perhaps even squeezed in a new gift or two for myself.  Its strange, I'm usually pretty conservative with my spending, but come Christmas time I turn into a shopaholic. 

 
If you read my last post then you know I was teetering about not buying my cranky 7-year old niece a gift after she balled me out for asking her what she wanted.  But in the end, I caved and bought her something.  I'm going to pack it in a box of coal though and wrap it in a dirty diaper.  
 
Just kidding.

So I actually finished the pieces in this post a little while ago, but I haven't yet posted about them.  They are some more two-tone MCM pieces (which I tend to a do a lot) so I suppose I wasn't in a hurry to post them.

 
They were a great find and were pretty straight forward to transform.  I sanded back the bodies, vacuumed and wiped clean.  I then primed with gripper and I also had to use Zinsser BIN on a few places where I sanded back to the wood and was getting bleed through.  I followed up with several coats of Cabinet coat paint. The wood facings and legs are original, but I cleaned them up and used gel stain to dab some of the imperfections. Works a treat.

 

They turned out pretty spiffy. I love the legs on these ones.

A 7-year old with attitude and a FREE Buffet

If you follow my blog, then you know free is my favorite.  But then again, who doesn't love a freebie!  Free is especially appreciated at this time of year when it sometimes seems that a tornado is tearing through my wallet.  I open it up to find cash billowing in circles before leaping free from it.  I just can't seem to keep it in check.  Or maybe I'm just a generous 'giver'.  ;)

 

 

No kids of my own, but six nieces and nephews are shared between Mr. Chuckle's and I. Actually, I was asking my one niece who is 7 and 1/2 years old what she wanted for Christmas last night.  She snapped at me that everyone kept asking her that and it was 'wasting all her time' trying to think of things.  She went on to lecture me even further about how it was impertinent of me to keep pestering her about what she wanted.  'huh?' I thought dumbfounded.

 

Now, admittedly this niece has always been a real 'bolshie', but is it just me or does that take some gall?  When I was a 7 year old, I didn't even get presents from Aunts and Uncles. I would have been over the moon to get anything, and nowadays kids are so spoilt for choice that apparently its too much work to even verbalise what they want. Bah!

 

I'm considering donating $30 on her behalf to the  Make A Wish Foundation.  Let the money be used for someone who will appreciate it, I say.

 

Does that make me a super mean Aunt?

 



 

But alas, lets get back to more pleasant topics, like furniture. As I mentioned, this beautiful buffet was a freebie that I picked up months ago with my sorta-sister-in-law.  She ended up deciding she didn't want it and passed it along to me (thank you!).  I have been having a love affair with this blue and gold combination and used it again on this piece (I currently have two pieces getting this same treatment in my workshop as we speak).



I was a little nervous at how the cane door facings were going to look, but they ended up looking great and even quite modern.  I removed the legs and spray painted them gold separately, and I painted the rest of the piece with the CRITTER sprayer.  Hardware was touched up in gold rub-n-buff.

 

I love the height.  I think it makes this piece look really great.

I used a DIY chalkpaint with my Dulux diamond, and I sprayed polyurethane over it in Satin finish for a final protective coat.  I love the nice smooth and even finish this gives instead of wax, especially on non-distressed pieces.

There is one drawer on the inside which I relined with some blue and gold fabric.

And the before again.