Minty Antique Dresser

This little beauty rounds out the set of furniture I picked up recently.  I found someone who loved the little set and wanted the dresser painted out to match the vanity and the headboard.

 
The treatment was much the same as before.  A little bit o' sanding, a little bit of chalkpainting and a topcoat of dark wax (poly first on the top for extra protection).
 

 
I did a fair bit of distressing on the piece as I wanted that rustic aged look. 
 

 

Its funny because when I picked up this set I was so excited.  I always love the way the transformations of these pieces look.  I admire the work Reeves does over at THE WEATHERED DOOR and was really excited to do an antique chest redo. 

 
But its strange, although they were super easy to do, and I didn't need an extra pair of muscles to manoeuver them around, I still prefer the big 9-drawer 70s style dressers I do - even though I risk a slipped-disk every time I shift them.  I guess we all have our own little style!
 

 
The piece came with a removable backer piece.  What do you think, with or without?
 

It is a super duper sunny day here today, so I am keeping this post short and sweet!  Enjoy the sunshine everyone.

One for the Stag N Doe

What a week.  I have been working painstakingly on a dresser that got quite the overhaul, and some matching nightstands.  It is one of those pieces that turns out to be ten times the amount of work than you expected.  Tomorrow I am buying a nice bottle of bubbly which I will uncork with vigor when it is all done. Not long now. I can see the light.

But lets save that post for another day.  Instead, lets talk about this beauty below.  She is a nice antique piece with a matching mirror.  I decided to donate a piece for Mr. Chuckle's sister's stag n' doe party in lead up to her pending nuptials.  They are raffling off a lot of prizes, and I thought, 'Hey. why not a piece of furniture?'.  So it was with that in mind that I kept my eye out for a nice piece.

I found this one at a steal.  It was at my favorite re-store.  I must have been quick that day, because usually these types of pieces get snapped up quickly.  I was so enthused I walked out without paying.  So literally, a steal.

I did pay on my next visit though, guilty conscience be damned.  It was in rough shape.  Mr. Chuckles and I had to do a lot of sanding and wood filling to bring this lady back to the land of the living. I believe she made a guest appearance on the Walking Dead at some stage in her past.

I love the little key hole details.  They are real locks too.  No keys, sadly. I know a lot of bloggers put knobs on these dressers, which I really like..but Im also a big fan of ring pulls. So I gave them a bit of a buff and left them original.

These pictures are appalling, I know.  I was in a rush.  The camera was cranky.  Dresser wouldn't sit still.  Bad photo session all round.

A bit of the distressing detail. I kept it pretty light all round.  I should also mention that I turned this into a chalk paint using PoP.  I like the patina of chalk paint/wax on these old pieces (I usually use latex acrylic and polyurethane).  I also waxed with MINWAX dark wax.  No clear.  But I find the Minwax dark wax to be subtle compared to most dark waxes, so you dont get that 'staining' in the paint finish.

And below is the before.  Certainly wouldn't stand out in a Miss America Pageant.  But hey, a little bit of make-up, some fancy lighting, and just a bit of well placed Hollywood tape, and whammo, say hello to Angelina Jolie.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

French Baronet in Charcoal

I picked up an adorable solid wood Baronet french style set the other day.  And it was FREE.  Yay!  It was painted in that off white that would have looked adorable in a little girls room 40 years ago.

I picked up a tall 4-drawer dresser, a nightstand, and a six drawer dresser.  I thought about repainting them white and keeping with the little girls theme.  But I just didn't feel like it.  Nope, I wanted to do it in a deep charcoal.

Well, I did the nightstand and the tall dresser in charcoal, but I did the six-drawer in mint and white (pics to come soon). I had low expectations of what was going to lie beneath that old white finish, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was solid wood!  Nice!

I left the inside of the nightstand white to add a little contrast with the charcoal gray.

I painted out the hardware white, it was originally a two-toned white/gold finish, and I didn't mind it, but I wanted the contrast of the white.  

This charcoal gray I used is a flat paint, and it just doesn't accept wax well.  The wax doesn't absorb into it the way it does chalk paint.  I knew I wanted to top coat with wax on this piece, not poly, so I did two coats of my regular gray flat paint, and the third coat I turned into DIY chalkpaint using PoP.  I worked perfectly!

After the chalkpaint coat dried, I sanded it down to smooth out the roughness and applied the wax. The lustre is perfect, a great hand-rubbed sheen.

Here is the pair of them together.  Aren't they handsome!

Here are a couple of before pics.  Although they look like they are in great condition, the finish was chipping and scratched.  In short, they looked their age (and not in a good way).

9-Drawer in Gray and White

Keeping with my recent gray and white theme, I decided to refinish this lovely mid century dresser in.....you guessed it -  GRAY and WHITE!  

This solid wood dresser was in very good shape apart from a few things.  All of the plastic drawer runners needed replacing because the wobble of the drawer had them bonking all about.  I needed to do some planing on the middle door as it had swelled and was scraping when it was being closed, and the top needed to be sanded very deeply in order to remove some very deep scratches.  Other than that, it was in great shape.

I used a very similar shade of gray to the little antique dresser I just refinished (here).  It is light and fresh and is versatile in its ability to blend in to any decor.

How about this awesome gray decorative paper!  Sha-zam!  I think it makes a great addition and contrast having the dark gray beside the light gray.

As usual, I used modpodge to attach this contemporary paper. I love adding paper to drawers behind cupboard doors, it has such 'wow' factor when the door is opened. 'come on in and play with my drawers!' it screams.

Because I didn't distress this piece, I primed the entire thing with Zinsser BIN.

For the middle door, I highlighted the recessed detailing with white, I also painted the hardware white and added a white square trim detail around both sets of outer drawers to add a more chic feel to it.

Im not sure why these pics all came out so blurry, but hopefully you get the idea!

Teal and Antique

I bought this little antique gem along with the one I refinished in mint from the same ol' English lady who was moving house.  This is the one I asked Mr. Chuckles to help me fix the missing piece of veneer on in my previous post.  His methods may be a little unconventional (erm. just a little), but he sure did come through with the goods, because you can't even tell there was ever anything wrong with it.

I opted for a teal-blue colour which I custom mixed.  I knew I was going to do some heavy distressing which looks great with the really dark stained finish poking through on the sides

I accented with some of the mint I had left over from my previous project which I really like as it adds some highlights and moves your eye around the piece a lot.

I also painted that neat little recessed detailing in mint as well. Initially I was going to do it a dark colour (black?), but Im glad I decided to go with a lighter colour as I think it keeps it elegant and fresh.

I did some really heavy distressing on this one, more so than on the mint to really make it look rustic and antique.

I enjoyed working on these little dressers, it was a nice change from the big-bertha's I usually do.  Speaking of big-bertha, I just returned home with a massive 9-drawer dresser.  Stay tuned for the transformation!

Have a great weekend.  Im off camping - again!

French Bedroom Set in White

I have been busy this week!  I picked up an absolutely beautiful French Bowfront Bedroom Set.  It is vintage Dixie furniture and truly gorgeous with its curvy lines and detailed trim.

Initially I wanted to paint each piece individually and not keep it as a set.  But in the end, I opted to keep it simple and 'matchy matchy' and went for pure white.

I did inject a bit of personality into the insides of the cupboards though, where I added some lovely silver/blue peacock inspired paper.  It gives it that little bit of 'wow' factor that it needs.

The pictures are less than average, I know.  Given the size and quantity of pieces, I had no choice but to snap them outside and in the garage. 

 The Armoir is probably my favorite piece.  The lines are so elegant and romantic, and I love how great the paper looks on the inside.  Such a great surprise when you open it up.

There is me peeking out in the mirror.  It looks like Im proudly holding the broom.

Don't you feel so lucky when you come across gorgeous furniture.  It hardly takes any effort at all!  (Well maybe just a bit: sanding, 2 coats of primer, 4 coats of paint, and a topcoat)...Its worth it in the end though and when you see the finished results.

Ariel the Mermaid

I love chunky bold colours and use a lot of teal, turquoise and shades of blue and green in my work. 

 I found this dresser and absolutely loved it, I used a custom mix of green and white to get the colour(s) desired. For the casing, I used ASCP in Florence, and for the drawer facings, I mixed some pure white into the mix to make it a bit lighter.  

Discovering it was too low the ground to be functional, I had Mr. Chuckles help me put these ornate and very delicate gold feet to add some height.  I love the result!   I call her Ariel the Mermaid because she reminds me of the deep sea.

I highlighted the facing trim with cobalt blue, some white and a bit of black as well.  It created a beautiful, time worn patina.

I love the contrast of that big sturdy dresser being held up by those delicate little feet.