Weathered Teal 9-Drawer Dresser

Eeeek.  Im losing the light.  Daylight savings and the Earth's tilt are taking my good lighting away for pictures.  Its dark here now at about 5pm.  I think I snapped these pics at about 3:30 and it was already so dark that they look really grainy and my wallpaper looks pink instead of white.  So, apologies in advance for that.

I was really happy to do this piece after that crazy white mcm overhaul I did before.  This was a wonderful, textbook project.  I found this great Kroller piece which is solid wood and in fantastic condition.

 I started by sanding down the entire piece , cleaning it, and then painting on a couple of coats of teal chalkpaint.

Its been a while since I did anything whimsical, so I added some vintage wallpaper from Eaton's to the top square detailing.

I used a very light shade of blue to fill in the recessed rectangle trim to add a little bit of extra visual interest.

I gave the entire piece a super-duper heavy distressing.  I wanted this piece to look really aged and weathered.

A closeup at the recessed detailing and the hardware.



FOR SALE ON MY ETSY SHOP!!

THE BEFORE

Aged Light Turquoise

I custom mixed up this colour.  It is a nice feminine blue-turquoise.  This dresser was in fabulous vintage condition.  A great find with all the detailing.

  

I sanded really well, and then primed the entire thing with Zinsser BIN (I find this stuff so frustrating to work with because it dries so bleeping fast, but it has aaaaamazing adhesion)

After my Zinsser dried (about 4 seconds later), wink wink, I painted on two coats of the turquoise.  I then highlighted the recessed detail with cobalt blue, and the raised detail with a lighter shade of the turquoise.

The result was very pretty, but not nearly edgy enough, I decided to give everything a really good sand to make it look more ‘antique-chic’ and less ‘little girl’s room’.

Because the Zinsser is stubborn as hell, it doesn’t come away when sanded like the paint does, so its great for creating a layered paint look.

The hardware was very dull and dingy, but I used my old sanding technique to bring out the soft gold lurking beneath.  I then shot a blast of sealer to prevent future tarnishing.

I picked up four new rolls of decorative paper a couple of days ago, and it was a real toss up to decide which one to use on the inside drawer facings.  I decided to go with a grey/white chevron pattern.  I kind of think it gets a bit lost against the boldness of the dresser.  I had a great dragonfly on butcher paper one, I wish I’d gone with that one instead!  Next time.

And here is the before. Not a bad looking lady.

Linking up to missmustard seed.  Have a great long weekend!

Big Bertha Dressed In Turquoise

I promised a ‘big bertha’, and now I present Big Bertha!  My word, this ol girl almost embarrassed herself by not fitting into my Mazda 3 hatchback.  I had to give her a subtle lecture about diet and nutrition, because she is... big and chunky!  Almost 7 feet long and definitely over 200lbs (sorry Bertha, but disclosing your weight is for your own good).  Eat some lettuce.

I clearly love this shade of turquoise/teal, because I have used it a billion times now.  I use it so much that my neighbor stopped by for a garage-chat the other day and asked ‘are you still painting that dresser?’ I paused midstroke and threw him a puzzled look before stammering, ‘No, I finished that one months ago, this is different one.’  I was too ashamed to tell him I had done about five other ones in the same colour in between the one he was referring to and this one. 

He is also the same neighbor who when I told him I rescued a beautiful credenza that was bound for the dump (this post), asked me if that was the colour I received it in (I had painted it the same shade of turquoise) implying that I hadn’t done anything to it yet!  Men.  They just don’t appreciate a nice shade of turquoise.  I did take a dose of pleasure a week later by complimenting his turquoise shorts and quipping that he matched my furniture.  He may or may not have blushed.  He may or may not have got my point. But I had a little inward swell of vindication. 

But back to Bertha!  She was in great shape for such a hefty girl.  I custom tinted some primer before covering her up in my favorite colour. 

The hardware was beautiful in it’s grandness, but it was very dull and dark, so I blasted her with some gold spray paint to really amp up the contrast with the dresser.

 I did some heavy distressing to reveal the lovely dark wood – a little peek-a-boo.  I also accented with some light blue piping and a touch of yellow to tie in with the gold.

The cupboard opens up to reveal three more drawers which I finished in a turquoise/navy chevron paper for a pop of fun.

I love big-bertha, but it will take a big room to handle a statuesque woman like her.  She is too much women for my little hallway, indeed!


Linking up to party with:

miss mustard seed

Turquoise Distressed Dresser

This piece was so much fun to work on.  It had so much character with all that ornate detailing, and the hardware is simply swoon worthy!

I felt really lucky to find this piece because a few months ago I responded to an ad for the same set and tried to get the seller to just sell me the dresser (and not the rest of the set).  My offer was refused and I remember I was so upset because I had such a vision of what could be done with it.

Fast forward 4 months, and I found the same dresser, for sale all by itself!  Thank you furniture gods!

I confess I was going to use emerald.  In fact I had behr 'precious emerald' colour matched in my dulux as I was inspired by this piece by Pam at 'Simple Details' .  My emerald turned out much more 'forest green' than this one though, and I was a little reluctant to try it out.  So instead I played it safe and opted for my fav shade of turquoise (again!).

I painted the insides of the recessed detailing two shades lighter than the  turquoise body, and again accented with some blue and yellow.  Everything got a good distressing to 'vintage' it up a bit. As usual, the detailing is hard to see in the pictures. Sigh.

I just can't get enough of the hardware.  They are little works of art all by themselves!  They are like butterflies, all set to flutter away.

linking up to:

missmustard see.com

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Distressed Turquoise Buffet Dresser

UPDATE!  I was grumpily sipping on my coffee at 7am yesterday when my bleary eyes turned on 'Candace Tells All'.  A double take was in order because I thought this dresser below was making its new home in one of her clients living room.  It took me a good 3 seconds to determine if it was in fact my dresser.  It wasn't. Sigh. How neat would that have been.  The dresser she was using was so similar in both style and colour. Good taste Candace!

 

 

You know it's a good day when you stumble across a piece of furniture you love, only to find out that it is.....FREE!!  I scored this gem at my favorite re-store just when she was about to be loaded onto a truck bound for the dump.  Naturally I flapped my arms about and gestured over to the my trunk - open, willing and spacious.

I have been missing my turquoise lately, having been doing a lot of whites and other colours.  So this was my chance to dust off the lid of my favorite shade of turquoise and work some magic. 

 I did a couple of base coats and then I brushed on some yellow and cobalt accents.  They don't come out too wonderfully with the poor quality of my camera phone - but they are there.  I assure you. ;)

I love the legs on this dresser.  Very grand and statement making.

You can see a bit of the cobalt and yellow in this picture.  If you squint your eyes.

 A bit of the heavy distressing can be seen in the close-up shot below.

That's all for today.  Have a nice one.  

I remembered to snap a before shot of this one.  

Bedset in Coral

I leaped out of my comfort zone with this colour!  I picked up this contemporary bedroom set.  The Longboy and the Armoir were so lovely and en-trend, that they escaped my paint brush altogether.  The nightstands however, were in pretty rough shape.  And the headboard, well, it was kinda bland.

I found this lovely paper a few weeks ago and had a vision to use it on a headboard and nightstands, so when I caught a glimpse of this furniture I decided to put my matchmaking skills to the test.

I thought about painting the furniture gray and having the paper ‘pop’ off, because I think coral goes with gray nicely.  But I have painted things in gray before.  What I haven’t done is paint things in coral!

Everything got a good distressing to ‘age things up’ a bit.

I love the original hardware on these cabinets.  So unique.

I think I will definitely be using coral again.  Very happy with it!


linking up to:





savvysouthernstyle