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!

Antique Dresser in Grey

I love this style of dresser!  I do a little tap dance every time I see one at a reasonable price.  Ratta-tatta tat! They are so delicate and airy, and those little turned legs just warm my heart.

This gem was in pretty good shape.  She was missing a few pieces of veneer here and there, but it was nothing that a little bit of wood filler couldn't fix.  

I custom mixed up this grey using some darker grey and white paint.  I knew I wanted it to be a fairly light, almost pastel type grey.  It can be hard to eyeball it when mixing your own colours without a chip or sample to go off, but in this case, I am pretty happy with the shade.

The top was in wonderful condition apart from a few water marks.  Because of this, I gave a light coat of zinsser BIN to the top only, just to lock in that water stain.

I did three coats of the grey all over, two probably would of sufficed but just to be safe I did a third.

My grey paint is a flat, and the white was a satin, so together these two paints made the perfect sheen.  It looks a bit like chalk paint with the wax applied, a lovely, yet very soft sheen.

I love the original hardware, ornate and delicate.  Plus I LOVE ring pulls.  I decided to paint them out white though as I wanted a super romantic and soft feel.  The white contrasts great with the grey.

This is my first piece of furniture with casters.  Kinda neat, but those little suckers like to sneak away from you when they aren't planted on top of a carpet.  Miss Do-As-I-Please keeps jumping up on it for fair-ground rides.  If she wasn't a cat she would be screaming 'Yipeeeeeeeee'.  Nothing beats furniture surfing!

Here is the before, the light patches are wood filler.

All from me!




linking up to:
missmustardseed
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com
http://www.redouxinteriors.com
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/09/195th-power-paint-party-popp.html

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!

Mint & Antique

I had a great week of holidays!  I spent some time up at a cottage, and then went camping for a few days with friends.  Everything was great despite the chilly weather, a real change after the scorchers we had the week before.  I was starting to miss my paint brush by the end though and was keen to get back to my workshop (garage) like any good addict.

This little dresser was great fun to work on, and it was nice to do a piece that was smallish and I didn’t have to get Mr. Chuckles every time I needed to shift it around. 

It is definitely an old piece.  The top is planked wood that hooks into each other, something I had only seen once before (see my Ottawa Oldie post)

I sanded everything back and gave a couple of coats of white primer as I wanted some white to poke through when I distressed.  I then custom mixed up some mint using old tins of ASCP and slathered that on.

I gave everything a good sanding with the orbital to get a super smooth finish before doing some distressing. 

I love the way the white shows through the mint adding some layers of goodness.  I finished with clear wax and just a smidge of dark wax.  I wanted to keep it light and fresh.

Linking up to:

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/