Two-tone tallboy with chevron pulls

This was such a great vintage find, and although it needed a lot of work, it was worth it in the end.

When I went to see it, it was in worse condition than the picture suggested (all of you on E-Harmony know what I mean here).  But I could see the potential, so I carted her old bones home anyway.

I love me some two-tone, so that is what I decided to go for.  I stripped all of the bits that I left original wood.  Fortunately there was no thick topcoat, so it all came off pretty easily with the orbital.  I restained and sealed with satin sheen oil-based poly.

I painted the chevron wooden pulls, and the sides a contrasting soft white.  I have done this look lots of times, and I still adore it.  But funnily enough, my neighbor came round for a chat and once again put his foot in it by asking me what colour I intended to paint it! (yep, this is after I had just finished it) (and yep, this is the second time he has done this to me!  Previously he looked at one of my turquoise pieces and asked what colour I intended to paint it......??????  Huh????).  I told him he was two-for-two, and if he did it a third time I was going to hire some local kids to go egg his house.  ;)

A nice shot of my hand. I could be a part-time hand model, I know.

You can see some of the gorgeous wood grain on that top drawer.  So nice!

Duck-egg Blue Dresser / Buffet

It must be the gorgeous weather we've been having!  Yep, all 30 hours of that great spring weather put a spring in my step and inspired my colour choices (sadly, the subzero temps and snow have reemerged from their gloomy labyrinth).  I custom mixed this gorgeous colour up, and I think it is perfect for the Easter season.  Light and bright, but still with some gray tones, it reminds me of duck egg.

I used chalkpaint, sanding in between coats for a smooth finish.  The piece was in fantastic condition, and a light sanding was all she needed for preparation.  No holes, no dings, no chips - yay~!

I decided to keep it simple.  Often I do a lot of 'highlighting' on pieces with carved detailing with lighter/darker complimentary colours.  But on this girl, I wanted the result to be understated, so all I did after finishing the painting was seal with a polyacrylic in a satin sheen.  I was going to wax, but I have to admit, I still find that waxing large surfaces (ie, the top of this 74" piece), gives a splotchy and uneven result.  I still use wax, especially on small pieces, but the poly gave a great and even finish, and Im very happy with it.

I bought new ceramic knobs.  They are white with a blue crazing effect.  Very cute and a great contrast with the blue.

I love the great height that this piece has.  It stands at 34" tall which is unusual for a vintage piece in this style (without having legs).  I find 31 or 32" is the norm.  I love tall furniture, I think it looks more stately and commanding.

The drawers have wooden inserts, after I stripped them of their old and dingy fabric, I applied some contemporary gray and white contact paper I have.  A cute little surprise.

There is lots of great storage space in the cupboards, I painted the bases and the backer board, but I left the side walls to add a hint of their original personality.

I was halfway through painting when I remembered to take the 'before' picture - Give me a 'woop-woop' if you have done this yourself!

Camera fail and a two-faced Hollywood Lady

Well don't I feel like a tool.  After finishing my latest project, I brought her in for some staging and carefully unzipped my new camera from its little bag and starting taking snaps.  I usually shoot in A.  So I control the aperture and I let the camera choose the speed.  I figure this is a good way to wet my feet into the world of shooting in manual mode.

Several minutes into the little photo shoot, it became all too apparent that Ansel Adams I am not.  I could not, despite all my fiddling and experimenting get a picture with a decent light balance.  I metered here, I metered there, I metered just about everywhere.  But unlike the little golden haired girl in the three bears, I could not find the bowl that was 'just right'.

 Im ashamed to admit this..my head is hanging low and Im dripping with self loathing...but I got so fed up I grabbed my phone and used it to take the pictures in the end.  After all, it has taken reasonable photos for me since the beginning of my blog's existence.  It is awesome because it has a 16mm lens (wide angle) which allows me to fit the whole girth of those big beasty pieces I like to paint into the shot.  My high tech studio also doubles as a hallway. Hallways can be big, I know.  In proper grown-up houses they can even inspire words like 'grand' and 'magnificent', but in my little abode, 'narrow' and 'squishy' might bet more appropriate adjectives.

Anyways, so here are the pics taken not with the $XXX camera that is practically brand new, no here are the pictures taken with the three year old, been dropped too many times, phone camera.  You enjoy them, and feel free to teach me how to use my camera proper. Ill be in the shower trying to scrub away the shame if you need me.

This piece was a great find though!  Solid wood and in excellent condition.  The top did have some marks, so I stripped and sanded it back to the bare wood and re-stained in dark walnut.  I topped with three coats of polyurethane in a satin sheen, it looks wonderful! Yep, a little pat to myself there.   I applied the poly with a sponge roller and than quickly went over it with long brush strokes to cut out all the bubbles.  Worked great, narry a bubble left behind. A nice smooth even finish...something I always struggle to get with a wax.

I wanted to incorporate just a hint of chic off-white, so I painted out the three middle drawers as well as the framing and legs - also in a satin finish.  It all turned out really well and I am enjoying the temporary home she is making in my hallway.

That's it, that's all folks!

Going Retro with Black and Gold

Hi Peeps!  The latest and greatest - black and gold.  This cute pair of retro cuties virtually fell into my lap.  The furniture findings have hit a bit of a dry patch of late round these parts, so I was very happy when a kind soul donated these guys to me.

I virtually never paint in black, but I was inspired by a picture I came across whilst perusing painted furniture on google which was black with gold hardware.  Why not? I thought.  I could use a shake up.

I gave everything a nice sand and cleaned the pieces both down.  I had some Ben Moore Advance in a slate-black colour that I decided to turn into chalk paint.  It turned out great and the adhesion is awesome.

 I applied two coats, sanding after both, and then finished with clear wax which I had buffed.

The hardware got the ol' rub-n-buff treatment to spruce it up a bit.  I initially thought about changing the hardware, but it really does have a cute retro feel, and plus, I was feeling a little lazy to fill in all those holes.  ;)

Keeping with the retro theme, I highlighted the recessed lines in the middle panel with cream, and I also painted one thin cream stripe down each of the front legs.  

Its definitely an improvement on the before.

The matching tallboy got the exact same treatment.  A cute little pair they make!