Since moving the new Wardrobe into the “little kids” room, I had to move out the vanity set up that we had in there. So, I thought I’d offer this cute little, very solidly built desk with locking drawers at a special get-it-gone rate of $150, refinished to your choosing (or I could just touch up the white for ya for even less!) Let me know if you are interested and local to the Prescott, AZ area or could come and get it. :)
This is the last of the BIG unfinished projects that’s been sitting in my workshop waiting for attention since I got pregnant and SICK in December. It feels really good to have it tackled and finished! I really wanted to get all the backlogged projects done before the Arizona weather gets hot, and my belly gets too big for me to do much of this kind of work. :)
This sucker was actually given to me FREE by my furniture hookup guy. I’ve told people about him before, but not sure if I’ve mentioned him here. I know someone in town who buys people’s old storage units that they’ve defaulted on from the storage unit owners at auction. Then he sells off the contents on CL and makes pretty decent money doing so. I always thought the prospect of buying these units at auction was interesting for me as a furniture refabber, but risky, since you most likely end up with a bunch of crap that you don’t need or want. Well, since I know this guy who does it, I don’t have to take any risk, but I get to reap the rewards of cheap, and sometimes quite awesome (and did I mention cheap?) furniture. Since he knows that I redo furniture, he gives me first dibs on any furniture in his purchased units! It’s a really great and completely serendipitous business relationship!
Anyways, here it was before I began work on it.
It had so much going for it, but really needed a LOT of work (which is why it ended up the LAST unfinished project in the workshop, and how it came my way free.) There was a lot of gluing of peeling veneer, or removing of it all together, lots of filling, lots of sanding. The prep work on this piece was a job in itself, for sure! I added the paintable wallpaper that looks like tin ceiling tiles to the side panels and the bottom panel on the front to cover over where I had to remove the peeling veneer. I thought the closet panel was a big blank slate that needed some interest, so I decided to use a really great product that I’ve utilized before: Deco Art Texture Stucco.
This stuff is fantastic! I used it to add some interest to some flat and boring doors on this armoire as well. I taped a damask stencil that I got at Michaels to the door.
Then, using a putty knife, applied the texture medium to the stencil.
Then, removed the stencil, leaving a lovely, raised design!
You can knock down some of the sharper edges on the stucco after it’s completely dried with a fine sandpaper. Then it’s ready to paint over. It leaves such a nice, subtle design element to your pieces, and is a much, MUCH cheaper alternative to those pricey wooden appliques that give you a similar effect.
So, here’s the piece after all my hard prep work, ready for some paint!
It was about at this point I started saying to myself, “Self? You have a new person that’s going to be added to this family in a few months. A new person brings with it a lot of stuff! You’re going to need more storage to keep all that new stuff, and guess what? You don’t have any right now!!” To which I replied back to myself, “Hey! This wardrobe would be a lot of new storage!” So, it was practically a no-brainer that I really need to keep this piece. It doesn’t hurt that I love it and would have cried to let it go. ;)
So, my daughter’s room is a buttery yellow and sage green (thankfully I decided not to go too girly with her room in the first place), and her new baby brother will (eventually) be in there with her. It’s a small house, and frankly the only option for him. :) So I decided to paint the piece the sage green, since it was the most masculine option. :D
I added some tea stained glaze to the ceiling tile panels and to the stucco damask design to bring out those details and did some subtle distressing around the edges. I love how it turned out!!
I also added some pretty wallpaper as liner in the bottom of all the compartments. (P.S. – I picked up 18 yards of this wallpaper at the Fraser Fields Swap last fall, so you might just be seeing more of this in projects to come.)
I’m sure it won’t take long to fill up all those nooks and crannies with baby goodies! It never does. :)
Hope you all have a beautiful, springy weekend!
Linking to:
Primitive and Proper, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Domestically Speaking, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, My Repurposed Life, The Shabby Nest, Finding Fabulous, Sassy Sites
I have been loving the bursts of plum I’ve been seeing in interiors lately. I especially enjoy it when it’s paired with a great gray, or boldly paired with turquoise or gold! Here’s a few examples of plum done oh-so-right.
I picked up a quart of a great plum from HD the other day. It’s “Folklore” from Behr.
The question is, will I be brave enough to put it on something? And the bigger question, if I put it on something, will someone buy it? ;) I’d hate to have the loveliest most daring plum dresser on the block sit around for ages because everyone admires her but doesn’t want her.
So, tell me: How do you feel about plum? Love it? Hate it? Does it excite you? Scare you?
The Junkrestore Vintage Market Sale this past weekend was a big success for everyone involved and was tons of fun! There were a couple of big items that had a lot of blog buzz around them that I was really hopeful would sell, but sadly didn’t, namely the Damask Dresser and the Chevron Dresser. Both of these great pieces are still available, so contact me if you are interested in them.
I got to meet a lot of great people, and even had some shop talk with other great furniture refinishers. Jake, of Dusty Gem Décor, had some stunning pieces for sale there and we talked a lot about where to get furniture and the business end of making this kind of venture work. (He also has 3 very cute kids!)
This morning, I thought I’d share a little project that had a very quick turnaround! I picked up this little kidney bean shaped antique side table at a yard sale I happened upon on Friday morning.
It was in sad cosmetic shape, but had SO much potential! I was beyond excited that it had all the original, ornate pulls! Of course, I didn’t let the guy at the yard sale know how excited I was, and talked up how much work it needed to get a deal. ;)
So, I got it home Friday, midday, and got to sanding all that chipped and peeling veneer. And let me tell you, that was a lot of sanding. With such an old and abused piece as this, there’s just no getting it to a pristine and new looking condition. But really, the people who love these pieces don’t want something new and pristine. They want a piece with a story, and a history, that looks like it’s been around the block a few times, which it certainly has.
So, once I painted it a satin ivory, I played up the age and made all that chipped veneer sing with some Tea Stained glaze from Ralph Lauren.
I cleaned up the original pulls with white vinegar and table salt, my go-to metal cleaner/polisher.
I think it turned out beautifully!
I brought it to the Market with me on Saturday morning, and I’m happy to report that it was snatched up very quickly! :)
Hope you’re having a fantastic Monday! Unfortunately, I had a weekend of play, so now there’s laundry to pay. ;)
Linking to:
House of Grace, Domestically Speaking, My Backyard Eden, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Type A, Miss Mustard Seed, Shanty 2 Chic, The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring, Finding Fabulous, Vintage Revivals
