Sochi Dresser

Hello friends.  Would you believe me if I said it has just been too cold to write blog posts?  Well, it has been.  Or at least to get photos that would go with the blog posts.  But I am back at it today thank heavens and the sun is shining and we are supposed to get above freezing temps with little to no wind (thank the Good Lord above!).  I'm officially turning into a total wimp.

Anyway, I have been enjoying some Winter Olympics and so this dresser had to be named Sochi.  Not to mention that it is 60 something degrees in Sochi and I am extremely jealous of that.  This dresser had such beautiful bones and details and lots of little rough patches in between.  Some veneer damage, some trim damage, some bad paint and glaze jobs, but sound dovetailed drawers, and pretty darn clean.  The Mr. found this one and brought it home and he is extremely proud of how it turned out.  He's so cute!

Sochi is tall, and has 6 nice drawers, some of which have nice dividers built in.

Unfortunately it was too cold to get out in the sun for the photos so they are workshop background and fluorescent lighting.  I can not figure out how to get a decent photo in this lighting so I apologize for the weird yellow effect that I tried to edit out.  I didn't want to lose the color though, and this beauty has some serious ASCP Provence going on.  Underneath are layers of Florence and Versailles too!

I also dry brushed on some Old White and used both light and dark waxes for some effect.

Because of the nicks of time, and the bad paint jobs I deliberately layered my paint up with brush strokes willy nilly and a bit heavier in spots.  Might as well use the natural layers of age to create a piece that, while refreshed, still shows the patina of a piece that has been around for a long while.

I deliberately went with 2 different styles of hardware because I thought this piece could use a bit of whimsy.  Aren't these flowered knobs so pretty?!  Here's some of that great detailing.

Here's some more of that detailing.  So delicate and pretty, and I love that the flower in the medallion mimics the flower in the lower knobs.  It reminds me the medallions you would see in the old palaces.

Sochi is such a pretty girl I think.  (Even with the evil yellow tones)  Eventually she'll make her way to NJ & Co. where I consign some furniture.  In the meantime I have much to keep me busy as 6 nice pieces were brought to me by a customer to have restyled.  I'm leaving color behind to move to Pure White for a time.  I'll post some photos when I can!

Stay warm and with all the snows back East again, stay safe!!!
Deb

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In Search of Teal

Do you get a particular color in your head for a piece and you just can't let it go?  Good to know.  That's the way I sometimes rock and roll too.  When I first purchase this particular dresser I just knew it needed a deep rich color and I kept picturing it in a dark teal.  I found it on lots of paint decks by many different companies, but I really wanted the ease of one of the natural clay or chalk based paints.  So I mixed my own.  Yes, I did.  I consulted with our local Annie Sloan stockist to see if she knew of any recipes for teal.  After playing around a bit with her paints I knew I could do this and by the time she called me back to confirm that we were on the right track I had already mixed up a batch in a shade that made me happy.  I will say that shortly after that I saw where American Paint Company  had a new color "Peacock" that is would have worked, though my color has a bit more of a green base than theirs I think.  (And yes, I have used American Paint Company paints and I do really like them.  We just don't have a local stockiest yet, so I have to order them.)

I looked for the before photo, which I know I took, but have yet to find it.  Picture a brown on brown , tired, worn out looking mid-century modern dresser with some fantastic original hardware that was almost beyond tarnished.  Here is what she looks like today.

And I'm sorry for the poor photos, that were taken in the workshop because it was some Arctic Vortex kind of day…again.  I have a horrible time with lighting in there, most likely due to the 30 florescent lights my helpful Mr. installed to make it nice and bright!  Love him!

Isn't that hardware with it's new shiny finish lovely on this piece?  I love shiny things.  Those intertwined circles are just the bomb!

Here is the close up.  The color turned out exactly as I had dreamed it would, and I hope it will make someone supremely happy with its 8 spacious drawers and newly refinished stained top.  

Hope you are having a wonderful and warm week friends!  
Deb
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Frozen

Happy New Year friends!!  We're winging our way into 2014 full of hope and promise!  Hope you and yours have a joyous and prosperous New Year!

I feel like I haven't been able to truly warm up here since sometime in mid November.  Brrr!  It definitely has me longing for the days when we lived in Hawaii.  As frequently happens to me, I tend to paint in waves of colors that speak to my 'moments'.  That's not weird or anything is it?  Right now I'm thinking of all things frosty.  Perhaps even the new movie Frozen.  And since I want to start my New Year off right here is a reveal just for you!  This pretty little vintage Chest on Chest Dresser was purchased from a client when she decided she no longer needed it.  Other than some veneer chips it was in excellent condition.  

I mixed the palest of blues with some Old White and Duck Egg.  I love those feet!

Using only the Old White and Duck Egg I tried to give the illusion of a line of trees covered in a soft layer of snow.  I am not a fine artist by any stretch of any one's imagination, but I thought it worked out well in that lovely oval frame.  

New glass bubbly hardware only adds more of that frothy frosty feeling.  

On the upper drawers I found some cute silver metal knobs put opted to paint them with the Old White to repeat the snowy look.

I wish I had some better lighting to do this piece some justice, but it's just too cold to open up the workshop doors for a good photo.  And darn it, wouldn't you know we have a nice little coating of snow for a backdrop!

So tell me what you think of "Frozen", and I hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

Deb
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Inspired

Some days I feel terribly inadequate when I look around the blog-o-sphere at some of the amazing talent out there.  It is mind boggling how in this day and age we can literally peek into the studios and homes of people and see what they have created.  It is even sweeter when they are the type of people to share the hows and whys of their projects in order to encourage us to give it a whirl.  Shelly of Shizzle Design is one of those great people who shares, and let me tell you there is no fear in Shelly!  If you haven't visited her blog go there right after you read this so you can see her amazing furniture.  She also lived in Hawaii, which definitely endears her to me since we did also and I love it when she throws in a Hawaiian phrase or two.  So when you visit say, 'Aloha!'

Shelly worked some awesome magic on a beautiful cabinet and I was so intrigued by her technique I just had to try it out.  Here is my poor attempt to copy her technique.  Her finished product is so much more fantastic than mine, but I'll show you what I ended up with.

This was a plain Jane Octagon side table when we started.  The drawer insets were cheap, thin fiber wood and they were broken.  I replace them with some sprayed decorative metal I had salvaged from another broken piece.  You'll think I'm insane when you see what it looked like with the first coat applied.

Yep, the undercoat is a bunch of fun little colors.  I worked with Versailles, Aubusson, Duck Egg, Primer Red and Graphite in Annie Sloan paints, Amber Waves of Grain and Rushmore in American Paint Company, and some Alaskan Tundra Green in CeCe Caldwell paints.  All are no prime chalk, clay or mineral based paints.  Love them.  Slap them on haphazardly, that is a true painting technique don't you know?!  I used the Rushmore in 2 light coats over the top, though I might have been able to get away with 1.

Using a combination of light sanding and wet distressing (mostly wet distressing) I gradually exposed some of the underlying paints.  Shelly's tutorial shows you in great detail how she does this.  Check it out!

On the top I dry brushed more Rushmore on top of the Graphite.  I dry brushed in both directions and then went back and sanded and wet distressed until I was happy with the results.  I used American Paint Company's dark wax to finish her off.   Here are a few more looks at the project.

What a fun little side table!  Many Ma halo's to Shelly for being so generous with her amazing skills!
A Hui Ho!
Deb

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Lonesome Dove Dresser

Does everyone have these strange moments when you are working on a piece of furniture and you know just what the post title will be before you even finish it?  Hello?  Hello?  

Well Lonesome Dove here started out as a good idea that ended up being a hot mess.  Really, I was doing this awesome job of brushing paint on every which way in a pile of "complimentary" colors.  Ha!  It was pretty bad, and what do you do when you think it's bad, but you really don't want to start completely over...Distress it...a lot.

And then you end up liking it.  It's now not a hot mess, but rustic.  Viola!

It's a combination of ASCP in Old White, Old Ochre, and Coco.

Love these big ole wooden knobs.  Sweet.

Huge, deep drawers and solid wood construction.  Does it look familiar?  I've had others just like this one that came out of a sorority house remodel.  I have more too...yee haw!

You just never know sometimes how it's all going to turn out.  And sometimes that's the best part.

Goodbye Summer!
Deb

It Takes Two

Bad news, I'm still using my cell phone as my primary photo taker.  Good news, these are a bit better because they weren't taken in my workshop!  I'm givin' you something to stick around for folks!

Picked up the furniture that was part of the decor for a Spring Parade of Homes house this morning.  It is always so fun to see your creations living (temporarily) in these gorgeous new homes with all the latest 'gee whizz' cool stuff.  Well I picked up most of it.  The two little side tables I had restyled so quickly for them at the last minute were purchased to permanently continue their work as designer house decor items.  

I have searched everywhere for my original before pic of these guys, but can't find it anywhere.  I'll give ya the written visual:  two Ethan Allen square side tables with a dark, dark stain and hard finish on them.  The gals had been asking for a coffee table for one of the houses.  The decor was very California beach home.  This house sits on a sand pit lake, common here in Nebraska for the non-local readers, and I wish I had thought to take some photos of the house.  It is gorgeous and just sold.  (The Builder was Absolute Custom for the locals.)

I never did find a coffee table, but when my 'picker' husband shot me a cell phone photo of these two tables to see if I wanted him to get them I knew what we could do.  And I say we because my picker even volunteered to be my stain stripper because he knew we were on a time crunch.  So, when one good coffee table is difficult to find, how about 2 nice smaller tables side by side??!  You betcha!

Ethan Allen uses a good quality stain and poly I will say, and curves are always a challenge.  It was difficult to remove every trace of that almost black stain, but we both tried hard.  And eventually got it to the point where we could see that it would work.  I applied a couple of coats of Minwax' Weathered Oak stain to begin, and followed that up with a couple of white wash coats of ASCP Old White.  Paint fast, wipe it off fast, with 2 or 3 layers depending on the spot.  The tops had stripped off easily and were easy to power sand so they ended up just naturally lighter.  

(Isn't that rug under the table gorgeous?)  Squirrel!

The design team totally styled the pieces after we dropped them off and the room was so lovely.  I love knowing my little tables are going to be help people see a nice big house as a possible home.  It's a good gig if you can get it little tables!  

To end this post I would just like to add my continuing prayers for the people in Oklahoma who were affected by ALL the tornadoes this week.  It has been difficult to watch all the destruction that was left behind and reported on.  Your strength, faith, and spirit have been so apparent in the stories we continue to hear.  It's humbling.   Please everyone, consider giving to one of the charitable organizations that will continue to provide aide to these folks as they heal and rebuild.  

God Bless everyone!

Deb

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Tried to anyway, it just wouldn't take. :-(


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Blowin' in the Wind

Another breezy day on the Plains or, Peter, Paul & Mary, your choice!  I think I'll just turn on my ipod every time I need a post title and you can see my exceedingly eccletic music collection right along with my excessively eccletic furniture projects.

It is always strange how furniture finds seem to run in phases and flashes.  Lately it's been a glut of mid-century modern pieces when a year ago I couldn't find any at all.  Luckily I have a few antique pieces in my stash to pull out when I feel the need to change things up a bit.  Here's a piece I snuck in quickly before moving on to a custom order on a new, traditional piece.  I do love me some antiques!

I showed this before a couple of weeks ago.  The top had already been sanded smooth and restained, and rough spots and veneer damage patched.  It wasn't in horrible shape, just showin' her age.

I decided to play a bit with some Annie Sloan Chalk Paints and just haphazardly slapped on Old White and Old Ocher all over this piece.  I only painted 1 coat, and sanded back until it was "baby bottom smooth".  It distressed it beautifully and the combination of closely related paints gave it a neat patina.  I suppose I could have created a similar look with dark wax, but it was a great way to use up a bit of paint left in the bottom of both paint cans.

I kept the original brass hardware, just gave it a good cleaning to remove the buildup of gunk and grime.   Here's the close up for you to see the details.

The top was satined in Minwax, Jacobean which is a really rich dark brown and my personal favorite.  I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but the way the top was originally designed there was a border of darker wood around a lighter inset.  You can sort of see it better in the before photo.  It is still apparent in the top after the re-do, and I love that!  This short dresser came on wheels and those bottom 2 drawers are huge, both wide and deep.  It took everything I had to summon up the will power to not stick this over next to my sofa with a lamp on it and stake a claim.  It will make a great addition to a family room, bedroom, or entry hall.  I would use it as a side table or nightstand in a heartbeat, but it would look great at the foot of a raised bed, under the big screen, or in a dining room as a shorter sideboard.  Shoot sneak it under a window as a sort of window seat and your cat will love you forever!  I do believe you better beat me down to NJ & Co. in Omaha for this one or it just might be coming back home with me.  Seriously.

Hope you have a wonderful week filled with your own special Sunshine!
Deb
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