Revived Chest

I found this cedar lined chest at a yard sale back in, like, October.  It sat around in the apartment, was drug through the move, then had the pleasure of sitting in the workshop for about 3 months before I felt sorry enough for it to work on it.  I failed to get a picture of the top before starting to strip off the ugly.  Besides desecrating it with blue acrylic paint, someone added old fashioned “Americana” graphics on top.  I hope I don’t sound unpatriotic, but this was one instance of Americana that should not have occurred. 
      
After sanding, I realized that the blue was not coming off without more chemical stripping, which I prefer not to do.  So I made sure it was smooth and started painting.  Jump ahead, the painting, distressing and waxing completed.  Realize that it just doesn’t look right.  See the bottom trim in the left picture (lid is to the right in the pic)?  That should not sit directly on the floor, right?  So to the internet I went, armed with a pic of the manufacturer stamp on the inside lid. 

Well, found out that this chest originally came with 6 inch Queen Anne shape legs.  To the tune of one exactly like mine (well, with the original legs and minus the fabulous Americana paint job) in good shape was going for around $600 online.  I can’t believe someone did what they did to this chest.
So, the butt on the ground problem.  Do I replace the 6” legs?  Decided no.  Two words. Bun feet.  Hubby added bun feet and she was done!!

There she is!  Made the most of the icky blue paint and the roughness to create great texture and color layering.  The interior is in GREAT shape. She’s available at Two Women and a Warehouse on Bull Street, Savannah. 

For your amusement, here’s Mavi Kedi (aka CCITW) enjoying an open window…the wrong way.

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Playing Catch-up!

Wow, it has been a while since a post.  Yeah.  I’ve had stuff, just like everyone has.  I’m not special and I won’t bore you with it.  I really need to share some furniture with you instead!
My friend (and picker) discovered three tables in one remote location in North Georgia back in the fall.  I didn’t even have room for these tables til we moved to the house in December.  Finally painted one of them for MY dining room.  That was first.  Of course, I had to pick the heaviest biggest of the three, but it is so similar to one in Resuscitation Restoration Hardware I couldn’t resist.

The center had a few chips in the veneer, but I can work with that.

 

Number one, I don’t tweak pictures…yet.  Heck, I’m lucky to take the darn things, so I’m not into computer manipulation right now.  Number two, please excuse the unpainted trim, unadorned window and the neat junk (that I took OFF the table to take the pic) in the sunroom.  I do have another café chair, but I was too lazy to retrieve it for the pic.  I had planned to have another chair to match the larger chair, but I sold the other one.  So that is my current dining table.  May keep it, may place it for sale in my booth at Two Women and a Warehouse on Bull Street.  We’ll see.
Here is another piece just finished up this weekend.  Hubby and I worked SO hard for like three days straight.  He had to go to work to get a break. Seriously, this wardrobe/dresser/armoire thing was soooo clean and in great shape with a rough finish.  I loooove rough finishes because they simply facilitate the look I want, so I dance when I find superficial water damage. 

And here is the after!

Just wanted to do a quick update and have quite a bit more to share...I'm getting so much better at remembering to take pictures!
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Such a CUTE table!

Okay, so let’s see how well this works.  Natalie over at Vintage Revivals said to try this Windows Live Writer, so I promptly downloaded it.  Way cool that you have SO many more fonts to choose from plus the fact you can watermark your pics way easier than that photoshop/painshop/whatever that just annoyed the heck out of me.  So I am experimenting with this post to see how well this thing works.
So this little table/desk is pretty old.  The veneer top had seen better days, which is probably obviously by the honking big wood filler patches clearly visible.


Well, I really like this table for some reason (and it’s not the big wad of gum I found underneath), so in the midst of moving/half demolishing and painting a kitchen, I found the time to work on him.  Why?  I REALLY needed some prep space in my kitchen, so he is serving proudly as my kitchen island at the moment.  Sadly, he is a  normal height table, which is actually to my detriment.  Need him to be taller.  I am thinking of how we could extend the legs without completely looking goofy, but haven’t figured that out yet. 


There is some lovely chippiness on the drawer front and the sides, purely by chance.  Well, not really by chance, but by the fact the I gunked up my sand paper on the orbital sander and that caused the nice chippys.  It’s all about technique, folks.

I don’t know why, but I love that big acrylic knob!  Looks cooler in person-you know what glare can do.  I used Aubusson Blue mixed with French Gray as the base with French Gray layered on top.  I don’t remember exactly how I did the top.  There is a two week blur…
Anyway, I finished him up with wax and he is taking a beating.  It’s really the only prep area I use right now.  Two months and the waxed top is holding up even with wiping and disinfecting.   I do use Melaleuca’s furniture polish occasionally, which is some good stuff. 
I would show the whole kitchen, but I want to at least get the trim painted, which has been on hold til Hubby got the replacement window in (which is done), but now I’m in grad school, so trim painting hasn’t been a priority, even though the paint waits patiently about 4 feet away.  Actually the WHOLE HOUSE needs trim painting done.  It’s all wood with varnish, poly or something.  It’s driving me nuts.  I may whip out the brush and tackle something this weekend.  Oh, and when I get the trim painted, then I can hang my curtains.  My lovely vintage muslin sheets that await my attention…I really hope Cutest Cat in the World (CCITW) doesn’t decide to practice her rock-climbing on them.
It’s pretty much spring here in Savannah.  Yeah-pollen hit a week ago.  I have a lone jonquil in bloom.  It’s lonely. 


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Beachy buffet

Life has been rather hectic recently.  I started grad school full-time, so along with the numerous home projects and personal furniture projects, business furniture has been pushed down the list.  This project is a custom request that I just dedicated an afternoon to.  It made me cringe to paint this piece-it has beautiful quarter-sawn oak veneer and really in good shape.  

I just jump in and forget to take before pics, so pardon the multiple pics...and the background.  We took this off the truck, I worked on it and it went right back onto the truck.  

The customer wanted me to replicate another piece that I did that is currently in the store.  I like for my work to have texture and layers, so that it feels like it has been this way for years even when freshly painted. 

Missed the before of the hardware.  It is interesting hardware.  The pull plates are very light, so I think they are aluminum, but old.  They were painted a gold, not brass, but gold.  I gave them a quick layer of primer and a couple of layers of brushed nickel and I think they look perfect with the paint.  


Savannah has had low humidity (miracle) for the past 3 days or so, so the dry time on this was ridiculous, but welcomed.  Annie Sloan chalk paint dries so quickly anyway, but amazingly so yesterday!  Even the spray paint on the hardware was dry in 10 minutes.


So, I'll be linking to some parties this week and I'll update on that as it goes.  


My husband has replaced the majority of the windows in the house with the low-e, argon gas filled kind.  While they are wonderfully more energy efficient, they have also altered how sunlight filters in.  Now our in-good-shape-and-tolerable-color paint in the living room has turned into a depressing cream with yellow tinge color that I won't be able to handle very long, so the living room painting project is now pushing to the top 5 on The List.  Of course, with that comes the picking of the color.   Wish me luck...


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The Bar is Open!

Hello!  New Year, time to get blogging.  New house, new workshop, new school.  Lots of new for me!  

I'll do a post with info about the house and the m.a.n.y projects that are on the to-do list.  The crazy thing is our limitations about placement in the kitchen have everything to do with the lack of electrical outlets!  It's not like electricity didn't exist in 1957, but obviously it wasn't used like today! 


The cool thing about the limitations is I am being creative and resourceful...and I finally got to do a piece of furniture for myself us!  


Besides the fact that our friends told us we needed a bar, I also need a place for the microwave that we stalked Craigslist for.  When you see my kitchen, you'll understand why, but I will say two words:  outlet and counterspace.  

Found this on Craigslist and it happened to be with someone I had already purchased an item from last spring.  Snagged it and got to do it last weekend.  Didn't know until I started taking the hardware off that it is an Ethan Allen piece from 1983.  I wasn't thrilled with the hardware, so I filled the holes on the drawers so I could use single cup pulls.  I also got a little crazy and layered 2 Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors that I have not seen together before:  Old Ochre as base coat and French Linen as the top coat, in a semi-dry brush fashion.  So here is the finished project:

Totally in love with French Linen-it is not nearly as blue as Paris Grey and not as green as Country Grey.  


So, the bar is stocked and the microwave will be going on top for the time being.  Until I determine how to do it differently.


I lied.  This is actually the second piece that I got to do for me us.  I just haven't taken any after pictures of it because I have to move it to a different spot to do so.  


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