Velvety Goodness...or not

One day Dan (my wonderful boyfriend) called me and said "A man at work is clearing out his father's house and has some furniture he wants to get rid of.  Any chance you want any of it?"  My reply?? "Um, YEA! I'll take it all!!" 

Most of the pieces were extremely large and heavy and bulky and would take a century to fix up, but these chairs were among the pile of loot.

Not quite sure why there was only 2, but I figured I would make each one as cute as I could.  The crushed velvet really wasn't working for me!

One down, one to go.

At first, my thought was bright teal paint and super cute floral fabric!!
My second thought was, how the heck are ya gonna sell a bright teal chair??

My third thought sided with my first thought and I debated for quite awhile.

I compromised and decided one would be wild and one would be classic.

I bought really pretty (really expensive) ruffle trim at Joann's and glued that along the edges to finish it off.  Very elegant ;)

 

I know it's only one chair instead of a set, but I look at it as a one-of-a-kind chair.  You won't find another one like it anywhere, and it can hold it's own in any room without looking out of place or lonely.

Stay tuned for the sequel on numero dos....

Pretty In Pink

If you've been following along this whole time, you might remember a post a couple months back about my "chair-ity" work I bombarded myself with.  Well, most of the 8 chairs I had stockpiled have been finished.  Except for one....

You probably laughed at me when I said not to worry, it would look pretty someday, I promise.

Well, it went from this...

...to this...

...to THIS!!

See, I told you it would look pretty!!

So, how'd I do it??

After having ripped the entire thing apart, I let it sit in the basement for 3 months while I let ideas marinate in my head (read: I had no idea what to do).

I left myself with a barebones chair and no clue where to even begin.

Finally, I started to clear out old projects that were taking up space, and I had an epiphany about this one.  After painting it raspberry pink :) I built 3 individual padded panels for the back of the chair where the holes were.  I nailed them into place and added trim all around the edges.  I covered the springs with backing material and bought a new cushion that I cut to size.  Then i wrapped the material over the cushion and stapled along the edge and then added more trim to hide all the staples. 

Of course, pink isn't for everyone, but black just seemed too obvious a choice for this fabric that I really loved.  So pink it is!  I envision it in a little girl's room or as a cozy corner chair in a cute little eclectic apartment (like mine!).

Nighty Nightstand

I blogged about this a few posts back.  Perfect as a night stand, just needed some love....

(pre-love)

(post-love)

I had stripped it and it just wasn't coming clean.  So painting it was my only option.  I had intended to go with a green color similar to the one it started out as.  But I realized there was plenty of brown paint leftover from the accent wall in the bedroom it would be going in.  BINGO! It meant I didn't have to buy more paint and it was sure to match in the room.  The plain paint didn't seem to do it by itself.  So I added some stain overtop (dabbed it on with a rag) and it turned out looking a lot like leather.

And to top it off.........

I found it a brother!!!

While visiting in New York last week, it was sitting out by the road and I scooped it up.  It didn't have drawers, but I plan to just put shelves in the slots instead.  It's weird how, 2 states away, I found an almost perfect match for it!  Super excited to get started on this one!!

Dressed up Dresser

So, remember this guy from a few posts back?

Well....................

TADA!!!!!!!

After much painstaking work, I finally finished her.  And darn if she isn't absolutely beautiful! Seriously, I'm in love....so much so that I almost don't want to sell her....almost.

I started with stripper to remove the old stain (piece of cake).

Then i sanded the whole thing down.

(post sanding)

I wasn't really feeling the woodgrain at first (it was all discolored and weird looking).  But it came out smooth and no terrible markings anywhere.

(post stain and varnish)

Once the stain went on though, it really brought out the beauty of the striped woodgrain.  The varnish just made it that much better.

The hardware was practically black when I found it.  It wasn't until I started scrubbing at them with a wire brush that I realized they were actually supposed to be brass!

(before and after)

2 hours later (and very sore fingers!) I finished cleaning them up and installed them on the drawers.  That was the showstopper right there!

They made the whole piece come together!

Love this shot - look how shiny those handles are!!

This shot with the flash really shows the woodgrain (I just couldn't take enough pictures, it seemed!!)

Anywho, as much as I love her, I would like to find her a special home.  If you know of anyone who is looking, I'll be happy to strike a deal! :)

Side TableChair

Remember this guy from a couple posts ago?

Well, I finally got around to finishing it!

Simple new coat of paint and a reupholstered seat and finito! 

It serves as a sidetable in Dan's guest bedroom.  I'm currently looking for a semi-matching one for the other side because I unfortunately suffered a casualty with his brother...

Remember him from the same previous post??

Well after much deliberation, he just didn't fit the bill and I put him back by the side of the road where I found him :(

One day, I hope to find a new brother to match!

Dress Up That Dresser

My previous post mentioned the great find I got on the corner.  But you're asking yourself "She mentioned 2 great finds - what's the other one??"  Well, need not to worry....

Isn't she gorgeous??? 

Somewhat reminiscent of my own dresser I posted about in the very beginning of my blog.

I bet back in her heyday, this pretty little thing was quite the looker.  I love the waved front just like the other one.  The top is in almost as bad of shape too.  The drawers all slide in and out perfectly though.  The only missing piece is a handle on the bottom drawer.  No big deal - easily fixable.  I began stripping the top 2 drawers and it worked fantastically (stain is ALWAYS easier to remove than paint!). 

Stayed tuned for her unveiling - and if you know of a good home for her, please let me know :)

Green Team

Let me just set you up with the premise of this story....

I was on my way to Dan's after work this past Saturday....almost there....turned the corner on to his street...and BAM!  There it was.  A neighbor was moving out and had the nerve to leave 2 beautiful pieces of furniture by the side of the road.  I almost hit a tree craning my neck to see what goodies had been left behind.  I pulled into his driveway and was yelling for him as I ran to the backdoor.  He was sitting on the porch and practically threw his neck out rolling his eyes at my "I found furniture on the corner!" exclamation. (just kidding - he really is very tolerable of my sickness).  I was all aflutter talking really fast about walking back to the house before someone else could take my treasures.  Luckily we had a friend's pickup truck for the weekend and Dan hopped in and followed me to the corner where I picked up this.....

I couldn't believe it either! Totally Awesome!  And I already have the perfect spot for it! Dan's kingsize bed is so high that there aren't any nightstands tall enough for it.  I've been looking for something for forever and here it is! Perfect size and height for next to his bed!!

I got to work right away, mainly because I was super excited!

I went to Home Depot and got a gallon can of furniture stripper...

Eww and ewwww

It stripped most of the green and barely any of the yellow underneath (I think it was just a different kind of paint). 

I'm pretty confident that once I get my hands on my powersander, the rest of the paint will be history.  I'm not sure it will be suitable for staining, but I don't mind painting a piece every now and then.

Check back for the finished product!!