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!!

Pile O' Rubble

Driving to Dan's house last night, I caught my eye on a chair sitting by the side of the road (it was garbage night!).  I scooped it up, brought it to his house (where I'm pretty sure I saw a subtle eyeroll) and got to work. 

It was pretty beat up.  And rickety!

Then I noticed that it folded up!

Weird...

Because it was so wobbly and not sittable, I started to take it apart piece by piece.

This is where I ended up :)

I began to piece it back together, but ran out of daylight.  More pictures to come, but production is at a halt until after vacation!!

Dumpster Dive-In

I wrote a couple weeks ago about 2 chairs I found by the dumpster at my apartment complex.  They sat on my front porch for almost a month before I finally found inspiration to do anything with them.

Before

After

I had to sand the metal to remove the rust from it.  I spray painted them a metallic bronze-y brown color.  I sanded the woodpiece on the back and stained and varnished it.  The seat was recovered in a matching paisley pattern.

I'm in love with how they turned out!  I'm selling them at a consignment shop so hopefully someone will want to take them home :)

Bathing Beauty

About a year and a half ago, I decided to redo my bathroom (at my parent's house at the time).  We had painted it when I was maybe in junior high or early high school, but it was time for a "grown-up" change.

Forgive the sideways shot...

This is the old room, looking in from the door.  The big square on the wall used to be a window and was shottily "patched" up.  The rest of the walls were in terrible condition - the product of tearing down drywall and not patching the walls up before painting (we were impatient back then)...

This is standing in the bathtub looking back at the door.

Again, sideways, but these are the cabinets behind the door across from the sink.

As you can see, the flower power wasn't really doin' it anymore...

This is the new shot from the doorway.  I made the "bath room" pics with scrapbook paper and the corner shelf wasn't being used so I gave it a home with some accessories to go on it.

The tub never gets used, so the curtain is just for looks.

I hung a chair rail on the wall and used joint compund to create a stucco texture on the bottom half to hide the imperfections of the wall.  I painted the bottom white and did a faux finish glaze on the top half to hide imperfections up there. 

I added a glass shelf above the sink and the picture is from an old 1952 Seventeen magazine (Maybelline advertisement!)

These are the cabinets behind the door. The mirror on the door is so I can see the back of my hair!

I found these old-school hot and cold handles in my dad's garage (he used to be a plumber).  I thought they would look cool as handles on the cabinets!

So here we are, 1.5 years later.  I no longer use this bathroom on a daily basis....but it's still one of my favorites :)