30.7.12

Rose Dresser

This is another dresser I found on, of course, Craigslist. I love craigslist post without pictures attached.. its like a game to me. I always can't wait for the owner to email/text me a picture of there secret treasure. This is one that didn't have an original picture but as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted it. 

1. We gave the whole thing a good sanding (we started to sand it before I took a picture.. but to begin with the top was painted).

2. We decided to stain the top because two toned dressers are my favorite so why not? 
-We used Miniwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner 
-And stained Miniwax Provincial color

3. We chose Benjamin Moore Covington Blue (which we also used on this dresser here...

4. We ended up purchasing new knobs for the dresser at Hobby Lobby during there extra 50% off sale. The 'before' knobs were so strange... metallic arrow heads? not what we were wanting!

After about 3 coats of paint and stain it was ready. We posted it on Craigslist and had it sold within 4 days to a sweet young girl that just move to NM... I hope she likes it as much as I did!
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 Monday

29.7.12

Weekend Find

Jed and I drove out to a tiny town named Estancia Friday night after work to pick up this beauty. I love the mid century legs and that it is solid and sturdy. Mandi is my inspiration for this desk and we are going to attempt something similar to her desk.. wish us luck!

23.7.12

life lately...


 road trips, babies, holidays, baseball, food, mountains, birthday boys, shooting, sunhats, swimming, AZ, family...all things fun.

Caster Wheeled Dresser

We currently have four dressers, one night stand, a kitchen table, six chairs, and an armorie taking over our dinning room. It feels beyond cluttered and looks a little overwhelming. We finally finished two dressers this past weekend so hopefully some of it will be gone soon so that we can get back to a somewhat normal house.

This dresser was a monster. We bought it off of Craigslist from a strange woman that felt the need to tell us every detail of her life... strange. It was originally lime green sponge painted, with globs of extra paint everywhere, with chipped veneer coming off all over. I thought I loved the dresser enough that all the work would be worth it, but once we got it home I was so overwhelmed we just stared at it for about three weeks. 

We Jed finally broke down and decided that we better start. 
1. He started by wood putting all the areas that were missing veneer and letting it dry overnight.
2. He then sanded the dresser about 7 times to get the paint even. 
2. While doing that he realized the top of the dresser was loose, so we wood glued and clamped it back together.
4. We painted the dresser with Annie Sloan Antique White chalk paint. It was my first time using Annie Sloan's paint and was so excited to try it out. I personally think I need A LOT more practice using it, but initially am very  please with the turnout. I love the texture it gave the dresser and the matted look. Because this dresser was in such bad shape we ended up having to give it three coats of paint.

5. We were able to use the existing hardware, which I think gives it a great antique look to go along with the original caster wheels.

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2.7.12

Mid Centruy Dresser Redo

A few weeks ago I scored this great mid century modern dresser for a steal! I fell in love with it instantly and wanted to keep if for myself, but realized when I was finished that there was no room in our small apartment. I posted it on Craigslist and within 12hrs it had sold to a lovely lady.

These are the before pictures.. The front of the dresser doesn't look too bad but when looking at it closer it needed a lot of work. There were chips in the veneer and lots of discoloration.
 
You can obviously tell the top of it needed the most work.

This is the first time Jed and I tried to sand/strip/and re-stain a veneer. We were pretty nervous because we didn't want to go through the veener, but we were lucky and this dresser was made solid with a thick veneer.

Step #1: We used a stripping agent over the entire dresser and scraped off a think layer of the existing stain and polyurethane.


step #2: Sand the heck out of the dresser. Jed was covered in so much dust after this, but the result was exactly what we wanted.
Step #3:  For the first time we used a 'pre-stain' wood condition to treat the wood before we stained it. I actually loved the color of the wood after just the wood conditioner. It really brought the natural color of the wood and grains out.


Step #4: Because the veneer did not match completely throughout the dresser we went ahead and stained the dresser to get all the woods to match. We use Minwax 'natural oak'.



Step #5: I decided that I wanted to try a two toned dresser and went ahead and primed then painted the drawer fronts a bright white. I love the look, but also like the look of an all natural dresser.

Like I said I sold this dresser to the nicest lady ever. She was so trendy and cute. We got to talking and she told me she was a photographer and gave me her website. After a thorough stalking I fell in love with her work and hope one day she can take pictures of Jed and I!

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