Ombre Dresser

Hi everyone!  I am excited to show you what I have been working on.  This is a dresser from the set that I bought a couple of weeks ago.  I have yet to try an ombre dresser, but you know what they say... "No time like the present!!"

Here is what it looked like before.  Excuse the really bad photo.  It was the only before shot I could find.

Here is the after!!!



I mixed up some homemade chalk paint with Cottage White by Behr.  I gave the body and the first drawer two coats. 

I started out by mixing a sample of aqua that I have on hand with some white.  I painted the bottom drawer and then added more white paint to aqua and I kept going until it got lighter and lighter. 

For some reason the top two drawers look like the same color in the pictures, but I promise that they are not.

I changed out the hardware on the top.  I found these awesome glass knobs at Hobby Lobby.  I have only been once, but I am in love with it.  It's 40 miles away from me, so I will definitely be making trips more often!

I painted the remaining hardware with the same white as the body and then glazed it.  I found a whole bunch of glaze on clearance at Lowes last year.  This one was a white glaze with a pearl like color.  I added black to it. 

I am loving this dresser.  It might be hard to let it go.  I just might end up keeping it for my daughter.  Her big girl room is going to be pink and aqua.  This would be perfect for it!  I'll just put a high price tag on it.  If it sells then fine, but if it doesn't, well, that's fine too!!!!

XOXO
Wendy

Grey Night Stands

Hi everyone!  I hope that you are all doing okay in the cold weather. After looking at pictures of all the snow, I sure am glad that I am nowhere near it!!!  The only thing I hate more than being hot is being cold!!!

I picked up a bedroom set a couple of weeks ago. I decided to break the set up and paint them differently.

Here is a picture of the night stands before.

 

 

Here is the after.

I found this oops grey at Home Depot.  I always check when I'm in there.  I am such a sucker for mistints.  So much less expensive.

 

 

 

I'm off to finish up some other projects.  

 

XOXO

Wendy 

They Say Trash... I Say Treasure...

Howdy everyone!  It's been a while.  I took some time off and went home to Portland to visit friends and family.  I even got two days away to spend with my best friend!!  We made Thanksgiving dinner, went to antique stores, and finished it up by watching the Ducks and Beavers fight it out until the bitter end!  There is nothing better than spending a cold day at Autzen Stadium rooting for the Ducks!  My throat is still dry from yelling!!

I found this awesome shelf on the curb outside one of my neighbors house.  Can you believe they were going to throw it away???  I snatched that bad boy as fast as I could.  You should have seen me running back to my house!  I felt like Charlie when he found the last golden ticket.

Of course I couldn't just let it be, I knew immediately what I was going to do!  Here is the after.

So much better huh?  I don't normally keep my projects, but this one is staying right here.  The best part is that this whole project cost me $1.50.  The contact paper that I used for the backing is from The Dollar Tree.  I use this paper all the time.  You cannot beat the price.

I made that little window into a chalkboard.

This shelf is huge.  I haven't measured it yet, but it takes up almost all of the space on top of my table.

  I hope that you guys have an awesome week!

XOXO
Wendy

White Secretary

Hello everyone!  I hope that you all enjoyed you weekend!  I love that I got an extra day to spend with my little guy!  He was excited to have his "long nap."

This was the dresser that I got when I made the mistake of walking away from the bedroom set for 10 seconds.  It was really sturdy and made of solid wood. 

Here is the before.

I mixed up a cup of homemade chalk paint with Behr's Cottage White.  I gave it two coats and then I sanded down the top of the desk.  It was my first time staining the top. It was much easier than I thought.  I guess I expected it to take hours... I used Minwax's Honey in a satin finish. 

Here is the after.

 

I actually had different plans for the drawers.  I wanted to decoupage the drawers with paper, but for some reason it bubbled up, so I gave up and ripped it off.  I think I just need to buy Modge Podge.  I went cheap and tried to use the homemade stuff.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Just bought a new bedroom set.  I don't know what color I want to paint it.  What colors sell best for you?  I find that if I stick to black, white, and grey, they sell a lot faster.  My blues always seem to take forever.

 

XOXO

Wendy

Grey Bedroom Set

I learned a lesson last week.  I went to my favorite thrift shop to see if they had anything that I could get my hands on.  I spotted this bedroom set, but I walked away for literally 10 seconds.  When I got back a woman was taking the price sticker.  It was my own fault for not peeling it right away.  I kinda wanted to kick myself in my own butt, and maybe hers too, but just a little.

I ended up getting another dresser.  At this certain store, if you can't take it right away, they make you put a SOLD sign on it.  I walked back to put my sticker on, and guess what???  The lady decided that she didn't want the bedroom set anymore!  I snatched that sticker off as fast as I could.  MINE!!!!

Here are some pictures before.

I didn't take before pictures of the mirror or night stand, but they have the same finish.

Here are the after pictures.

 

 

 

I knew that I wanted to paint this set grey, so I went to Home Depot.  I ended up picking out Iron Mountain by Behr. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The details were painted with a white that I had on hand.  It was my first time doing this.  It was harder than I thought.  I had to steady my hand.  Not a good idea to drink a bunch of coffee before...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the moral of this story is, when you see something you want, don't hesitate!  Snatch that bad boy up!!!!

 

XOXO

Wendy

Black Antique Secretary

Howdy everyone!  I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend.  We had a great one!  I am loving the weather right now!  It's a perfect 70 degrees and sunny here in San Diego!  I love that I can go outside and paint furniture and not have to worry about it raining or freezing!  We might just have to stay here forever!!!

I found this dresser on one of my thrift store adventures.  I was completely sticker shocked.  It was priced so low.  I thought for sure that it was a mistake.  I snatched the sticker off of it and ran to the register.  I find it very odd that they had so many particle board dressers three times as much as this gorgeous antique...

Here is what it looked like before.

It had some damage.  The veneer was coming off and it needed a lot of wood filler.  I was really intimidated by the amount of work it was going to take, so it sat in my garage for a long time. 

I finally got out my iron and started working on the veneer.  It took me two days get it off.  Let's just say that I'm not removing veneer again for a while!!!

 Finally after weeks of prepping, I started painting.  I did one coat and then left it for the night.  When I woke up, I noticed that the door that I had just scraped all of the veneer off, was bubbling.  I must have stared at it all day deciding what my next step should be.  I finally grabbed my scraper and started digging into the wood to see what was under the bubble.  Apparently, this piece had two layers of veneer. I just started pulling it and it was off in minutes.  My iron must have loosened the glue cause it just pulled right off.

Here is the after.

 

 

 I really thought that this was a piece that needed to be a timeless color.  Black will never go out of style.  I loved the black that I used on my last dresser, so I decided to go with the same.  It's called Francesca by Martha Stewart.

 

 

 

I gave it two coats and then distressed with 150 grit sand paper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't sure what to do about the inside.  Someone really used the desk.  It has so much tape stuck to it.  I finally decided to just paint the inside to match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is by far the most work that I have ever done to a piece of furniture.  I usually avoid pieces like this, but lately, I have been stepping out and finding things that challenge me.  It's been really good for me. 

 

I hope that you all enjoy your week!

 

XOXO

Wendy