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