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