Sunday, November 3, 2013

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
 

20 comments:

  1. this secretary is lovely - I have a love affair with francessca black too - all the door in my house are painted in this colour - love it!
    keya

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  2. Beautiful! (Whoever invented veneer? Nasty stuff!)

    Enjoy the weather, too! (It's about 20 degrees here. :) )

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  3. Very beautiful piece. Lucky for you someone had no idea what a great piece it is! I love it when that happens :)

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  4. Love the paint color, have to look at that, you did a wonderful job on the desk.

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  5. Wendy you totally outdid yourself. The desk is gorgeous. I really enjoyed this inspirational post. I would love it if you would share this post at our What’s It Wednesday linky party? Hope to see you there!

    Paula
    ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

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  6. This is my first time here .....saw this piece of "eye candy" right away on Pinterest! You absolutely outdid yourself. That color is just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing...

    Debbie

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  7. It's beautiful Wendy! Great job!

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  8. Wendy you did a fantastic job transforming this piece! Perfectly beautiful.

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  9. Wendy, I came over from Miss Mustard Seed when I saw the picture of your desk. Really, really love what you did with it. I have been contemplating painting something black and this is prompting me to go for the same look. You did a wonderful job!

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  10. Love this! Is the paint a satin finish, semi-gloss, what? Thanks so much!

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  11. love your secretary and I would love to feature it on my revival Monday, if this would be ok please let me know

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    1. Thanks so much for letting me feature you , you can check out the post here-

      http://westfurniturerevival.blogspot.com/2013/11/revival-monday-134.html

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  12. absolutely stunning!! Thanks for sharing at Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday. You ALWAYS have such great stuff to link up. Talented lady you are!

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  13. I'm stopping by from Elizabeth & Co feature. This secretary is stunning...very well done! What a labor of love. And you are so right about black being timeless. Beautiful choice of color!
    Robin

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  14. What a beautiful piece. Just love what you've done with it!

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  15. Love this post.The creativity behind this remodeling is really amazing.

    http://www.broadwayofficefurniture.com

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  16. I loved the black that I used on my last dresser, so I decided to go ... lblackdesk.blogspot.com

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