Fun With Annie Sloan Paint

I've been wanting to try Annie Sloan's chalk paint for quite some time but just didn't have the right project to work on.  Last week our little town had its annual city wide garage sale and I picked up this little dresser for a song.

Unfortunately I got so excited that I forgot to take an official before shot of the dresser, but you can see from the top that it had a faux limed finish and that scrolled piece of trim laying in front is what I sawed off the front between the two legs.  Here are the drawers so you can see the fancy painted motif on the front.

The paints say that no sanding or priming is necessary, but in hindsight I think I would have given this thing a rough sanding only because it isn't real wood and it had that slick "plastic" finish.
I started with a coat of "Versailles" which is a really soft sage green.

Next came the second coat which I ending up combining "Duck Egg" with "Antibes Green" to get the color I wanted.

I finished up with a coat of "Graphite" and when it was completely dry came back and sanded through the finish in places to allow the other colors to come through.

Once I got it looking the way I wanted, I gave the whole thing a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax and buffed it to a shine.  Here is the finished product.

I may eventually change the original hardware, but for now I think it looks great in my entry!

Retro Redo Complete

My first reupholstery project is officially complete and at home in my sitting room. Except for the new front leg that I still need to stain.    I had a blast doing it and I'm ready for more.  Do you have a project for me to practice on?

Retro Redo Part 2

My upholstery project has been progressing nicely the last couple of class sessions.  You can see my chair's original state here.  I have to admit, I made some newbie mistakes and it was a little frustrating there for a bit, but I've learned some invaluable lessons and I'm back on track.  I've been really bad at taking step-by-step photos, but here's a look at the chair in its current condition.  I still have to finish the outside back, make the seat cushion, and stain and attach the new front leg.

I really like the way it is turning out and I'm having so much fun learning to upholster.  In fact, I bought myself a new tool so I can work on some projects outside of class...

She hasn't been around long enough to acquire a nickname, but she'll get one, I know she will!

Lamp Love

I recently purchased a couple of great lamps at Goodwill.  Although I didn't take step-by-step photos of the process.  I rewired this one because it was wired for the European electrical system.  It didn't have a shade, so I purchased a new one at Lowe's, and just like that my $2.99 Goodwill purchase looks like a gem on my counter!

The other one is a vintage beauty and I was disappointed the shade had water damage spots.

Although the lamp was in working condition, I was nervous that the old wiring may be a fire hazard.  The base of the lamp lit up too, but the plastic "hurricane" definitely made me nervous!  I took the whole thing apart and gave it a good scrub.

After everything had dried, I put it all back together using a new lamp kit.

I wanted to wire it so that the base would light up, but I had a difficult time finding a glass hurricane the right size to replace the plastic one, and I got tired of the torn-apart lamp sitting on my counter, so I just put it back together and if I find the right pieces later, I'll take it apart and fix it.  Here it is with a new shade and sitting pretty in its new spot in my house.

It really isn't difficult at all to rewire a lamp, so don't be scared of a great lamp at a garage sale or thrift shop.  

Retro Redo Part 1

I love a great deal as much as the next person, and free is always good, but I have to admit I've always been a little wary of "dumpster diving."  I know people that do it, I've heard people talk about it on HGTV, and I've seen the great stuff that people drag home and resurrect.  I've just always been a little to "scared" to do it myself.  That was until last year after picking up my son up at middle school. You see, every year my small town has what they call "City-wide Clean-up."  You can clear as much shit unused treasure out of your house as you want and set it at the curb, and the trash service comes and takes all of it.  What I discovered is that if you scope out the streets before the trash truck comes you can find some diamonds in the rough.

Sorry about the blurry Android photo! And it's not in the photo but the seat cushion was with the chair!

I must confess my middle-schooler wasn't too keen on the idea of me pulling over on the road near his school and dragging this beauty up out of the ditch.  But sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  I promptly drove to our storage unit and unloaded it in hopes that my husband wouldn't discover it and throw it back in the trash!  And there it's been sitting since last May.  Fast forward to last week.  I've been wanting to learn to upholster for quite some time but just didn't ever take the initiative.  I was talking with my sister  again about wanting to learn and she just happened to go online and find a class at a local community college.  Unfortunately, the first class was the night before she found it and it said online that it was closed.  Not to be discouraged, I called up the admissions office and pleaded my case.  As luck would have it the instructor is a very agreeable fellow and gave me permission to start this week.  Yeah!  So last night I loaded up my project and headed to my first upholstery class.  As much as I hoped it could, the upholstery could not be saved, and  as you can see it is missing a front leg, but not to worry a new one has been ordered and is on its way!

This is the tag I removed from the bottom of the chair.  I haven't done any research on the Thayer Coggin Co., but I definitely will.

 After removing the base of the chair, I was on my way to removing all the old upholstery.

All the springs are in great shape.

This is its current state after my first official upholstery class.  I'll post more as I work my way through the class.

Dear Craig's List, I love you!

We are making some improvements to our lakehouse (more on that later) and I needed some nightstands for our new master bedroom.  Although I want it to look awesome, I don't want to spend a lot of money.  Enter Craig's List.  If you haven't started searching Craig's List, don't.  It is highly addictive and purely impossible not to click on all the listings for "very nice couch."  But I digress.  This is what I found:

A matching pair for $80.  I think I overpaid a bit for what they are, but I just love the "basket-weave" look of the fronts.  My first step was to remove the old hardware, doors and drawers.

I repaired some places with wood filler and then sanded it all down.  Next, I primed the inside and out with Zinsser Primer and gave it another light sanding.

Next came the fun part.  It wasn't such a windy day so I decided to try out my Christmas gift from my mother-in-law.

I chose Martha Stewart's Wrought Iron.  I requested it in semi-gloss oil based enamel, which now I understand most places aren't carrying, but instead of telling me that, they mixed it in semi-gloss latex.  I was already in the thick of things so I decided to give it a go anyway.  Let me just say that oil based enamel is the way to go for furniture.  You just can't beat the smooth hard finish it provides. 

I gave everything a couple of light coats and since it was latex paint it dried rather quickly outside.  After the first two coats, I did a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper and then sprayed a couple more coats.  I found these great ring pulls online and I love the aged brass look of them.  Now I wish I would have ordered more just to have in my stash!  After letting everything dry overnight, I replaced the hardware, doors, and drawers.  I must say I love the finished product.  The navy blue is just the perfect shade.  I'll share more when the bedroom is complete.