Back in the day long before it became the photo cottage, the summer house in my backyard was known as the potting shed.
I actually had it all decked out with a workbench for potting up plants. In reality, it did not make a very efficient potting shed. Potting plants is messy work, I’m better off doing it right outside where I can just brush the dirt away onto the lawn. Still, it was fun to stage today’s piece out there as though it still were a potting shed.
If I didn’t get so much use out of the photo cottage as is, I’d be tempted to turn it back into a potting shed now.
I have lots of fab garden-y props, all in lovely shades of green.
This green box usually resides in my pantry holding cleaning supplies.
But the real reason for this post is the dresser. This is another one that Mr. Q picked up for me via Craigslist.
This was an interesting piece. The style says ‘old’, and inside it looks old, but there were some things that were throwing me off. For one thing, the casters are new. The drawers pulls are new too. And the finish was very plastic-y and shiny, like new. Someone worked really hard to take the “old” out of this piece, which I found to be a little bit sad. Obviously it was up to me to put the ‘old’ back in!
I got off to a bit of a false start with this one. I painted it with Little Billy Goat’s Porch Swing, which is a lovely green (in fact, a very similar green to the wood box with the handle in my photos). But it did not work out. I’m still doing some research into where I went wrong, and when I have some answers I’ll share that with you. In the meantime, let’s just say I knew I had to go back to the drawing board. I decided to paint over the green with white milk paint. I purposely added some wax around the edges first so that some of the white would chip away to reveal the green. This is the same mix of MMS whites that I used on the chalkboard frame from Monday, by the way.
Perfection! In the end, maybe this was meant to be. Just a hint of green rather than a sea of green.
As you may have noticed, I replaced the brass drawer pulls with some glass knobs. These are the 1 1/2″ glass knobs from D Lawless Hardware. They are the larger size glass knobs, and I think the scale of these was just right for this piece.
I took about six hundred photos of this thing. Some with the window …
Some with my false wall in place. If you don’t know about my false wall, you can read about that {here}.
I think this dresser would be perfect in a farmhouse style kitchen, or maybe on a covered porch. Or perhaps beside the bed in place of a nightstand.
This one is for sale (local sales only, no shipping available), so if you’re interested in more details feel free to leave me a comment or shoot me an email at qisforquandie@gmail.com.
q is for quandie 
This one turned out super cute! And the underlying green enhances it…just another example of how you can’t go wrong when painting furniture. If you don’t truly love it, just take it in a different direction! The glass knobs are perfect too…wish I had room in my house!
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So true, you can always just paint over something again!
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I looove the hint of green, very springy indeed. The styling is so adorable, you really have a keen eye and a plethora of goodies to choose from. Looks great with the new chalkboard too! It’s so funny that you didn’t like using the potting shed for potting because of the mess because I, too, had a potting shed that I never used for precisely the same reason! It has since been turned into our chicken coop, but the cute enamel “potting shed” sign still adorns the door. I don’t think the chickens care.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t want to get my ‘potting shed’ dirty!
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I love everything you do…I have a dresser like this in my bedroom, love the look of the old wood, but dream of maybe painting it. This post might just give me the courage! Believe me, if I lived closer, I would be purchasing this treasure.
I look forward to seeing your posts in my inbox everyday, like sweet “painted” sunshine!
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Thank you so much for this awesome comment Sue. I have to tell you that it’s comments like these that keep me blogging. I have an idea for your dresser, keep the wood top and paint the rest. It a great way to get the best of both worlds!
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Again, no dimensions. Do you want me to run out and measure it, or do you have them already?
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Thanks for asking hon! I’m listing the measurements and price under the “available for local sale” tab. So last night at dusk when I said “hey, I need to run out to the shed and measure that dresser” I really did do it 😉
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Dang! I hoped you were running out to buy me a gift! 😉
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I love the green peeking through!
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Thanks Darrielle! It is a pretty effect. Harder to see in photos than in person.
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I agree, potting is messy work. Mine potting shelf used to be attached to my shed, which was never clean and in view for all the world. Now I’ve got a cool bench in an out of the way place to do all that dirty work, and the shed has become a playhouse.
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You know, you’ve given me an idea Bliss (if I could figure out how to insert a little light bulb going off here, I would do it!). I could really use an outdoor potting bench, and I have the perfect spot for one that is out of the way … hmmmm …. the wheels are turning …
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I love the hint of green, very springy indeed. and agree, potting is messy work. The glass knobs are perfect too.
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