Author: Quandie

Before I get into today’s post, congratulations to Debbie (not my sister, another Debbie) as the winner of my Out on the Farm giveaway last week.  Luckily she is a country girl at heart so she’s sure to enjoy the farmhouse decor magazines!

Lately I’ve been steeling my resolve and not looking at Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.  When I look, I tend to buy.  But what I really need to do right now is get through some of the pieces that have been stored out in my workshop/carriage house too long.  Like this one …

I purchased this waterfall desk at the thrift store way back last October, before the leaves had all fallen but after our first dusting of snow (as evidenced by the ‘before’ photo).

I had actually passed this one by the first time I saw it, as we know I’m not a huge fan of waterfall style furniture.  But when I went back a 2nd time and it was still there I decided ‘why not?’  I thought it would make a good winter project, ha!  And here it is July.

I mainly loved it for those fabulous handles.  Aren’t they awesome?

Had I painted this one over the winter I would have painted the entire thing.  However, since I procrastinated, I decided to strip the top.  I don’t really like to strip furniture inside the house during the winter.  It’s just too messy.  Plus, even though the citrus stripper I use doesn’t have a toxic, chemical smell, it does still have a kind of icky smell.  Sort of like wet dog mixed with oranges, or in this case, wet old furniture mixed with oranges.  Ewww.  So I save most of my stripping for the summer (please don’t quote me out of context on that, lol).

I felt like this waterfall style would be better served by a more traditional treatment on the top rather than my typical antiquing wax over bare wood, so I stained it with Varathane Premium Fast Drying stain in Dark Walnut.  Then I made a bit of a boo boo and purchased MinWax Fast Dry poly in satin to go over it.  I rarely use poly, and I hadn’t bought it in forever, so I mistakenly selected this oil based poly.  By the time I had it on the brush it was too late to go back, so I just went with it.

It certainly turned out pretty, but I had a heck of a time with drips and runs on that curved edge!  I’d think I had them all and then look back and find that more had developed.  I also ended up just tossing the brush I used because I hate cleaning oil based products using mineral spirits.  Next time it’s back to either the Wipe On Poly or the Polycrylic.

That gorgeous shade of navy blue on the desk is Dixie Belle’s In the Navy.  I used two watered down coats of paint because I find that is the best technique for getting really full and smooth coverage with the Dixie Belle paint.

After distressing the edges by lightly sanding them, I used clear wax for the top coat over the paint.

I spruced up the handles just a bit using my favorite Prima Marketing Art Alchemy Metallique Wax in Bronze Age.

The color looks more gold in that photo, but really it’s a warmer, more brownish color.

This time, rather than using a q tip, I wore some disposable latex gloves and applied it with my finger tip.  This worked much better on the larger surface of these drawer pulls.

Once it was dry (several hours later), I buffed the pulls with a piece of old flannel sheeting to give them a little shine.

You may have noticed that I moved my staging back indoors for this one.  That was mainly because I really wanted to stage my photos with these cupboard doors hanging on the wall above the desk.

These are some old cupboard doors that I purchased at a garage sale for $2 each.  I usually snatch up doors like these because they make great signs.  In this case I painted them white and then added two of the designs from Prima Marketing’s Seaweed transfer set.

The set comes with 4 designs total, and obviously I only used two.  I may do something similar with the other two, or I may hang on to them until I find a piece of furniture that they will look good on.

The detail on these transfers is absolutely gorgeous.

Their nautical theme, plus the fact that they are navy blue, made them perfect to pair up with this desk.

In addition to the transfers, I also used the Prima Marketing Seawashed Treasures mold and some of their Modeling Material to add the shell detail at the bottom of each door.

I feel like I got just a bit too carried away using dark wax to highlight the details of the mold this time.  I’ll have to practice a bit more to make that effect more subtle.  I’ve been playing around with the molds quite a bit and working on perfecting my technique.  I plan to share what I’ve learned soon, and will also have a fabulous giveaway in conjunction with that, so be sure to stay tuned for that one.

In the meantime, what do you think of this nautical style desk makeover?

Both the desk and the cupboard door wall art pieces are for sale.  The desk includes the chair, by the way.

It was one that I just had on hand.  I gave it a quick rub-down with Miss Mustard Seed hemp oil and now it works quite well with the dark wood top on the desk, even though it’s not a perfect match.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint for this project and to Prima Marketing for providing the transfers, the Art Alchemy wax, the mold and modeling material.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing products check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Dixie Belle In the Navy, you can shop with them directly online or find a retailer near you.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a nautical style desk, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

Are any of you guys familiar with the book Romantic Prairie Style by Fifi O’Neill?

It came out in 2011, but it continues to be one of my favorite decorating books.  It’s one that I still refer back to periodically.

I was paging through it the other day and I came across this photo …

I was totally drawn to that green cupboard in the foreground.  Isn’t it fab?  So perfectly chippy, and that green is gorgeous.  As I was admiring it, I thought about the washstand that I brought home from the Prospect Park neighborhood sale a couple of weeks ago.

I thought I could possibly create a similar look on it using Sweet Pickins In a Pickle milk paint.

I started out by stripping the top.  As you can see in the ‘before’ photo, the stain on this thing was pretty dang dark.  The top also had several water marks on it.  I wasn’t sure I would have the patience to see this one through, but after two passes with the stripper, lots of rubbing with steel wool, then cleaning, then sanding, then more sanding … phew … I got ‘er done.

Once I had the top down to bare, unblemished wood I simply waxed it with Miss Mustard Seed’s Antiquing Wax.  You won’t get much sheen with this treatment, but it creates a wonderfully rustic look.

Then I moved on to paint the rest of the piece.  Since I was hoping to end up with a chippy finish, I opted to skip scuff sanding this one and instead just wiped it down with a damp cloth.  Sometimes this can backfire on you, so I don’t necessarily recommend it if you are someone who isn’t comfortable with an unpredictable outcome.  You do run the risk of having all of your paint chip off if there is something on the surface of your piece that resists the paint.  Scuff sanding will help prevent that from happening.

But I was feeling lucky, so I skipped the sanding and went right for the paint.

It took three coats of the In a Pickle to get good coverage over that really dark stain.

Initially I really didn’t get much chipping, except at the very bottom of the piece.  So I forced it by using painter’s tape to rip off chips here and there.

If you’ve never tried this trick, it’s similar to getting lint off your black slacks using masking tape.  Just press the tape down and then rip it back off.  This technique won’t always pull some chips off, but it often works pretty well (and sometimes too well, so use caution).

Once that was done, I sanded the piece with 220 grit to make it nice and smooth.  I finished it up with Fusion’s clear furniture wax.

I love the cut out detail at the bottom of the washstand, isn’t that pretty?

The bottom on the sides has a similar look, but I didn’t do a very good job of getting a photo of that.

I have to admit, I’m pretty pleased with how this one turned out.

Aside from not having a marble top, I think it looks quite similar to the inspiration piece, don’t you?  Although perhaps mine could look just bit more roughed up, huh?

I hesitated a bit before going with the green on this piece.  Historically pieces in this color have taken a bit longer to sell for me, which always surprises me because I absolutely love it.  Check out a few of my fave In a Pickle pieces here, here and here.

But I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this one finds a forever home soon!

If you are local and would love to have a romantic prairie style washstand (they make perfect bedside tables), be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page to see if this one is still available.

Pretty much everybody looked at me askance when I showed them today’s piece in its ‘before’ state.

I know they were all wondering what in the world I was thinking.  I have to admit, I’m not even sure why I purchased this one.  I even paid way too much for it at $5.  It should have been in a free pile somewhere, or maybe priced at $1.  In the end, I really just wanted to take on the challenge of bringing this sad little half chair back to life.

In case you can’t tell, it’s basically an ugly 80’s kitchen chair that is missing its back.  It originally had some kind of spindled back, but someone had removed it and left holes where the spindles were.

Ken filled the holes with dowel sticks for me and then I used some wood filler to complete the job.  I sanded them smooth once the filler was dry.

I thought this would make a pretty cute stool … maybe?  hopefully?

I started by painting it with Fusion’s Laurentien.  I hadn’t used this color in a while and I’d forgotten how much I love it.  If you are a fan of turquoise Haeger or McCoy pottery, Laurentien is about that same color.

Such a gorgeous color, right?  And by the way, I took these pictures a week or so ago when the peonies were still blooming.  They are long gone now.

Once the stool was painted, I sanded the edges lightly to distress and then I added pieces of the Spring Meadow Life transfer from Prima Marketing.

Just look at all of those fun images that you could play around with!

I only used four sprigs of flowers on the stool, so I have lots more of this transfer left for future projects too.

 I think the black drawings look great over that punch of turquoise.

This actually makes quite a comfy little stool too.

Perfect for sitting on while perusing your favorite magazine.

So what do you think?  Did I accomplish my goal of bringing this piece back to life?

I took it to Reclaiming Beautiful, the shop in Stillwater, MN where I sell on consignment.  I’m not sure if it’s still there or not.  It will be interesting to see whether or not someone buys it.

Thank you to Prima Marketing for providing the Spring Meadow Life transfer and to Fusion for providing the paint.

If you’re wondering where to purchase the transfer, check out Prima’s ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Fusion paint, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.