Category: furniture.

First, an update on last Friday’s Typewriter black dresser. The majority who commented loved the simplicity and predicted that it would sell fast, and it definitely did.  The buyer picked it up yesterday.

In my area, black continues to be an excellent seller, especially black with a wood top.  And I pretty much agree that it’s easier for most people to work a piece like that one into their existing décor.  It’s more of a team player rather than the star of the show.

The decision whether to keep a piece simple, like the black dresser, or add a more dramatic personality is always tough.  But it’s even more difficult when, in addition to selling refurbished furniture,  you are also a blogger.  I’m not only thinking about whether or not a piece will sell, but also whether or not the process of refinishing it will be interesting to my readers.  How bored would you all get if I painted everything black or white with no color and no transfers/stencils/etc?  Yawn.

The other factor is that I refurbish furniture (and other vintage items) mainly for enjoyment.  It’s a hobby for me, not my livelihood.  So I really tend to lean towards deciding what I want to do, rather than what I should do.  Of course I want my pieces to sell (because otherwise what would I do with them?), but that’s not the ultimate goal for me.  For me, the ultimate goal is to take something that was cast off and create something that is beautiful.  And then hopefully it will sell.

That brings me to today’s piece.

My friend (and former co-worker) Bruce brought this piece to me.  It had been in his cabin up north and wasn’t being used.  Quick sidebar, when he delivered it he shared the video of the large black bear that was roaming around his yard up there with me as well.  Yikes!

Anyway, back to the dresser.  As you can see, the veneer at the bottom had come off, but Bruce had saved the pieces.  I planned from the start to put a transfer on this one though, and I knew it would distract from any wonky veneer, so rather than trying to re-glue it, I just peeled off all of the veneer along the bottom.  That tends to leave some rough wood behind, so I gave it a good sanding.  Then I stripped and sanded down the front legs, the knobs and the top of the dresser.

Next up after painting the body in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, I used Miss Mustard Seed’s white wax to finish those legs, knobs and dresser top.

I did not get a super perfect result with my stripping/sanding.  Personally, I’m OK with that.  I like a little age to show on my pieces.

I knew I was going to be using the Rose Celebration transfer from re.design with prima on this dresser, and that the white waxed wood would play really well with the beige background of this transfer.

What do you think?  The knobs don’t quite disappear, but they don’t really distract either.

Next I added the Rose Celebration transfer to the front of the dresser.  For more details on how to apply a large transfer like this one you can check out this post.

The transfer was a bit larger than the dresser front.  I wrapped it around the sides, and I had 5″ or so left over at the bottom.  I had originally contemplated centering the design both horizontally and vertically, thus cutting off about 2.5″ at top and bottom, but ultimately I decided I liked this look better.

I just love the colors in this transfer, aren’t they pretty?  And the background of script and those swirly thingies (I’m guessing there is an official name for those, but I have no idea what it is, do any of you?), so lovely.

If you look closely, you can see that there are seams where the different pieces of the transfer line up (this transfer comes in six pieces).  I’m not too bothered by those seams, but if you are avoiding the multi-piece transfers because you don’t like the look of the seams, you can mitigate that by trimming off the 1/4″ or so of clear transfer at the edge of each piece before you apply them, and of course, also line up your transfer more precisely than I did.

As you can see, the transfer really disguises the area at the bottom where I removed the veneer.

Once the transfer was applied, I sanded the edges of the piece to distress and then added a coat of clear wax.

I did one final thing before calling this piece finished.  I refurbished the insides of the drawers using Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta in the Orange Grove scent.

I sanded them lightly, cleaned them well, and then applied the Butta’.  It really freshened up both the look and the smell of the drawers.  This is the first time I’ve tried this on the inside of drawers, and I’ll definitely be doing this more often.  It’s such a simple way to freshen them up.  And you all know that I really don’t enjoy the process of lining drawers with paper so this is a nice alternative.

And there you have it.

The star of the show!

What do you think?  Now, I’ll just have to wait and see how long this one takes to sell.  I’ll keep you posted.

If any of you locals are in the market for a dresser, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for all of the details on this one.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the paint and the Big Mama’s Butta used on this project.  And thank you to re.design with prima for providing the Rose Celebration transfer.  Although I am no longer a Brand Ambassador for them, they did give me this transfer for free back when I was.

A while back Brigitte contacted me and asked if I’d consider making a trade for the coral dresser.  I have done this once or twice before, and I’m always open to at least considering such an arrangement.  Brigitte had a dresser that she’d meant to refurbish herself but had never gotten around to it, how many of us can relate to that?  So she sent me a few photos of her piece and sure enough, it was right up my alley …

So she gave me this dresser plus some cash, and she took the coral dresser home in return.

I debated cropping Mr. Q out of that ‘before’ photo, but decided why not be real?  This is the lazy way of getting a before photo.  Why go to all the work of re-attaching that mirror just for a photo?  So much easier to just have Mr. Q hold it in place for the few seconds it took to snap the picture.  Also, although I included the mirror in the ‘before’ shot, I’m not putting it back on.  It is gorgeous, and I will re-do both it and the harp it’s attached to, but I have always felt that dressers like this sell more quickly without a mirror.

And by the way, that tiger striped grain?  It’s fake.  To me it looks like it was stamped on, but I haven’t been able to find any info on how they created this look back in the day.  It must have been a popular technique though because I’ve painted over a few of these faux finishes.

I ended up going with a classic combo on this one.  I stripped the top, re-stained it in Special Walnut, and once dry I added a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Flat Clear Coat.

Then I painted the rest of the dresser with Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Typewriter.

I didn’t get much chipping on this piece, and that didn’t surprise me.  The original finish was very dried out, and that usually translates to minimal chipping.  But I did sand the edges quite a bit to create the worn out appearance that I wanted.

After sanding and then wiping away the dust, I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.  If wax and hemp oil had a baby, it would be this product.  It’s made with all natural Hemp Seed Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax and Carnauba Wax.  It’s much easier to apply than straight up wax, but it’s a bit more substantial than just hemp oil on its own.  I highly recommend using this product over the darker shades of milk paint.

Once I had the Butta applied, I decided to do a little wet sanding with Dixie Belle’s Howdy-Do Hemp Oil over it.  Why?  Mainly because I realized I hadn’t done a super great job of sanding it smooth the first time around.  This was an easy way to smooth out the final finish.  Basically I wrapped some 320 grit sandpaper around a sanding sponge, applied some hemp oil directly to the paper, and then sanded the flat areas with it.  Then I buffed it with a clean, lint free rag.  This gave me a buttery, smooth finish.

I swapped out the knobs that were originally on the top drawers for some that I had on hand that had a little more detail and were in better condition, but I kept the original pulls on the bottom two drawers.  I gave them all a good wash with soapy water, and once dry I added some of the Bronze Age Metallique wax from Prima Marketing to the pulls to brighten them up a bit.

I found it easiest to put on a latex glove and then use my fingertip to apply the wax.  I gave the wax a couple of hours to dry and then buffed it with a clean rag (a.k.a. one of Mr. Q’s old socks).

I have to admit, I’m always torn about producing simple pieces like this.

Should I have added a stencil or a transfer to give it more character?  Make it more unique?  Or is it OK to occasionally just stick with something more simple?

I guess I’ll see how well it sells and keep that in mind for next time.

In the meantime, what do you think?

If any of you locals are interested in this dresser, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the Big Mama’s Butta, Flat Clear Coat and Howdy-Do Hemp Oil used on this project.

First up, I drew a name at random to win the Dixie Belle Silkscreen stencil giveaway from last week.  Congrats to Laura Hopwood!  I’ll be sending those stencils out as soon as I get an address from her (I sent you an email Laura).  OK … well, I think by now we all know that I am really bad about getting things shipped promptly (which is why I don’t sell any of my items online), but I’ll try to get them mailed a.s.a.p.

Remember the washstand that I picked up off the curb at the White Bear Lake Trash to Treasure day?

Well, I’ve given it a makeover and it’s ready for its close up.

First up,  I needed Ken to do a really simple small repair.  He replaced the little pieces of wood that are acting as drawer stops (to keep the drawers from pushing in too far).

The original stops were totally worn down and as a result the drawers would get pushed in too far and then be impossible to pull back out again.

Next, I stripped the top using Citristrip.  Once I had the old finish off, I sanded the top smooth and added a couple of coats of white wax to give it a lime waxed look.

To really emphasize the look of the grain when using white wax, simply work the wax in going against the grain of the wood.  I think this piece is oak (I’m never that good at identifying wood species), and oak is one of the most popular types of wood for lime waxing due to its open grain.  Check out my how-to post on lime waxing for more tips on this technique.

I sanded the base of the washstand lightly and gave it a good cleaning.  I followed that with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

I ended up painting the interior of this piece too.  The insides of the drawers were looking pretty shabby, and the inside of the little cupboard area had a wierd red colored bottom.  Giving it all a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Putty really cleaned everything up.  I also added a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s Flat clear coat for durability.

I really didn’t care for the copper drawer pulls that came with this piece.  I guess they could potentially be original to the piece, but somehow I doubt it.  They give off a strong 80’s vibe to me.

It’s probably the hearts.  In case you didn’t already realize, I’m fairly heartless when it comes to hearts.  Luckily I found the perfect replacement drawer pulls in my stash.

I purchased these a while back (probably more than two years ago) because I absolutely loved them and I hoped to find just the right project for them.  This is always a dicey proposition because I usually buy six of them and then tend to end up having either too many, or not enough, for the project I want to use them on.  That’s why I have a big container full of single knobs that don’t match!  But this time I had just the right amount, and they were exactly the look I wanted on this piece.

By the way, I purchased them at Hobby Lobby and I just tried to find them on their website and didn’t see them so perhaps they no longer carry them.  Bummer.

I then reviewed my full inventory of transfers and stencils to find just the right option for dressing up the little door on this piece and I ended up with my Farm Fresh Honey stencil from Wallcutz.  Not only is it totally adorable, but it’s the perfect accompaniment to the ‘honeycomb’ pattern on those drawer pulls.

In order for the stencil to lay flat I had to trim down the sides of it a bit.  It’s difficult to get crisp lines if your stencil isn’t laying completely flat (this is one of those instances where the flexibility of those Dixie Belle silkscreen stencils would have come in handy!).  But luckily I was able to trim down those sides without compromising the stencil design and then it fit perfectly on the door.

I used Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean first to stencil just the word ‘honey’ to create a shadow.  Then I moved the stencil slightly up and to the left and stenciled the entire design using DB’s Putty.

I really love the muted color scheme on this piece with its white waxed top, Drop Cloth base, Putty interior and Putty stencil.

What a vast improvement, don’t you think?

Well, unless you were a fan of that awful orange colored finish and the hearts on those original drawer pulls.  But then, in that case I can’t imagine you’d be following my blog 😉

This is where I would normally mention that this piece is for sale locally, but this one has already gone to its new home.  And as always, thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint and sealer used for this makeover.

I picked up this chest on chest dresser at a garage sale a little over a week ago.

I’m a big fan of this style.  I’ve done a few others (here, here, here, here, and here).

This one needed just a little bit of work before I got started painting.  Ken had to reglue a foot at the back, and then re-attach the top section to the bottom section.  The seller had taken them apart, but they weren’t meant to come apart.  Once the two sections were put back together, Ken also had to re-attach the trim that went around the spot where the two came together.

Next I removed the knobs and scuff sanded the entire thing.  It was quite scratched up, so I wanted to even out the surface a bit plus promote good adherance of the paint (Dixie Belle recommends scuff sanding to prep for their Silk paint).

Looking at that dark reddish stain color, I decided to make life easier for myself and paint this one a dark color.  Plus, it’s a fairly masculine looking piece, so a dark charcoal grey seemed an appropriate choice.  So I pulled out some of Dixie Belle’s new Silk paint in a color called Black Sands.

I’m going to share a huge q tip with you here.  Don’t be confused into thinking that Black Sands is the black Silk paint.  It’s actually a very dark charcoal grey.  I made the mistake of ordering the Black Sands thinking it was black.  Turns out that the color called Anchor is actually the black.  Hopefully this tip saves a few of you from ordering the wrong color!Besides making painting this one easier with a dark color, I also chose the Silk paint because it doesn’t require a topcoat so it saves the effort of waxing or adding a clear topcoat.  Plus, it has a built in stain blocker, just in case that reddish stain decided to bleed through a bit.  That isn’t usually a problem if you use a dark color, but sometimes that bleed thru can create a shadow through dark paint.

I ended up needing only one coat, plus a few touch ups here and there (spots I missed because I have terrible lighting in my workshop) to cover this dresser.  I also did two coats on the top of the dresser for added durability.

I was able to paint the first coat one evening after work.  The next day I added the 2nd coat to the top and then added the stencil (using Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy) …

This stencil is from Maison de Stencils, although I’ve seen almost an exact match for it available from Wallcutz as well.  With Wallcutz you can order different sizes which is a nice feature, at Maison de Stencils it is available in this one size only.  I filled in the bridges in the letters using a small brush to give it less of a ‘stenciled’ look and more of hand painted look.  If you’re confused about what that means, here’s a little bench I painted where I didn’t fill in the bridges.

See the difference?

Next I sanded the edges to distress a little and added just a quick swipe of clear wax over those sanded edges.  I like to do that so that the freshly sanded edges don’t look quite so raw.

I kept the original wooden knobs because I kinda love the oversized look of them.  They also got a coat of paint, some distressing, a quick swipe of wax and then I popped them back on.

And that was it.  All that was left was taking the photos.  It may have actually taken me longer to take the photos and create this blog post than it took to paint the dresser!

I staged it with some laundry themed items including some pretty monogrammed linens and the enamelware box of vintage clothespins that my friend Sue gave me for my birthday.

The moral to today’s story; if you’re looking for the easiest way to paint a piece of furniture then give the Silk paint a try.

And if you’re local and looking for a new dresser, this one is available.  Check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the Silk paint used for this project.

On Monday I showed you the mid-mod nightstand that my friend Jackie found for me free at the curb.

It was perfectly functional, but it did have a cigarette burn.

Well, I’m calling that a ‘cigarette’ burn but who knows what really caused it.  I can say that the piece does not smell of cigarette smoke, thank goodness, because that smell is hard to eliminate from old furniture (your best bet is to use Dixie Belle’s BOSS, but you do have to seal up the entire piece inside and out).

Anyway, that burn mark meant that this nightstand wasn’t a good candidate for stripping and refinishing.  Instead it was perfect for painting!

But first, I pulled out the Dixie Belle Mud to fill the burn mark, and then while I had it out, I decided to also fill the groove down the middle of the drawer (eliminating that faux two drawer look) plus I filled the holes for the original knobs because they were just a bit too far apart for my new hardware.

If you look closely at that photo you can see that I didn’t quite do a perfect job of disguising those holes for the knobs.  But you really have to be looking to see that.

I suppose those knobs were properly mid-century and certainly were original to the piece, but I thought they looked cheap.  I also wanted to go with gold hardware rather than silver.  I found that drawer pull at Hobby Lobby for $7.99, but knobs were 50% off that day so I only paid $4.

That pull totally elevates the entire look of this nightstand, don’t you think?

I painted it in the new line of paint from Dixie Belle, Silk All-In-One Mineral Paint.  The color I used is called Deep Sea and it’s a fabulous deep navy blue.

This is the first full on piece that I have painted using the new paint so I thought I’d give you all a run down on how this paint compares with their chalk paint starting with this handy chart that they created.

The Silk paint reminds me a bit of Fusion mineral paint, so if you’ve ever used that brand you’ll find this is very similar.  One big difference between the two brands though is that the Dixie Belle Silk paint has a built in stain blocker, and as far as I know the Fusion does not.  That being said, if you like using Fusion, you’ll like the Silk as well.

One big thing to keep in mind with both Fusion and Silk is that prep is more important with these products than with the chalk paints.  For the best results, I recommend a scuff sanding and a good cleaning before painting with Silk, and that’s what I did with this piece.

Let’s talk a minute about brush marks.  This seems to be a topic that gets lots of attention.  If you are super particular about not seeing brush strokes in your paint, you will have to be a bit more careful with the Silk paint than you are used to with the chalk paint.  Especially with the dark colors.  Be sure to use long, even strokes from end to end of your piece (don’t stop in the middle with your brush, this can be especially tricky on larger surfaces like the top of a buffet).  Don’t overwork the paint, in other words don’t keep going over the same spot over and over again.  If you need to go back over an area to get good coverage, wait until your initial coat of paint is dry and then add a 2nd coat.  Finally, be sure to use a synthetic brush with this style of paint.  I used Dixie Belle’s Scarlet Brush on this piece and it worked beautifully.

I got excellent coverage with two coats of paint.  This paint is a fabulous time saver because there is no need to top coat it.  So once your paint is dry, it’s done.  Really, the only complaint I have about this paint is that it doesn’t come in more colors!  I’m sure they’ll add more down the road though.

I happened to have the perfect amount of this paper on hand to line the drawer …

I purchased it on clearance from The Paper Source on Grand Avenue in St. Paul a couple of years ago and I’ve used it on several mid-mod pieces.  It pairs perfectly green, pink and navy.

For the final touch on this mid-mod nightstand, I added a little bit of Dixie Belle’s Gold Gilding Wax to the metal feet.

They were a sort of dull brass color to begin with, so the gold wax just brightened them up nicely.

Now that you can see the ‘before’ and ‘after’ side by side, do you agree that the change in hardware really gave this piece a more sleek, stylish look?

This nightstand is available for sale locally, so be sure to visit that page to get all of the details.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the products used in this makeover.  Be sure to visit their website to check out the Silk All-In-One Mineral Paint.