Category: furniture.

I confess that I adore all things European.  I have been lucky enough to be able to travel to Europe  a few times, and each time I go I decide that I love another city the best.  Our last trip was to Prague, which was completely charming and lovely.

But I have gotten off track … I meant to say that London is one of my favorite cities.  The museums!  The flowers!  The history!  The theatres!  The shopping!  All fabulous.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been there since I made the switch to digital photography, so I don’t have any fab pics to share with you.  I didn’t actually use the camera and guidebook in this photo though, it wasn’t that long ago!

  Anyway, in honor of all things Anglo, let me present …

 A little grey on grey Union Jack action.

Boring details:  painted with MMS milk paint in Trophy.  However, if any of you have ever tried to use tape on milk paint, you know that they don’t mix.  So, I added bonding agent to the Trophy just in the rectangular section that became the Union Jack.  I wanted the rest of the dresser to chip and distress, but I didn’t want to pull the paint off with tape while adding my flag.  I will warn you that even with the bonding agent, I lost some chunks of paint.  I also peeled the tape off very, very carefully.  The white is latex, and the pale grey on top is a mix of the white latex and the Trophy with bonding agent.  I won’t continue to bore you with the details of painting the jack, let’s just say that far too much Frog tape went into my local landfill after this.

But … in the end, here is a fun Union Jack that I think is unique amongst its peers.

I have done a few Union Jack pieces in my day.  Every time I do one I say ‘never again’.  I find them very time consuming, and I’m never entirely happy with my results.  I always think I could have done this or that better.  I did do a pair of end tables that turned out quite nice, and my friend Cathy has them in her family room now.

I also have done a few pieces in the traditional red, white and blue.

In fact, I even painted a small writing desk for my husband’s study with the U.J.  You know I love it when I keep one for myself!

But, I won’t be keeping this guy.  He is headed for Junk Bonanza.

A few weeks back I was chatting with Lori about our upcoming Junk Bonanza booth. She mentioned that we would need some sort of checkout counter, something we could stand at to write up receipts. Preferably with storage so we can throw some supplies/snacks/etc in there. So I started searching for something that would work, keeping in mind that it also had to meet my vintage fab standards. To be honest, I wasn’t optimistic.

But then, I came across this.

Perfect height to stand at and write up receipts. Two shelves inside; one for paperwork, pens, receipt books and one for snacks, drinks, purses, sweaters, or whatever else we might need to have with us. It is as if this thing was made to be a checkout stand rather than a radio cabinet.  Check out the lovely details!  I knew it would be fab painted.

It was listed at $100 on craigslist … which frankly was too much. So, I sent an offer of $50. And it was accepted! Woo hoo!

I sent Mr. Q to pick it up in Minneapolis, and when I got home and took a look at it in person there was much rejoicing. It’s perfect for my needs! And I knew it would also be a fun piece to revamp.

I immediately mixed up some MMS milk paint in Trophy and while waiting for the pigments to dissolve a bit, I threw some chicken in the oven and gave the piece a quick sanding. Then, while my chicken cooked, I gave the paint another stir and slapped on the first coat. After dinner, I gave it a second coat. While that was drying, I studied it. I knew I wanted to add some MMS Grain Sack to the curly raised details near the top, but I realized it would also be fun to paint the lower fretwork in Grain Sack. Then, to balance it out, I also painted the very bottom raised detail in Grain Sack. And naturally, a stencil was called for.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow with milk paint. In this case, I spent quite a bit of time painting that fretwork with a tiny brush to get it just right, and then almost all of that paint chipped off!  Not to be defeated, I sanded the rest of it off and painted it again.  The 2nd time around there was less chipping thanks to the sanding.

Now … don’t tell anyone, but I just used painted cardboard to cover behind the fretwork.  To cover the upper opening, I used spray adhesive to adhere vintage book pages to cardboard.  The cardboard is just stapled in place from the back.  Since this is a checkout stand, I used pages from “Ropps’s New Calculator” … which seems to have tons of tables to calculate stuff like the cost of grain and such, which seemed appropriate somehow.

When all is said and done, now it looks like this.

Isn’t it lovely.  It’s very possible that we will have the most fabulous check out stand at Junk Bonanza!  Well … OK … I suspect the competition will be fierce, so maybe not.  But we’ll definitely hold our own.

P.S.  You may have noticed my painted books peeking out of the edge of that last photo.  I’ve done some in Trophy and some in Eulalie’s Sky for Junk Bonanza.

Are you wondering how I manage to find so many good pieces on craigslist?  Well, I have a secret weapon.  A craigslist spotter in the form of my neighbor Karen (a.k.a. nnK).  Not only does she spot stuff for me, but while I was away in Las Vegas, nnK and Ken went and picked a dresser up for me as well.  How lucky am I?

There is an interesting twist to this story.  You see, this dresser was listed for a mere $45.  nnK spotted it and went into action quickly.  She contacted the seller and set up a time to pick it up the very next morning.  She texted me and asked if she should offer $40.  I replied lickety split and said no!  I knew there would be numerous buyers waiting in line for this dresser.  Pay full price and pick up promptly.  This is the rule to live by if you want to get bargains on craigslist.

This is where the story takes a turn.  You see, later that evening, the seller contacted nnK and said she’d had multiple offers on the dresser, including a buyer who was willing to pay $60 and pick it up immediately.  She would be willing to hold it for us though, if we would pay the $60!  Has this ever happened to you with a craigslist purchase?  I’m sure a lot of you are now thinking maybe it would be time to walk away.  But, no, $60 was still a pretty good deal for this dresser … at least from my perspective sitting in Las Vegas sipping a margarita.  So I told nnK to go for it.

I don’t regret it, it did turn out lovely … but a closer inspection showed that this dresser was in pretty rough shape.  The bottoms were falling out of the drawers.  The top was badly warped.  One drawer had a huge gouge across the top of it.  Several of the drawer slides were falling off.  It was missing two drawer pulls.  Yikes!  $45 was really a fair price, but when you have a bidding war what can you do?  Walk away, or pay more.  I had secret weapon no. 2 in my back pocket though, Ken.  He fixed all of these problems with a few tools, some wood glue and a lot of know-how.  The most complicated repair was the side of this drawer where the bottom had completely broken away.

Ken added a new piece of wood to the side of the drawer to hold the bottom in place.  Clever!  We also used a complicated systems of pulleys and levers to deal with the warped top … well, not really, but we did use a giant clamp, some glue and a screw that was cleverly hidden under the back trim piece.

I knew all along I wanted to paint this dresser in Miss Mustard Seed’s Kitchen Scale.  This color is so fabulous to work with.  It goes on so quickly, covers well in two coats and dries in minutes.  Not to mention, it is just simply gorgeous.  Instead of my usual hemp oil finish, I decided to use a combination of clear wax and antique wax on this piece to add a little more dimension.

I also added all new glass knobs.

I hadn’t originally intended to stencil this dresser, but when I realized I had the perfect “PARIS” for that medallion, it seemed like a no brainer.

I lined the top two drawers with some of my favorite October Afternoon scrapbook paper.

In the end, this dresser is just lovely.  It’s the perfect size to be tucked in to just about any spot.  Of course it would work in a bedroom, but you could also put this one in a kitchen, bathroom, hallway, mud room, laundry room … you name it.  I’ll be taking this one to Junk Bonanza with me and I’m sure it will go to a good home!

I picked up this metal stool last year for a song.  It was painted with metallic silver paint.  Is there some sort of super cheap metallic silver paint out there?  I have a really cool old bead board cabinet in my basement that is also painted metallic silver.  It came with the house.  Why did someone paint it metallic silver?  One of these days I might do something cool with it … just as soon as I get around to it … but I digress.  

I thought this stool had that industrial chic vibe.  I brought it home and decided to start with sanding it.  There was a layer of green under the silver, and a layer of creamy white under that.  Once again I thought someone would snatch it up at my sale … I priced it at … wait for it … $5!  But still no takers.  Clearly no one wants a silver stool with emerald green accents, and I can’t blame them.

It was another perfect candidate for the Annie Sloan sample paint.  In case you are keeping track, I have painted one picture frame, one child sized metal folding chair and now one stool with my sample and there is still about 1/3 of it left.  Here is the stool painted with Provence, and waxed with MMS antique wax.

Isn’t it lovely?

I took a few photos, and was ready to call it done.  But then I thought to myself “hey, this would be pretty fab with a number on top!”  Duh.  So a quick zap with a stencil, and voila … stool no. 12.

Perfect for the kitchen, or maybe the bathroom.  Use it as the seat to your vanity/dressing table.  Use it next to your wicker chaise lounge as a handy spot for your mint julep.  So many possibilities!

Kermit said it first, and the chair I painted last weekend seemed to agree.  I started out thinking I would paint it with Miss Mustard Seed’s Luckett’s Green and call it good.  I envisioned it being fabulously chippy and that awesome shabby chic green that we all know and love.  Who doesn’t love a fabulous vintage green?

But, there was absolutely not even the slightest amount of chipping taking place.  The wood on this chair just sucked up that paint like there was no tomorrow, and it looked like this.

Yawn.

I knew I had to break out the fancy techniques for this chair to truly shine.  So, I used a hemp oil resist and added a couple coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s Ironstone over the green.

Ahhhh … much better.  Now this chair looks like it has some age behind it.  Just how I like it.   As if it has been sitting in a lovely courtyard garden in the English countryside for years and years.

I can just hear my mother saying “I can’t understand why anyone would want their furniture to look like this.”  She just doesn’t get it.  I’m not even sure that I do, all I know is that I love this look.
I finished it off with a coat of clear wax, and touches of antique wax here and there.

Do you love the green as much as I do?  It is currently my 2nd favorite color, falling just slightly behind aqua.  This little garden chair has me dreaming of spring and getting out in the garden, maybe that is part of the appeal.  Whatever it is, I think this little chair is the bomb.

I am still off enjoying Las Vegas, but don’t think I forgot about you guys!  I scheduled a post so you would have something to see on Friday.

Two weekends ago, I sent Mr. Q off for a writing desk.  It was a bargain, and even though it wasn’t special and it didn’t make my heart skip a beat or anything, I still thought it would be worth a quick trip to Minneapolis and a bit of paint.  It was listed as a ‘beautiful antique writing desk’ which may have been stretching things just a tad.

When Mr. Q got it home, I was a bit bummed when I realized there were some major flaws that definitely weren’t apparent in the craigslist ad.  Beware of this people!  Some photos are very artfully arranged to hide the true nature of an item (how does this still happen to me, clearly I should know better).

To begin with, the top was leather.  Oops.  How did I miss that?  Oh, now I remember.  In the ad pics the top was totally covered with crap.  Papers, books, etc.  Uh huh.  Don’t know if that was on purpose or not.

Even more disheartening, the bottom trim on one side was completely broken off leaving a jagged edge under the bottom drawer.

My heart sank as I contemplated these flaws.  However, I should not have underestimated the power of the Ken; handyman neighbor extraordinaire!  He came over for a consultation, came up with a plan, took measurements and headed back to his workshop.

Several days later, he appeared at my door with new trim pieces cut to match the center drawer for both sides of the desk.  Like magic!

As for the leather top, I decided to just try painting it.  I’ve had success painting suitcases, and books, so why not a leather topped desk?  After all, my friend Lori painted her cowboy boots with MMS milk paint!  I don’t know how well it will hold up to a lot of wear and tear, but my philosophy is that these things are meant to look distressed, so a little more here and there just adds to the look, right?

I debated painting it turquoise.  It’s been a while since I used a true turquoise, and this would have been amazing in that color.  But that leather had some red ink stains.  That could have been a bleed through nightmare, so I went with MMS Typewriter, which seemed apropos for a writing desk.

I added a french address to the front of the desk to give it a little more personality.  And look at those charming drawer pulls.  Love them.

All in all, it turned out to be a sweet little writing desk.  It’s sure to inspire anyone who sits at it to write their memoirs or perhaps just pay their bills.

Before I leave you, here are some handy tips I learned from this desk.

No. 1, if you are selling a desk on craigslist, be sure you pull the drawers out and check behind them for paperwork!  These sellers left a lot of personal information behind including pay stubs and medical bills.  Luckily I am not an unscrupulous identity thief.

No. 2, if you are painting with black paint, at night, in your living room that has wood floors … and you manage to splatter paint everywhere despite your numerous drop cloths … and you don’t see it until daylight hits it the next day, don’t despair.  A magic eraser cleans it right up from both the wall and the wood floor.  Good to know.

Sorry, there is no before picture of this little buffet.  Honestly, that is mainly because it was just simply so completely boring that there was no point.  Picture a typical oak finish, not a single embellishing feature and boring brass knobs.  No real damage to be repaired or anything like that, just not even exciting enough to call ugly.

But, boring no longer!

I had a moment with this one where I didn’t think I could combat the blahness of it.

I started by painting it grey with MMS Trophy milkpaint.  It’s a lovely shade, but it just didn’t do much for this one.  No chipping at all.  More blah.  But I was texting with Lori, and she said “hey, why don’t you try the hemp oil resist?”  Duh.  Why didn’t I think of that?  Well, truth be told, I had thought about layering color on this one, but it seemed like a lot of work and I was feeling lazy.

But, a hemp oil resist could be fantastic.  I knew she was right and it had to be done.  Clever girl.  So, after the base coat of grey was dry, I swiped some hemp oil in strategic locations and painted Ironstone over it and crossed my fingers.

And it was so worth it.  Just look at this chippy, crackled fabulousity (I made that word up, but yes, you can use it too)!

I added some knobs that I picked up during my Hobby Lobby knob nirvana buying frenzy.  Aren’t these amazing?  They look 50 years old.

I used what is becoming my favorite stencil on the doors.

You’ll notice that I staged this buffet with an amazing vintage hat box that I just picked up last week.  I stopped in at a local antique mall, just killing some time on my lunch break.  I wandered into a booth that was full of vintage hats, but way up high where you would hardly even notice them, were stacks of hat boxes.  The color on this one just sucked me right in.  A lovely pinky coral.

Kind of reminds me of Miss Mustard Seed’s new color Apron Strings.  I’ll admit, I haven’t been tempted to try this color yet because I just can’t imagine it on an entire piece of furniture.  But I’ve seen people using just touches of it, on the inside of a roll top desk, or just on the drawers.  I’m definitely tempted now that I have the amazing hat box to match.

So.  There she is.  Isn’t she lovely.  She will be making the trip to Junk Bonanza.  Hope lots of people show up in the mood to buy furniture!

Remember the fab mirrored dresser that was calling out for a stencil?  As a reminder, here it is.

First she had to get some repairs taken care of.  The middle drawer was resting on top of the bottom drawer.  The glider thingies had been completely worn down by time.  Luckily Ken is crafty about such things, and he just chiseled a flat surface and added on to the glider thingie (what do they call these things?).

Problem solved.

Next, I really dithered about the color for this one.  I was leaning towards yellow for the longest time.  I still want to paint something yellow eventually, but it didn’t feel quite right this time.  In the end, after seeing a gorgeous example of a dresser painted in MMS Eulalie’s Sky with a white wax finish on line, and then getting encouragement from Danielle at Finding Silver Pennies who had also used this combination on a lovely piece, I decided to go with it.

I am really glad I did.

As you can see, she has plenty of chippy deliciousness.

I stenciled with a French ‘sweet dreams my child’ message.

I highlighted some of the trim details by painting them the bright white of MMS Ironstone.

I debated changing out the hardware.  I know that clear glass knobs would have been perfect on this one.  But, the original hardware is gorgeous and I had all of it.  I had to put it back on.   I cleaned it up with a toothbrush and jewelry cleaner and added a coat of furniture wax to shine it up a little.  Because, gee, what else does a girl have to do on a Sunday morning?  LOL.  My life is just that exciting!  But, you just won’t find drawer pulls like this on new furniture.  Look at the lovely detail.

Yep, she is a beaut.

Lovely.  If I do say so myself.

 

I had not one, not two, but FOUR dressers slip through my fingers last week.  Ouch!  That is hard to take.  I didn’t move quickly enough on the first two and other buyers got there ahead of me.  But what was even more painful was the second two.  I had a pickup scheduled and everything, but then the seller texted and said she’d changed her mind about selling them and was giving them to a friend.  That one was really disappointing.  If my blog makes you think that this furniture gig is easy, let this post dissuade you of that notion.  Sometimes it’s just extremely frustrating.

But let’s move on, shall we?

I did end up buying this guy this week.

I’m calling him the Cambridge because Mr. Q and I drove all the way to Cambridge to pick him up.  On a freezing cold evening with wind chills around 20 below.  The elderly husband and wife selling this dresser were the nicest people.  I didn’t have the heart to negotiate the price, even though I discovered that the veneer was in really bad shape.  We lost several large chunks of it just trying to get it loaded.  I have to say, the seller was such a gentlemen that he insisted on helping Mr. Q carry the dresser to the truck.  I offered to take an end, but he was having no part of that.  I was worried he was going to have a heart attack right there in his driveway.  He had to rest half way to the truck, but still wouldn’t allow me to take over.  Who says chivalry is dead?

 It’s a unique piece for sure.  It reminded me of the Cokato pieces that I painted last year.  I’m going to have to devote some time to repairing the veneer where I can, and removing it where I can’t.  I also sent a drawer home with Ken to be rebuilt.  There are some very lovely drawer pulls on this one though, and they are all there!

To be honest, this one is going to be a lot more work than I bargained for.  I might have to just shove him to the back of the line for a while.  But hopefully I can salvage him and put him back out there for someone to love.

On the way home from work last Friday, I stopped off to stock up on wine at my local wine shop.  For those of you who are local, that would be Bright Wines in North St. Paul.  It’s the tiniest hole in the wall shop operated by just one guy, the owner, Dave, who sends out a weekly e-newsletter with lots of information about wine and a list of what he has in stock.  I usually highlight my list, pop in and hand the list to Dave, who then pulls all the wine for me and sends me on my way.  I’m currently enjoying a lovely syrah/grenache blend from the South of France called Grande Toque.  Yum.

But, I digress.  After the wine, I also stopped off at another North St. Paul favorite, La Garage.  The best way to describe it is a clean and tidy garage sale in a store, but with slightly higher prices.  I think that the owners get their inventory by buying estates, or something like that.  I like to stop in on occasion and see what they have.  On the day in question they had restocked their hard cover books, so I bought a slew of Danielle Steele novels for $1.  Not to read, of course, but to paint.

In addition to the books, I also picked up this fabulous chippy wooden stool.

It was calling my name and I just couldn’t leave it behind.

Lest you all begin to think that I am a wine drinking, romance novel reading hoarder, now is the time to mention that I have taken my friend Lori up on her offer to share her Junk Bonanza booth this spring.  All of this furniture I have been painting lately?  Yep, it’s for Junk Bonanza.  I’m also cranking out some painted books, and going through my stash of vintage goodies looking for things to sell.  This fabulous little stool will be added to the growing pile of items headed for Junk Bonanza, along with the Champ de Lavande hutch, the Hudson dresser, the French cane back chair … and hopefully more.

I won’t be parting with my favorite vintage phone any time soon though, so if you were hoping to snatch it up, you will be disappointed.  But if you are going to Junk Bonanza in April, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello!