Category: furniture.

I did end up choosing to paint the Hudson with MMS Artissimo.  And voila, here he is.

I absolutely adore him.  This was the perfect color, and I’m so glad I saw Danielle’s piece and was inspired to go with it.

I used MMS furniture wax as my top coat this time, and I did find that the color did not get as dark as it does with hemp oil.  Really, both finishes are nice with this paint color, but if you want the blue to be a little more obvious, then wax is the way to go.

You’ll notice that I gave him all new knobs.  I have a confession to make.  I am a bit of a hardware snob.  I prefer to retain original hardware, and when that doesn’t work, I have always tried to use vintage replacements.  I have quite a stash of vintage knobs that I’ve picked up over the years.  But this guy has 12 knobs!  I just didn’t have a dozen knobs that would work.  And, coincidentally, we FINALLY got a Hobby Lobby in the Twin Cities!

I stopped in the other day and was quite certain I had died and gone to knob heaven.

I knew that Hobby Lobby had a good selection of inexpensive knobs.  Every time I visit my mom in Nevada, I bring home a suitcase full of knobs and other fun stuff from her local Hobby Lobby.  Now I have a local store!  And not only that, knobs were 50% off the day I went in.  It’s as if it was meant to be.  I stocked up.  Big time.

And I found the perfect knobs for the Hudson.  They look old, and they don’t distract from the fabulous detail on this dresser.  Look at these amazing legs, and the details around the bottom.

I’m so happy with this one that I just couldn’t stop taking pictures, and then I couldn’t decide which ones to use for my post.Final before & after.

Remember the french cane back chair I picked up a few weeks ago?

I originally purchased the chair thinking that I would attempt to reupholster it, but I’ll admit I chickened out.  No excuses really, just plain chicken.  Then I decided I would paint the upholstery.  I didn’t especially like the results.  In the end, I asked my friend Sue to sew a new cover for the cushion, and I just left the underneath upholstery painted.  I gave Sue a basic painter’s drop cloth to use on the cushion.  Once it was sewn, I stenciled it.  In hindsight, it would have been easier to stencil the fabric first, or at least before the cushion was in place.  It was difficult to get a good result because there was so much give under the fabric.  I’ll try to remember that for next time.

But, overall, I think the chair is darling.

I painted it with MMS milk paint in Linen.  It’s a lovely, creamy white.  I takes more coats to cover with the white paint than the other colors, this chair has 3 coats on it.  Some spots probably could have used 4, but I didn’t have the patience.

To be honest, these sort of projects are more work than they are worth if the goal is to sell it and make a profit.  Which is my plan.  If you just wanted to do it for yourself though, it’s very doable.  I think the chair went from outdated to chic for sure.

I sent my husband to Hudson, Wisconsin to pick up this fabulous dresser last Friday.  I wanted to make it another date night furniture pick up, but the seller was only available during the day.  Mr. Q is still in training when it comes to judging whether a piece of furniture is good, but he is learning quickly.  He thought I would love this one, and he was right.

It has its flaws, as they all do.  Some problems with separating veneer, one leg is pretty chewed up, and there was a missing piece of trim.  My cat Lucy was helping me with the inspection, and posed for this shot of the missing trim.  She really loves a good photo bomb.

As usual, I invited my neighbor Ken over for a consultation.  He said “gosh, that looks like screen trim”, at which point I once again marvel at the depth of his knowledge.  He runs home and comes back with a replacement piece, a little glue and some nails.  Once I paint it, you’ll never know it was missing.

I still have some mismatched ugly knobs and poorly repaired drawer pulls to deal with.  I’m pretty sure I will just replace them all with something else.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking about painting this guy with MMS Artissimo.  I’m drawing my inspiration from this gorgeous dresser that was painted by Danielle at Silver Pennies.

Isn’t he beautiful?!  The Jameson has a little more detail than mine, but I think they are very similar in feeling, tall and masculine (thanks for letting me share your dresser on my blog Danielle.)

I actually have a set of lion’s head drawer pulls like those used by Danielle somewhere around here, although mine are black.  If I have enough, perhaps they will work on the Hudson.

The trick will be getting my blue to end up like this, and not the darker color I usual get.  Danielle used wax instead of hemp oil, so this time I’m going to give that a try … that is, unless I change my mind and paint the Hudson in a different color all together.  Sometimes I do that .. it’s my prerogative.

You may be starting to think that I have been posting quite a line up of ‘befores’ and where are all the ‘afters’?!  I have 4 pieces in progress.  Glue is drying, paint is drying, cushions are being sewn, parts are being purchased … I hope that soon I will have a slew of ‘afters’ to share with you!

I have been scouring craigslist lately looking for suitable pieces to paint and not finding much.  The same old stuff, either priced ridiculously high or located too far away, or just not very nice.  Then, eureka!  Saturday night while watching the Olympics and surfing on my phone … I found the ad for this beauty.  The ad was only 4 hours old.

So, I held my breath and sent an email.  Then, I tried to focus on downhill skiing and waited for a reply.  The stars were in alignment, no one had snatched it up yet and I could pick it up the next day!

Isn’t she beautiful?  She was priced just right, and we only had to drive to So. Minneapolis to pick her up.

She has really lovely hardware, and none of it is missing!  Always a bonus.

But what really called my name was the fantastic raised oval right in the middle.  It’s calling out for a stencil, right?

As lovely as this dresser looks in photos, in person she is very beat up.  The middle drawer is resting on top of the lower drawer, so new rails will have to be added.  She is full of scratches and dings and her finish is older than the hills.  She deserves some repairs and a fresh new paint job, and that is what she will get.

I am almost done with the hutch from Buffalo (that’s Minnesota, not New York).  I haven’t put the glass back in the doors yet.  I broke two of the stops taking it out, so it’s going to be a bit putzy to fix, but meanwhile, it’s easier to take pictures sans glass anyway.

So, without further ado, here is the hutch.

As you can see, I used the colors from my pinterest inspiration as a jumping off point.  My grey is not as pale, and my interior is solid navy blue instead of navy with a damask stencil.  The grey is a 50/50 mix of MMS Trophy and Ironstone.  I pre-sanded to try and limit the chipping on this piece somewhat, but as you can see, I still got a lot of chipping.  This is so hard to predict with the MMS paint.  But, I think the chippyness works.

I replaced the plain wood knobs that came on the hutch with some vintage glass knobs that I had on hand.

The inside is painted in MMS Artissimo.  The interior was previously painted in a really unattractive harvest gold and I didn’t want that to show if the Artissimo chipped as much as the grey did, so I used the bonding agent.  I think this is the perfect hutch to show off a collection of ironstone.  The white just pops against the navy blue of the Artissimo.

I added a Paris stencil to the drawer front for that little extra je ne sais quoi.

There is the sweetest little shelf underneath the drawer with a lovely raised edge.

Here is a final before & after  (sidebar:  I won’t be putting the fretwork back in behind the glass, it was just a bit too frilly for my taste).

I have special plans for this hutch that will be revealed soon!  Stay tuned.

Hop into my time machine.  We are setting the dial way back to the 70’s.  That was when my family moved from Minnesota to Florida (yes, I came back to Minnesota, 11 years later).  I was about to go into 9^th grade, and was totally traumatized because I had to leave my BFF behind and start all over.  To cushion the blow, my mom let each of us kids decorate our new rooms.  We could choose wallpaper for one feature wall and a carpet color.  Naturally, I chose bright lime green and yellow for my color scheme.  Who wouldn’t?  It was the 70’s.

My wallpaper was very glossy and had yellow tulips with lime green leaves on a white background.  The carpet?  Lime green plush, of course.  Those of you who knew me back in the day are now smirking because you are remembering my citrus hued paradise, right?

I had one of those blonde bedroom sets with the bookcase headboard and a long low dresser.  This was when ‘antiquing’ furniture was in.  Does anyone else remember this technique?  To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how it worked, but I think you painted a basecoat color (in my case, more lime green) and then added a very streaky antiquing glaze on top.  It was all the rage, and I’m sure I was thrilled that my mom was willing to do this to my furniture.

I thought I was going to have to describe the room and hope that you could picture it because I couldn’t find any photos, but then I mentioned it to my friend Annie who was sure she had some somewhere.  She dug around and found this!

This, my friends, is Annie herself!  Back when we endlessly took ‘super model’ pictures of each other.  And yes, if you’re wondering, this is the same Annie that is in the kitchen photo.  There is my wallpaper in all its glory, and my ‘antiqued’ headboard.  Pay no attention to the Shawn Cassidy poster on the wall.  I did not kiss him goodnight every night before bed, I swear.  Isn’t my yellow swag light ‘da bomb?

Well, enough nostalgia, flash forward to a week or so ago when I picked up a dresser that is very similar to the one I had back then.  A mid-century blonde (dear lord, I could be talking about myself).

I definitely won’t be antiquing it in lime green.  But … I am thinking of COLOR.  I love what people are doing with tangerine, but am not sure how well it sells.

I also love the retro shades of green.  Not quite the 70’s lime green, leaning more towards avocado.  One point in favor of this color is the fact that I already have the paint.  I used it on ‘the Hannigan’.

Or I could return to my old standby, turquoise.  People seem to love it.  Heck, I adore most any shade of aqua.  But raise your hand if you are sick of seeing me paint stuff turquoise!

I won’t hold it against you if you raised your hand.

No matter what color I pick, I plan to crank the 70’s tunes (maybe even a little Shawn Cassidy) and sing along while I paint it and remember fun times circa 1978, compliments of Annie’s foray into her scrapbooks and several lost hours spent scanning and forwarding pics like this one of me and my dad.

Good times.  Thanks for digging these up Annie!

My idea of a perfect Friday date night involves driving around the Twin Cities with my hubby picking up furniture from Craigslist sellers.  This may not be everyone’s idea of romance, but I love it.  And he says he enjoys it too, and I’m pretty sure he’s not faking it.  We have quality one on one time in the truck while driving halfway across town.

Last weekend was no exception as we picked up three new items to work on.   However, with my sister’s visit and potentially some Miss Mustard Seed retailer training coming up, I may not have time to paint furniture for a week or two.  So, I thought I’d show you what I found and you can have fun imagining what I might do with them.

First up is the dresser that we picked up in Linden Hills.

I’d only been to Linden Hills during garage sale season, never in the winter.  I wish I had taken my camera!  There were twinkle lights in all the trees and with our recent snowfall it was the most charming winter wonderland.   Sometimes I get the history of items when I buy them.  In this case, the dresser was a family piece.  It originally belonged to the seller’s grandparents.  It was one of those pieces that everyone wants kept in the family, but no one actually wants to be the one to keep it.  He said his siblings wanted him to just store it in the basement rather than sell it, but if you had seen the staircase to the basement, you’d understand why he refused to do this.

This dresser is a beast, 26″ deep and 54″ wide.  Yet it is oddly low at 32″ which is just a tad higher than a desk would be.  It has a mirror that is 36″ tall though, so adding it would make the entire thing nearly 6′ tall.   The mirror is extremely heavy, and doesn’t seem to mount very securely.  I won’t be putting it back on.

It has this very slender drawer in the middle, only 3″ deep.  I picture it being used for linens.  I suppose you could fill it with lingerie, but it just doesn’t seem like a drawer meant for clothing.  Whatever this dresser was originally meant for, I think it would make the perfect perch for a widescreen TV.  It’s low enough to be at a comfortable height for viewing, and wide enough that a giant TV won’t look out of place on top of it.  I just need to decide what color to paint it.  I confess that once again I really want to paint it in Kitchen Scale.  What is wrong with me?  I also think it would be lovely in Artissimo.  Or maybe the new MMS color, Trophy, which is a lovely grey.

Next, we have this little French cane back chair.

I don’t do many chairs.  I find that they take twice as long to paint, and sell for half as much as a dresser.  But this one was just too fantastic to pass up, and for a while now I’ve been wanting to try some simple upholstery work to see if it’s as easy as it looks (don’t burst my bubble and tell me it isn’t).  Plus, my friend Sue agreed to help me with any sewing that might be necessary.  In addition, my reader Victoria is working on some chairs and she got me thinking about chairs again (how are your chairs coming along Victoria?).  Last, but not least, Miss Mustard Seed has several chairs in this style and I think they are seeing a resurgence in popularity as a result.  So I decided to go for it.

Finally there is this unique little hutch.  I’ll admit, I paid too much for it and we drove all the way to Buffalo to pick it up (about an hour away).  I negotiated as much as possible for a better price and the price was fair, if not a bargain.  As I explained to Mr. Q on the way home, I have a purchasing philosophy that goes like this.  About 75% of what I buy to resell needs to be bargain basement cheap, something that I can repair/repaint/repurpose and make a good profit.  However, about 25% of what I buy is just something that I think is fantastic and even if I won’t make much profit on it, I must have it!

Thing is, I have been drooling over this pale grey hutch (below) on pinterest for months now, and never thought I would find anything even remotely like it.  The one I found isn’t quite the same, but I think it can be nearly as fab.  At least I hope so.

So, that’s the line up.  My goal will be to get all of these items painted by the end of February.  Wish me luck!

I haven’t been painting with the Miss Mustard Seed milk paint for all that long.  I was determined to live without it because, let’s face it, it is pricey.  Then last summer at the Oronoco Gold Rush, I purchased a sample of Eulalie’s Sky.  Just a tiny sample, mind you.  I thought I would try it out on a picture frame, or some similar small item.  Just to see what all the fuss was about.

Then I came across the most darling little toy cupboard at a garage sale.  I so wish that I had taken a before picture of this for you, because it was in terrible shape.  The door was falling off, it had been painted black which was crackled to show white underneath.  It had giant fluorescent yellow knobs on the drawers.  Worst of all, it was $20.  In garage sale money, this is a lot.  You know about garage sale money, right?  OK, it’s just regular money, but it’s the concept that prices that would seem a total bargain at a shop are outrageous at a garage sale.  I’m pretty sure that Jeanne thought I was nuts when I picked it up to purchase.

I decided this was the perfect candidate for a test of the milk paint.  I sanded the black paint off, mixed up the milk paint and gave it a go.  If I remember correctly, I ended up doing about 4 coats of paint.  I may have definitely added a little too much water.

Isn’t it sweet?  Inside you will find my grandmother’s tiny toy tea set, and some vintage toy kitchen utensils.

I was really impressed by how easy it was to distress this paint.  No more heavy duty sanding, this just needed a light touch of hand sanding and gave these results.

P.S.  I seem to have a penchant for tiny furniture.  I also found this cute little pink cupboard at a garage sale and it works perfectly for housing my collection of washi tape in my craft room.  So, if you see any fab vintage toy furniture at a garage sale … just back off.  It’s mine.

I know it sounds cliche, but furniture speaks to me.  No, I’m not crazy, I don’t really hear voices in my head.  But I like to get a feel for a piece of furniture before I decide how to paint it.  This one wanted to be indigo.  Like the Pottery Barn catalog I showed you earlier.  This was the intended recipient of my mixology experiment.

It didn’t quite get there.  It’s a bit darker than I imagined, which is totally my fault because I finished with hemp oil and I should have waxed.  I’d even purchased the Miss Mustard Seed wax just for this piece, so why did I reach for the hemp oil?  Was I tired?  Was it that glass of wine I had with dinner?  I don’t know … but it is what it is.

You can see that I got plenty of chipping on this piece.  I also sanded off a lot more paint than I intended.  Blame that on the wine too, although the reality is you can blame it on working at night with inadequate lighting and the impaired vision of someone in my age bracket.  I have found that even with ‘cheaters’ sometimes my vision just doesn’t cut it at night anymore.

This chippy distressed look is exactly what I like, but I know it’s not for everyone.  Hopefully I will find a buyer who loves it too.

I think in the right room it would be a masterpiece.  Add some more touches of indigo in some throw pillows or bed linens.  Lovely.

On the agenda for this weekend, here is the dresser that I want to paint indigo blue.

Before anyone blows a gasket about painting wood, or antiques, let me explain the most glaring problem with this piece.  It’s missing one drawer pull.  Just one.  Sigh.  I want to post a public notice that explains to people that missing ‘just one’ handle is a problem.  I’ve purchased countless pieces that are missing just one handle, and the seller always thinks this is minor, it’s ‘just one’.  At first I was optimistic about this guy.  I took a handle off and carried it around in my purse for weeks.  I checked eBay, Etsy, Rochler, etc.  I naively thought I could find a match.  Ha!  Then, I thought that if I could find something very similar, I could buy two and put them on the top drawer and leave the rest.  Ha!  For about 5 minutes I entertained the notion of putting entirely different knobs on just the top drawer … but, I’m pretty sure that would look stupid.  Any way you cut it, the integrity of this piece as an antique is pretty much lost along with ‘just one’ drawer pull.

Another issue with this guy are the little knobs that were added to the top jewelry drawers.  Follow the arrow on my photo:

Yep, I’m pretty sure those are not original.  They kind of overlap the key hole, and they aren’t screwed into the wood very far because the metal lock mechanism is behind them.  I’m definitely not an expert and I don’t even play one on TV, but I think these small drawers were intended to be opened with the key, not a knob.  Are there any experts reading this?  If so, please enlighten me if I’m wrong.  Either way, I’m taking them off.  Luckily, I have a key!  It didn’t come with the dresser, but I have a stash of old furniture keys and found one that will open all of the locks except ‘just one’ (naturally)!

One last furniture lesson for today.  This piece also has ‘pin and cove’ joinery.  From what I have read online, where all serious scholars do their research, this type of joinery was only done in the U.S., and only for a relatively short period of time around the 1890’s.

So, yes, this dresser is old, but is it an antique?  Here is how Wikipedia defines an antique:

An antique (Latin: antiquus; “old”, “ancient”) is an old collectable item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.

It is common practice to define “antique” as applying to objects at least 100 years old.

So, maybe it is, but I think ‘antique’ is in the eye of the beholder.  To me, the missing drawer pull and weird added knobs make this an ideal candidate for paint.  Especially if I can manage to make the paint job look properly aged.  That is what I am hoping to achieve.  Stay tuned.